Interstate 79 (I-79) is an

Interstate Highway The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. T ...

in the eastern United States, designated from I-77 in

Charleston, West Virginia Charleston is the capital and most populous city of West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha rivers, the city had a population of 48,864 at the 2020 census and an estimated population of 48,018 in 2021. The Charlesto ...

, north to Pennsylvania Route 5 (PA 5) and PA 290 in

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 ...

. It is a primary thoroughfare through western

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

and

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...

and makes up part of an important corridor to

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

, and the Canadian border. Major metropolitan areas connected by I-79 include Charleston and Morgantown in West Virginia and Greater Pittsburgh and Erie in Pennsylvania. In West Virginia, I-79 is known as the Jennings Randolph Expressway, named for the West Virginia representative and senator. In the three most northern counties, it is signed as part of the High Tech Corridor. For most of its Pennsylvania stretch, it is known as the Raymond P. Shafer Highway, named for the Pennsylvania governor.

Route description

, - , , , - , , , - , Total , Except at its northern end, I-79 is located on the Allegheny Plateau. Despite the somewhat rugged terrain, the road is relatively flat. Most of the highway is at an elevation of about above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardis ...

, with some lower areas near both ends and higher areas near Sutton, West Virginia. In the hillier areas, this flatness is achieved by curving around hills, along ridges, and in or partway up river valleys.

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

topographic maps and aerial photos, accessed via

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From Sutton north, I-79 generally parallels the path of US Route 19 (US 19).

West Virginia

I-79 begins at a three-way

directional Y interchange In the field of road transport, an interchange (American English) or a grade-separated junction (British English) is a road junction that uses grade separations to allow for the movement of traffic between two or more roadways or highways, usi ...

with I-77 along the northwest bank of the Elk River just northeast of Charleston. For its first , to a point just south of Flatwoods, I-79 is located in the

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

of the Elk River, which drains into the

Kanawha River The Kanawha River ( ) is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 97 mi (156 km) long, in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The largest inland waterway in West Virginia, its valley has been a significant industrial region of the st ...

. It crosses the Elk River twice—at Frametown and Sutton—and never strays more than about from it. National Atlas of the United States
Hydrologic Units (Watersheds) GIS data

Pennsylvania

I-79 enters Pennsylvania after leaving

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State Coll ...

in Morgantown, West Virginia. South of

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, I-79 traverses the mostly rural Greene County area. Between milemarkers 34 and 38, I-79 overlaps I-70 in the Washington area before heading north toward

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. I-79 is carried over the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of ...

by the

Neville Island Bridge The Neville Island Bridge is a tied arch bridge which carries Interstate 79 and the Yellow Belt across the Ohio River and over Neville Island, west of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Construction Opening in 1976, after five years of construction, ...

, approximately northwest of Pittsburgh. The freeway into Pittsburgh requires drivers to use I-376 while I-79 completely bypasses the city. Beyond the Pittsburgh area, I-79 traverses more rural areas in Butler, Lawrence, Mercer, Crawford, and Erie counties before arriving at its termination point in Erie. In Erie,

I-90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Great Plains, Midwest, an ...

provides an important connection from I-79 to

, and the Canadian border. Ghost ramp I-79

Around milemarker 100 on the northbound side are two

ghost ramp Ghost Ramp is an American record label based in Los Angeles. It was founded by Wavves frontman Nathan Williams. The label started as a music blog, later expanding into a record label. It currently has nine artists signed, including Wavves and his ...

s that were specifically built for the

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in order to have access to

Moraine State Park Moraine State Park is a Pennsylvania state park on in Brady, Clay, Franklin, Muddy Creek, and Worth townships in Butler County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The park's main feature is its man-made lake, Lake Arthur, formed by impoundi ...

without having to travel on US 422 for the 1973 and 1977 National Scout Jamborees, which were held at Moraine. The ramps were permanently closed after the 1977 event but remain visible under encroaching vegetation. I-79 was completely rebuilt in the Pittsburgh area in the early 1990s.

History

The

Pennsylvania General Assembly The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times (1682–1776), the legislature was known as the Pennsylvania ...

authorized the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission to build two extensions in the 1950s. The Northwestern Extension, authorized in 1953, was to stretch from the main

Pennsylvania Turnpike The Pennsylvania Turnpike (Penna Turnpike or PA Turnpike) is a toll highway operated by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. A controlled-access highway, it runs for across the state. The turnpike's we ...

north to Erie and would have included a lateral connection between

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

and New York (later built as

). The Southwestern Extension, authorized in 1955, was to run south from the main line near Pittsburgh to West Virginia, connecting there with an extension of the West Virginia Turnpike. Except for the section between Washington and the Pittsburgh area, which was included as part of I-70, the first portion of I-79 to be added to the plans was north from Pittsburgh to Erie, along the US 19 corridor. In September 1955, two short urban portions were designated: * I-179: A spur from I-90 north to Erie, currently absorbed into I-79 *

I-279 Interstate 279 (I-279), locally referred to as Parkway North, is a north–south auxiliary Interstate Highway that lies entirely within Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Its southern end is at I-376 at the Fort Pitt Bridge in Pittsburgh, and ...

: A western bypass of Pittsburgh, connecting I-70 with I-80S (now

I-76 Interstate 76 may refer to: Interstate Highways in the United States * Interstate 76 (Colorado–Nebraska) * Interstate 76 (Ohio–New Jersey), running through Pennsylvania Video gaming * ''Interstate '76 ''Interstate '76'' is a vehicular c ...

); it and I-79 later swapped designations The number 79 was assigned in 1958, and an extension south along I-70 to Washington and beyond to Charleston was approved on October 18, 1961. This extension also paralleled US 19 to near Sutton, where it turned westerly to reach Charleston. (The part of US 19 from Sutton south to I-77 at Beckley, West Virginia, has since been four-laned as

Corridor L The Appalachian Development Highway System (ADHS) is a series of highway corridors in the Appalachia region of the eastern United States. The routes are designed as local and regional routes for improving economic development in the historica ...

of the Appalachian Development Highway System.) On December 21, 1967, the first section of I-79 in West Virginia, between exits 125 (Saltwell Road) and 132 (South Fairmont), opened to traffic. This section bypassed part of

West Virginia Route 73 West Virginia Route 73 is an east–west state highway located in the Logan, West Virginia area. The western terminus of the route is at an interchange with U.S. Route 119 U.S. Route 119 (US 119) is a spur of US 19. It is a north–so ...

(WV 73) between

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and Fairmont. Another opened in July 1968, extending the highway on a bypass of downtown Fairmont to exit 137 (East Park Avenue). It was further extended toward Morgantown on October 15, 1970, bypassing more of WV 73 to exit 146 (Goshen Road) south of that city.Release Date Report. West Virginia Department of Transportation. August 2003. On June 29, 1970, the swap of I-79 and I-279 was approved. At the same time, I-76 was extended west from Downtown Pittsburgh over former I-79 to the new location of I-79 west of Pittsburgh, so I-279 only ran north from Downtown Pittsburgh. On December 3, 1971, I-76 was rerouted to bypass Pittsburgh, and I-279 was extended to I-79 utilizing the former section of I-76. The changes took effect on October 2, 1972. On June 29, 1973, I-79 was extended from West Virginia exit 146 to exit 148 ( I-68), where, at one point, traffic was forced onto the newly opened west end of Corridor E (now I-68) to exit 1. A further extension of , including the Uffington Bridge over the

Monongahela River The Monongahela River ( , )—often referred to locally as the Mon ()—is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 river on the Allegheny Plateau in north-c ...

southwest of Morgantown, was opened on August 30, 1973, leading north to exit 155 ( Star City). This completed I-79 from north of Bridgeport to north of Morgantown. To the south of Bridgeport, the first two sections were both opened on December 22, 1971. One of these ran from exit 51 ( Frametown) to exit 62 (Sutton), and the other from exit 105 ( Jane Lew) to exit 115 ( Nutter Fort). On September 19, 1973, another stretch was opened, from exit 105 (Jane Lew) south to exit 99 ( Weston). In 1973, significant portions of the Interstate were completed. I-79 opened from exit 62 to exit 99. Another , from exit 67 ( Flatwoods) north to exit 91 ( Roanoke), opened on November 28, 1973, along with the section from exit 115 north to exit 117 ( Anmoore), completing the route between Frametown and Morgantown except in the Bridgeport area. A extension from exit 51 south to exit 46 ( Servia) opened on February 1, 1974, and County Route 11 to WV 4 near

Duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form ...

was widened to handle the increased load. On the same day, two lanes opened from exit 155 ( Osage) north to the state line. On October 16, 1974, two pieces of I-79 were opened: the other two lanes of the from exit 155 to the state line and between exits 117 (Anmoore) and 125 (north of Bridgeport). On the same day, the eastern end of Corridor D and the western end of Corridor E, both connecting to I-79 (at exits 119 and 148), were opened. This completed I-79 in West Virginia north of exit 46 (Servia); it was extended south to exit 25 (

Amma Amma or AMMA may refer to: Acronym * American Medical Marijuana Association * Amhara Mass Media Agency (created in 1993), a media organisation in Amhara Region in Ethiopia * Association of Malayalam Movie Artists * Assistant Masters' and Mis ...

) in late November and to US 119 north of Clendenin (exit 19) on November 13, 1975. It was opened from exit 19 to exit 9 ( Elkview) on November 18, 1977, and finally completed to I-77 in 1979. Interstate7079Washington

On July 25, 1975, I-79 was opened between exits 1 and 14 in Pennsylvania. The last piece of I-79 between West Virginia and Erie—the

over the

—opened on September 3, 1976. In 1984, the route was extended about further to the north, with the opening of a new segment between US 20 and PA 5 in Erie. In late 2008, the missing ramps of the I-79/I-376 interchange (PA 60 was designated as the route for southbound traffic seeking to go to Pittsburgh International Airport and for airport traffic seeking to go northbound on I-79) were completed. In June 2009, I-376 was extended west and north of Downtown Pittsburgh, and I-279 was truncated back to the section only running from Downtown Pittsburgh north to I-79.

Exit list

Auxiliary routes

heads southeast from I-79 in

's northern suburbs to I-376 in Downtown Pittsburgh. *

I-579 Interstate 579 (I-579) is a north–south Interstate Highway entirely within Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The highway is long. I-579 is also known as the Crosstown Boulevard since it crosses the backside of Downtown Pittsburgh. The northern t ...

heads south from I-279 in Pittsburgh's North Side to the Liberty Bridge and the Boulevard of the Allies just east of Downtown Pittsburgh.

References

External links