Editing Interstate 279 (section)

== History ==
[[File:I-279 toward Pittsburgh.jpg|thumb|left|I-279, looking south toward downtown Pittsburgh]]

I-279 was first proposed in 1958 to run along what is now I-79 between the current I-376 in [[Carnegie, Pennsylvania|Carnegie]] and the current I-279 in Franklin Park. On October 2, 1972, its route was swapped with I-79, putting I-279 onto its current route, although only the downtown portion and the Fort Duquesne Bridge were built at the time.<ref name=1972news>{{cite news|title=Interstates Renumbered|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15491728/interstates_redone_10272_february/|access-date=November 30, 2017|work=The Pittsburgh Press|date=February 24, 1972|page=8|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{open access}}</ref>

In 1973, the designation was extended from downtown over Parkway West (what is now I-376) to I-79.<ref name="pahwys">{{cite web|work=Pennsylvania Highways|url=http://www.pahighways.com/interstates/I279.html |title=Interstate 279|last=Kitsko|first=Jeffrey |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230921084734/http://www.pahighways.com/interstates/I279.html |archive-date= Sep 21, 2023 }}</ref> This section became part of I-376 in 2009, and the I-279 signs were taken down there.<ref>{{cite news|first=Jon |last=Schmitz|date=June 11, 2009|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09162/976662-147.stm|title=Roads unite to form new Interstate 376|publisher=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|access-date=2009-06-11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101013063124/http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09162/976662-147.stm |archive-date= Oct 13, 2010 }}</ref>

I-279 from Fort Duquesne Bridge to its current northern terminus in Franklin Park was approved on June 4, 1975, but constructed from 1985 to 1989, opening in its entirety with a Governor [[Bob Casey Sr.]] ribbon-cutting on September 16, 1989.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=OakcAAAAIBAJ&sjid=imMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2481%2C2546984|title=Parkway North passes 1st tests as use speeds up |first1=Mary |last1=Kane |work=The Pittsburgh Press |date=Sep 18, 1989 |via=Google News Archive Search|access-date=29 September 2014 }}</ref> From 1997 to 2003, various ramps, the Fort Pitt Bridge, and nearby tunnels were reconstructed. A direct connection from I-279 south to I-376 east was opened in 2002.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gribblenation.com/swparoads/connector/ | title=The I-279/376 Downtown Connector | last=Prince | first=Adam | work=GribbleNation |date=January 26, 2004 |first2=William |last2=Lawson |others=Kitsko, Jeff |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309152446/http://www.gribblenation.com/swparoads/connector/ |archive-date= Mar 9, 2021 }}</ref>

A tragedy occurred on the reversible HOV lanes in 1995 when a negligent highway worker failed to close the outbound gates, leading to a head-on collision that killed six. In 2006, to help prevent a repeat of this incident, automatic ""fast-acting" gates" were activated at the southern entrances to these HOV lanes in Downtown Pittsburgh.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06139/691433-147.stm |title=New HOV gates start Monday on Parkway North |publisher=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |date=2006-05-19 |access-date=2010-06-01 | first=Joe | last=Grata |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110522083604/http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06139/691433-147.stm |archive-date= May 22, 2011 }}</ref>

=== Unearthed cemetery ===
During the last phases of construction of I-279 in 1987, a long-forgotten [[cemetery]] dating from the 19th century was unearthed near the site of the current I-279/[[Interstate 579|I-579]] split. Archeologists spent four months exhuming the graves for cultural studies at the [[Smithsonian Institution]], putting the [[Pennsylvania Department of Transportation]] (PennDOT) significantly behind schedule. It was determined that the graves belonged to [[Switzerland|Swiss]] and [[German Confederation|German]] immigrants that were members of a local church located next door to the cemetery in what was then [[Allegheny, Pennsylvania|Allegheny City]], with 727&nbsp;graves buried at the {{convert|0.5|acre|ha|adj=on}} site between 1833 and 1861. The graves were forgotten about by 1911 when the church did an addition to the building and had the foundation unintentionally go through about 15&nbsp;graves, with the [[churchyard]] housing the cemetery later becoming a [[parking lot]] in 1950. Aside from a pair of [[Stillbirth|stillborn]] twins, none of the graves were identified, and archeologists were unable to find any living descendants due to the obscurity of the cemetery. The remains were reburied with one marker at the church's current cemetery in the [[Troy Hill (Pittsburgh)|Troy Hill]] section of Pittsburgh in 2003 after the Smithsonian Institution finished studying them; the congregation itself disbanded in 1984 after PennDOT bought the church property via [[eminent domain]] for I-279 and only had 21&nbsp;members at that point. Today, it is the largest number of 19th century graves ([[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] graves notwithstanding) ever studied archeologically in the US.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/lost-pittsburgh-cemetery-lives-on-in-memories-699883/ | work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | title=Lost Pittsburgh cemetery lives on in memories |first1=Diana |last1=Nelson Jones | date=August 19, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012012929/http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/lost-pittsburgh-cemetery-lives-on-in-memories-699883/ |archive-date= Oct 12, 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://old.post-gazette.com/lifestyle/20031028cemetery1028fnp2.asp |title=New burial site for 727 souls will be blessed |date=October 28, 2003 |first1=Patricia |last1=Lowry |website=Post-Gazette |access-date=2013-08-19 |archive-date=2013-12-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211211046/http://old.post-gazette.com/lifestyle/20031028cemetery1028fnp2.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref>