U.S. Route 19 (US 19) in

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, ...

closely parallels Interstate 79 (I-79) for its entire length. US 19 enters Pennsylvania from

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 Bur ...

in Greene County near Mount Morris. Its northern terminus is at US 20 in the city of

Erie 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 a ...

. Part of it is named for Commodore

Oliver Hazard Perry Oliver Hazard Perry (August 23, 1785 – August 23, 1819) was an American naval commander, born in South Kingstown, Rhode Island. The best-known and most prominent member of the Perry family naval dynasty, he was the son of Sarah Wallace A ...

, hero of the

Battle of Lake Erie The Battle of Lake Erie, sometimes called the Battle of Put-in-Bay, was fought on 10 September 1813, on Lake Erie off the shore of Ohio during the War of 1812. Nine vessels of the United States Navy defeated and captured six vessels of the Briti ...

Route description

In northern Washington County, US 19 was modernized after the former Pittsburgh Railways Interurban (PRCo) trolley service was discontinued in August 1953. Initially, US 19 ran parallel to the trolley line, and later expanded over the tracks through part of Mt. Lebanon in southern Allegheny County. US 19 then proceeds north through Pittsburgh's Northside, West View, Perrysville and Ross Township, McCandless Township and Wexford, where it is referred to as Perry Highway. In Cranberry Township, it connects with I-79, the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and Pennsylvania Route 228 (PA 228). Continuing through Mercer and Crawford counties, the route meets its terminus at a junction with

US 20 U.S. Route 20 or U.S. Highway 20 (US 20) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that stretches from the Pacific Northwest east to New England. The "0" in its route number indicates that US 20 is a major coast-to-coast route. S ...

in Erie. The US 19 Truck designation exists in Pittsburgh, running from Wexford, Pennsylvania to Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania. Although both of that route's termini are with the regular US 19, the two routes also intersect near the Fort Pitt Tunnel on Pittsburgh's West End.

History

US 19 in Pennsylvania has maintained a similar alignment for much of its history. In 1928, US 19 was moved to its current route between

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 ...

and Meadville. The West End Bridge in Pittsburgh was completed in 1932, and US 19 was realigned to cross the bridge. In 1936, US 19 was moved to its current alignment between Zelienople and

Harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...

. Through the 1940s and 1950s, different parts of US 19 were widened. In 1987, the Phase One project started to connect two sections of Ohio River Boulevard near Western Avenue and Chateau Street. Phase Two of the project included a new interchange between the PA 65 expressway (concurrent with US 19 west of the interchange) and the West End Bridge. The bridge was closed for two years for construction, but reopened in 1991, while construction finished in 1992. In 2003, the

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) oversees transportation issues in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The administrator of PennDOT is the Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation, currently Yassmin Gramian. Presently, Pe ...

(PennDOT) started a project to build a US 19 tunnel under the

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...

, as well as align the West End Bypass with the West End Circle, the intersection of US 19, PA 51, PA 60, and PA 837. The project was completed in 2010. In 2016, a

diverging diamond interchange A diverging diamond interchange (DDI), also called a double crossover diamond interchange (DCD), is a subset of diamond interchange in which the opposing directions of travel on the non-freeway road cross each other on either side of the inte ...

was built at the intersection of US 19 and I-70/I-79 in South Strabane Township. PennDOT started construction on a multi-lane roundabout at the intersection of US 19, US 6, US 322, and PA 98 in Vernon Township, near Meadville. Construction was expected to be completed in October 2019. PennDOT has also started construction on an intersection improvement project at the northern intersection of US 19 and PA 97. PA 97 will be realigned to meet US 19 at a 90 degree angle, and new left turn lanes and traffic signals will be installed. Construction is expected to be completed in October 2019.

Major intersections

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Route description

History

Major intersections

See also

References

External links