US 30 in Pennsylvania
| US 30 | |||
| Get started | Hookstown | ||
| End | Philadelphia | ||
| Length | 324 mi | ||
| Length | 521 km | ||
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According to transporthint, US 30 is a US Highway in the US state of Pennsylvania. This secondary route forms a long east-west route of 521 kilometers and serves the major cities of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. In these urban areas, US 30 is also a freeway, as is the York – Lancaster section. The rest of the route is a regular main road, sometimes called [[2×2 divided highway. The route also runs partially on the historic Lincoln Highway.
Travel directions
US 30 on the border of West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
Western Pennsylvania & Pittsburgh
Not far from Chester, West Virginia, US 30 enters the state of Pennsylvania as a single-lane highway. US 30 then heads southeast, merging west of Pittsburgh with US 22, a major highway exit from Pittsburgh. One then crosses State Route 60. After the interchange with Interstate 79 you reach the metropolitan area of ​​Pittsburgh. From here, US 22 and US 30 are double-numbered with Interstate 279 to downtown Pittsburgh, after which US 22 and US 30 piggyback on Interstate 376, which takes the roads east through Pittsburgh. At Wilkinsburg, US 30 exits, while US 22 and I-376 continue a little further east.
US 30 then continues through the vast southeastern suburbs of Pittsburgh toward the southeast. US 30 has 2×2 lanes here, but the suburbs are not very dense due to the hilly landscape. At Irwin, Interstate 76 crosses the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Shortly thereafter, you cross State Route 66, a short toll road. The road then becomes a short highway again and forms the bypass of the town of Greensburg.
Central Pennsylvania
The US 30 is then a 2×2 divided highway and one enters the various ridges of the Appalachian Mountains. At Boswell one crosses US 219. After a mountain pass of about 700 meters, US 30 runs parallel to the Pennsylvania Turnpike. At Bedford one crosses Interstate 99. US 30 then runs through Breezewood and forms the infamous “Breezewood Gap”, a short missing link of Interstate 70. Then US 30 runs over a number of ridges, now south of Interstate 76. At Chambersburg one crosses the Interstate 81. You then more or less leave the Appalachian Mountains and you enter agricultural area.
You pass through Gettysburg, a historic town with a National Military Park. Then US 30 becomes a 2×2 divided highway to York, a regional city in southern Pennsylvania. Interstate 83 is crossed here. After this, US 30 becomes a 2×2 lane highway. The Susquehanna River is crossed over a 1,700 m long bridge. One then reaches Lancaster, a city of more than 50,000 but with an agglomeration of almost 500,000 inhabitants. It crosses State Route 283, the highway to Harrisburg, and US 222, the highway to Reading.
Eastern Pennsylvania & Philadelphia
East of Lancaster the road reverts to a regular single carriageway and passes through many villages. At Parkersburg, US 30 becomes a freeway again, now in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The town itself is about 75 kilometers away. The highway has 2×2 lanes and forms a bypass around some distant suburbs. At Exton you cross the US 202. US 30 then becomes a 4-lane urban arterial through urban area. At Villanova, one crosses INTERstate 476, which forms Philadelphia ‘s western bypass. A little further on you cross the US 1. The US 30 then ends in downtown Philadelphia.
History
According to travelationary, US 30 was created in 1926. The Pennsylvania route has not been significantly modified since then, but it has been upgraded, especially in eastern Pennsylvania. US 30 follows the historic Lincoln Highway in Pennsylvania, one of the first auto trails.
Philadelphia
The Coatesville-Downington bypass is a 20-mile stretch of highway west of US 202. Construction of this bypass began in 1960 and the highway was completed in 1962 over the western 24 kilometers. For more than thirty years there would be a missing link at Exton about 5 miles away. Over that time, the area west of Philadelphia, as well as the US 30 corridor, was suburbanized, greatly increasing congestion on the off-highway section. Studies began in 1983, but it took another decade for construction to begin. In 1991 the proponents for the construction of this stretch of highway became stronger and in 1993 the construction of the Exton bypass began. The highway was completed on December 22, 1995, 33 years after the first section was completed.
Not built
As early as 1947, a highway was proposed over Girard Avenue in western Philadelphia. This had to connect to the then planned US 1 highway. In 1966, a 4-mile highway was proposed over Girard Avenue and Lancaster Avenue. This was to become the US 30 Expressway and connect to the US 1 in Overbrook and the Schuylkill Expresswayrelieve. This highway was supposed to be completed in 1975, but in the 1970s it remained no more than a dotted line on planning maps. At the time, there were also plans to convert all of US 30 to Exton into a highway, creating a through highway from the westernmost suburbs to Philadelphia. In 1977, all funds for planned highways were frozen, putting the plan on hold. To this day, there are no concrete plans to convert US 30 into a highway.
