Skip to main content

PennDot opens bids on completing I-79/Parkway West Interchange

Image
By
....thirty years later.

PennDot opened bidding on the construction of two "missing" ramps at the I-79/Parkway West (I-279/US 22/30) interchange (Exits 59A-B) in suburban Pittsburgh. I say "missing" because these ramps were not planned for in the original construction of the highway in the 1970s. The missing ramps are from I-79 South to US 22/30 West and US 22/30 East to I-79 North. Construction should start this fall and the ramps should open in 2009.

When the interchange was constructed in the early 1970s, I-79 actually was planned to actually take the ramp from I-79 onto the inbound Parkway West (I-279 North). I-279 would continue straight on what is now I-79 North today. But that changed when I-79 and 279 switched alignments in 1972. Anyways, the thinking at the time was that connections from I-79 South to the Airport and from the Airport to I-79 North could be done via PA 60 -- then a rural two lane road -- and connecting at what is now Exit 60. The hope was that PA 60 would be upgraded to at least a four lane divided highway or even a more limited access highway. Well, that along with many other highway plans for Pittsburgh never happened.

So thirty years later, a major freeway to freeway interchange is incomplete. Until 2009, that is. The interchange will become a three level stack interchange as the new ramp from US 22/30 East to I-79 North will fly over both highways. Also -- and you don't hear this at all in Western PA -- US 22/30 will be widened from four to six lanes from the I-79 interchange to the newly rebuilt Campbells Run Road intechange. A total of 1.6 miles. (For Pittsburgh, that's impressive.) I do not know as it's been years since i have traveled it, but I think that with the widening US 22/30 will be six lanes from I-79 to the PA 60 interchange (another incomplete interchange). But I may be mistaken about that.

Here's the story in Friday's Post-Gazette:

Commentary:

Although relatively small, this is an important improvement to Pittsburgh's highway system and the airport corridor. Since the early 1990's, the corridor has seen the completion of the Southern Expressway (A Freeway PA 60 connecting to the new airport terminal), there have been numerous upgrades to PA Business 60 (The old airport parkway), The West Busway, the Findlay Connector scheduled to open sometime in October 2006, and now completion of the I-79/Parkway West ramps. You gotta take what you can get.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Grand Loop Road of Yellowstone National Park

By
  Grand Loop Road is a 140 mile loop highway which traverses the interior of Yellowstone National Park.  Grand Loop Road connects all of the major attractions and geological features of Yellowstone National Park along with the entrance roads.  Grand Loop Road is a seasonal highway and despite some conjecture never has been part of the US Route System.   Part 1; the history of Grand Loop Road The majority of history pertaining to Grand Loop Road was taken from the below National Park Service article: Historic Roads - Yellowstone National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov) Yellowstone was declared the first National Park of the United States on March 1st, 1872.  The first real highway to access Yellowstone National Park came in 1873 when a tolled facility was constructed from Bozeman, Montana via Yankee Jim Canyon to Mammoth Hot Springs.  Numerous attempts were made to fund construction of roadway infrastructure during the early years of Yellows...
Post a Comment
Read more

The last 1956-63 era California Sign State Route Spade?

By
Along southbound California State Route 170 (the Hollywood Freeway Extension) approaching the Hollywood Freeway/Ventura Freeway interchange a white California State Route 134 Sign State Route Spade can be observed on guide sign.  These white spades were specifically used during the 1956-63 era and have become increasingly rare.  This blog is intended to serve as a brief history of the Sign State Route Spade.  We also ask you as the reader, is this last 1956-63 era Sign State Route Spade or do you know of others?  Part 1; the history of the California Sign State Route Spade Prior to the Sign State Route System, the US Route System and the Auto Trails were the only highways in California signed with reassurance markers.  The creation of the US Route System by the American Association of State Highway Officials during November 1926 brought a system of standardized reassurance shields to major highways in California.  Early efforts to create a Sign State Route ...
Post a Comment
Read more

California State Route 70; the Feather River Highway

By
From 2017 through to early 2019 I drove the majority of the California State Route 70; the Feather River Highway from CA 89 southwest to CA 99. CA 70 is an approximately 178.5 mile state highway which starts at US 395 near the Nevada State Line and travels west through the Feather River Canyon to CA 99.  CA 70 is often referred to as the Feather River Highway" given it's close association with the river.  Historically CA 70 was previously signed as US 40A and CA 24.  The Legislative Routes prior to the 1964 California Highway Renumbering that made up the current route of CA 70 are as follows: -  Legislative Route Number 21 from US 395 westward to Oroville. -  LRN 87 from Oroville south to Marysville. -  LRN 232 from Marysville to the current junction with CA 99.  CA 70 was even dual signed with CA 99 into Sacramento on what was LRN 232 for a time. The change from US 40A/LRN 21/LRN 87/LRN 232 can be seen by comparing the 1963 State Highway Ma...
Post a Comment
Read more