Editing Interstate 376 (section)

==History==
[[File:376 00.jpg|thumb|left|I-376 westbound from the [[Smithfield Street Bridge]] in Downtown Pittsburgh in 2008 prior to the route being extended]]
The first section of what would eventually become I-376 opened June 5, 1953, from [[Pennsylvania Route 885|PA&nbsp;885]] (Bates Street) near the [[Hot Metal Bridge]] east through the [[Squirrel Hill Tunnel]] to [[U.S. Route 22 Business (Monroeville, Pennsylvania)|US&nbsp;22 Bus]] (then US&nbsp;22) at [[Churchill, Pennsylvania|Churchill]]. Construction commenced on this stretch on July 25, 1946, near [[Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania|Wilkinsburg]].<ref name="news.google.com">{{cite news|last1=Kelly|first1=David|title=Ft Pitt Bridge Traffic Rolls: Dedication Held For '2-Decker'|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=imw0AAAAIBAJ&pg=3699%2C828847|access-date=27 June 2017|work=[[The Pittsburgh Press]]|date=June 19, 1959|pages=1, 2}}</ref> The next section to open, running from [[Pennsylvania Route 60|PA&nbsp;60]] ([[Steubenville Pike]], then [[U.S. Route 22 in Pennsylvania|US&nbsp;22]]/[[U.S. Route 30 in Pennsylvania|US&nbsp;30]]) near [[Pittsburgh International Airport|PIT]] east to [[Pennsylvania Route 51#Allegheny County|Saw Mill Run Boulevard]] ([[Pennsylvania Route 51|PA&nbsp;51]] and [[U.S. Route 19 in Pennsylvania|US&nbsp;19]]), opened October 15, 1953. At Steubenville Pike, it connected to PA&nbsp;60—the [[Interstate 376 Business|Airport Parkway]]—which had been built c.&nbsp;1950<ref name="NBI">{{cite web |author= Staff |year= 2009<!-- the DB uses the 2009 update--> |publisher= Federal Highway Administration |url= http://nationalbridges.com/ |title= Database Search |work= [[National Bridge Inventory]] |access-date= August 20, 2011 |archive-date= October 31, 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131031210639/http://nationalbridges.com/ |url-status= dead }}</ref> as a high-speed surface road to provide access to the airport.

In 1955, the [[Baltimore and Ohio Station (Pittsburgh)|Baltimore and Ohio Station]] was demolished to make way for construction of the new freeway. In late 1956, it opened from the [[Boulevard of the Allies]] (then US&nbsp;22/US&nbsp;30) near the [[Birmingham Bridge]] east to Bates Street, with the eastbound lanes opening September 10 and westbound opening September 29. The other downtown sections opened in segments from January 17, 1958, to 1959, the total cost of the parkway at this time came to $112.11&nbsp;million (equivalent to ${{Formatprice|{{inflation|US-GDP|112107000|1959}}}} in {{Inflation/year|index=US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|index=US-GDP}}).<ref name="news.google.com"/> The $6.31-million (equivalent to ${{Formatprice|{{inflation|US-GDP|6305000|1959}}}} in {{Inflation/year|index=US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|index=US-GDP}}) [[Fort Pitt Bridge]] opened June 19, 1959, followed by the $16-million (equivalent to ${{Formatprice|{{inflation|US-GDP|16000000|1960}}}} in {{Inflation/year|index=US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|index=US-GDP}}) [[Fort Pitt Tunnel]] on September 1, 1960, using the West End Bypass (PA&nbsp;51) and Carson Street ([[Pennsylvania Route 837|PA&nbsp;837]]) as detours until the Fort Pitt Tunnel opened. The Parkway East ended in Churchill, with eastbound traffic continuing ahead on the William Penn Highway, until the $11.12-million (equivalent to ${{Formatprice|{{inflation|US-GDP|11124763|1962}}}} in {{Inflation/year|index=US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|index=US-GDP}}) extension east to the [[Pennsylvania Turnpike]] in [[Monroeville, Pennsylvania|Monroeville]] opened October 27, 1962.<ref name="pah-i376" /> The final piece of Parkway West (the part which has never had an Interstate route number), from PA&nbsp;60 west to the US&nbsp;22/US&nbsp;30 split at [[Imperial, Pennsylvania|Imperial]], opened in 1964.<ref name="pahighways 279">{{cite web  |last=Kitsko |first= Jeffrey J. |url= http://www.pahighways.com/interstates/I279.html |work= Pennsylvania Highways |title= Interstate 279 |date= April 12, 2010 |access-date= August 20, 2011}}{{sps|certain=yes|date=September 2018}}</ref><ref name="pahighways 22">{{cite web  |last=Kitsko |first= Jeffrey J. |url= http://www.pahighways.com/us/US22.html |work= Pennsylvania Highways |title= US&nbsp;22: William Penn Highway |date= April 12, 2010 |access-date= August 20, 2011}}{{sps|certain=yes|date=September 2018}}</ref> Early plans for that section would have instead taken it from PA&nbsp;60 where it splits with [[Pennsylvania Route 60 Business|PA&nbsp;60 Bus]]. northwest to US&nbsp;30 near Campmeeting Road at [[Clinton, Pennsylvania|Clinton]].<ref>{{cite map |url= http://www.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_PDF_FILES/Maps/Type_10_GHS_Historical_Scans/Allegheny_1950_Sheet_1.pdf |format= PDF |title=General Highway Map—Allegheny County, Pennsylvania |year= 1950 |publisher= Pennsylvania Department of Highways |access-date= June 27, 2017 }}</ref>

The next section that opened was in 1968 from the present-day exit&nbsp;2 with [[Pennsylvania Route 18|PA&nbsp;18]] to where PA&nbsp;18 intersects with the present-day [[Pennsylvania Route 760|PA&nbsp;760]] just north of [[Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania|I-80]] and the western terminus of I-376.<ref name="1970map">{{cite map|url=http://www.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_pdf_files/Maps/Statewide/Historic_OTMs/1970fr.pdf |title=Official Map of Pennsylvania |publisher=[[Pennsylvania Department of Highways]] |format=PDF |year=1970 |access-date=June 27, 2017 }}</ref><ref name="1960map">{{cite map|url=http://www.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_pdf_files/Maps/Statewide/Historic_OTMs/1960fr.pdf |title=Official Map of Pennsylvania |publisher=Pennsylvania Department of Highways |format=PDF |year=1960 |access-date=June 27, 2017 }}</ref>

Work began on the Beaver County sections of I-376 (in between [[Chippewa Township, Beaver County, Pennsylvania|Chippewa Township]] and the Airport Parkway) in 1971 and would finish by 1976.<ref name="1970map" /><ref>{{cite map |title=Pennsylvania |year=1971 |edition=1971 |publisher=[[Citgo]] |cartography=[[H.M. Gousha Company]]}}</ref> The following year, the northern section finished construction, which would leave a gap between [[New Castle, Pennsylvania|New Castle]] and Chippewa Township for the next 15&nbsp;years. Until the middle section was completed, in order to continue on the highway, travelers had to use [[U.S. Route 422 in Pennsylvania|US&nbsp;422]], [[Pennsylvania Route 168|PA&nbsp;168]], PA&nbsp;18, [[Pennsylvania Route 251|PA&nbsp;251]], and PA&nbsp;51 before returning to the highway. Until that section opened, the present-day exit&nbsp;12A marked the southern terminus of the northern section of PA&nbsp;60 as an "END&nbsp;60" sign was located near the exit.

In the early to mid-1980s, the entire section from downtown to Monroeville was refurbished.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Fisher|first1=Ken|title=Parkway rebuilding project enters final stage|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=JrRRAAAAIBAJ&pg=2861%2C8065961|access-date=27 June 2017|work=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]|date=March 29, 1985|page=4}}</ref>

The Southern Expressway, a southern bypass of PIT, opened on September 9, 1992, and is the newest portion of I-376.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=oLQiAAAAIBAJ&dq=southern%20expressway%20pittsburgh&pg=2869%2C5392975 |title=Casey flying high over expressway |last=Donovan |first=Sandra Fischione |date=August 28, 1990 |newspaper=The Beaver County Times |pages=A1, A8 |access-date=April 14, 2010}}</ref><ref name="airport">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GbsiAAAAIBAJ&dq=airport%20expressway%20pittsburgh&pg=2257%2C4243752 |title=Airport Expressway is born: Road longer, travel quicker |last=Thorner |first=Jim |date=September 16, 1992 |newspaper=The Weekly Times |publisher=The Beaver County Times |page=1 |access-date=April 14, 2010}}</ref>

[[File:Interstate 376 - Pennsylvania (8460360599).jpg|right|thumb|220px|I-376 at the interchange with I-279 in Pittsburgh in 2012]]
The next leg of the route opened to [[Pennsylvania Route 108|PA&nbsp;108]] in 1991 and to PA&nbsp;51 in Chippewa on November 30, 1992, as the {{Convert|16.5|mi|km|adj=on}} $260-million (equivalent to ${{Formatprice|{{inflation|US-GDP|260000000|1992}}}} in {{Inflation/year|index=US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|index=US-GDP}}) "missing link" between two sections of PA&nbsp;60, when that route's designation was on the highway.<ref>{{cite news|title=Route 60: Toll road completes an unfinished dream|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SLYiAAAAIBAJ&dq=beaver%20valley%20expressway&pg=2399%2C4736539|access-date=27 June 2017|work=[[Beaver County Times]]|publisher=The Times/Beaver Newspapers, Inc., Pennsylvania|date=November 19, 1992 |format= Editorial|page=A6}}</ref> The aforementioned "END&nbsp;60" sign was removed when the first leg of the middle section opened in 1991, and a "No re-entry this exit" sign has sat on the site since due to exit&nbsp;12A being an indirect connection to US&nbsp;422 westbound without a direct reentry ramp.

In 2003, the toll plaza at the PA turnpike interchange was removed.

The PTC retrofitted [[E-ZPass]] lanes on the tolled section of I-376 in 2006 at both the two mainline toll plazas as well as the exits that collect tolls.<ref>{{cite press release|first=Joe |last=Agnello |url=http://www.paturnpike.com/news/2006/Mar/nr031606.htm |title=E-ZPASS, Other Enhancements Coming This Year to Greensburg and Beaver Valley Expressways |publisher=[[Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission]] |date=March 16, 2006 |access-date=March 15, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081014041055/http://www.paturnpike.com/news/2006/Mar/nr031606.htm |archive-date=October 14, 2008 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

[[File:Toll376.jpg|thumb|200px|right|A "Toll I-376" trailblazer on the tolled section of I-376]]
As part of the [[Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users]] in 2005, Congress had designated an expansion of I-376 past I-79 and along present day US&nbsp;22/US&nbsp;30 and PA&nbsp;60 through [[Pittsburgh International Airport]] and north to I-80 near [[Sharon, Pennsylvania|Sharon]]. This was done because the airport was one of the few major airports in the US without direct access to an Interstate Highway.<ref name="PIT" /> This routing required some major infrastructure work on [[U.S. Route 22 in Pennsylvania|US&nbsp;22]] west of Downtown Pittsburgh (particularly at the US&nbsp;22/US&nbsp;30 [[cloverleaf interchange]] in [[Robinson Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania|Robinson Township]]) and safety improvements to PA&nbsp;60; though both were [[controlled-access freeway]]s before the extension, they were not up to [[Interstate Highway standards]] in all areas. The improvements to both the US&nbsp;22/US&nbsp;30 cloverleaf in Robinson Township and the [[Lawrence County, Pennsylvania|Lawrence County]] leg of the route, as well as replacing all of the signs with the I-376 shield, were funded by the [[American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009]].<ref name="Complete" />  The designation of I-279 from Downtown west through the Fort Pitt Tunnel to I-79 was officially dropped and replaced by that of I-376 on June 10, 2009.<ref name="Interstate 279" /><ref>{{cite press release |url= http://www.dot.state.pa.us/penndot/districts/district11.nsf/37fc68a0aa7b94e9852570a70047899c/fe6cdfe66974764c852575d1004590a9?OpenDocument |access-date= June 12, 2009 |publisher= Pennsylvania Department of Transportation District 11 |title= PennDOT Begins Sign Work to Convert Parkway West (I-279) to I-376 |date= June 10, 2009 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110607213945/http://www.dot.state.pa.us/penndot/districts/district11.nsf/37fc68a0aa7b94e9852570a70047899c/fe6cdfe66974764c852575d1004590a9?OpenDocument |archive-date= June 7, 2011 |df= mdy-all }}</ref> I-279 still exists between I-376 in the Golden Triangle and I-79 in Franklin Park. On November 6, 2009, officials announced the initial transition was complete.<ref name=Complete>{{cite news |first= Jon |last= Schmitz |work= Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |date= November 6, 2009 |url= http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09310/1011377-455.stm |title= Highway now I-376 from Monroeville to Mercer |access-date= August 20, 2011}}</ref> On January 21, 2010, the remainder of the route except for the Beaver Valley Expressway started receiving the I-376 signs. The stretch of PA&nbsp;60 from I-80 in Shenango Township of Mercer County north past PA&nbsp;18 (where the freeway terminates and the highway reverts to being a two-lane arterial) to the former northern terminus of PA&nbsp;60 in Sharon became PA&nbsp;760.<ref name=PennDOTMercer>{{cite map |publisher= Pennsylvania Department of Transportation |title= Mercer County, Pennsylvania Highway Map |url= http://www.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_pdf_files/Maps/GHS/Roadnames/mercer_GHSN.PDF |format= PDF |year= 2010 |access-date= June 27, 2017}}</ref> On August 1, 2010, signage along PA Turnpike&nbsp;60 was officially changed to I-376,<ref name=ptc60>{{cite press release |url= http://www.paturnpike.com/press/2010/20100726160344.htm |title= Effective August&nbsp;1 New Signage Marks Turnpike 60 Conversion to I-376 |publisher= [[Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission]] |date= July 26, 2010 |access-date= July 30, 2010 |archive-date= September 13, 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100913173029/http://www.paturnpike.com/press/2010/20100726160344.htm |url-status= dead }}</ref> and, unlike other tolled highways with an Interstate designation, it is not [[grandfathered]] from [[Interstate Highway standards|Interstate standards]]. Having been built in the early 1990s, this section was already up to Interstate standards. This section of I-376 is signed as "Toll I-376", with a black-on-yellow "Toll" sign above the I-376 trailblazer. This makes I-376 one of the first tolled Interstates with such a marker, which was a new addition to the 2009 edition of the [[Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices]].<ref>{{cite web |author= Staff |url= https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/shsm_interim/index.htm |title=Standard Highway Signs and Markings (SHSM) Interim Releases for New and Revised Signs |publisher= [[Federal Highway Administration]] |work=[[Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices]] |date= August 1, 2011 |access-date= August 20, 2011}}</ref> Despite PennDOT giving motorists over four years of advance notice on the I-376 extension, some local drivers were confused after the transition was complete, thinking that the I-376 extension was going to be an all-new highway instead of a renaming of PA&nbsp;60.<ref name="Youngstown" />

I n 2014, exit 1C was rebuilt into a full interchange rather than legacy eastbound exit, mainly to serve as access to I-80 to [[West Middlesex, Pennsylvania|West Middlesex]] residents. It marked the third partial interchange on the legacy PA&nbsp;60/Parkway West to be upgraded to a full-service interchange in a decade, after I-79 at exit&nbsp;64A and access to US&nbsp;30 at exit&nbsp;52 were upgraded from partial to full-service interchanges.<ref name="PA318" />

Along with the [[Delaware River–Turnpike Toll Bridge]] (which is affected by the ongoing [[Pennsylvania Turnpike/Interstate 95 Interchange Project]]), the Beaver Valley Expressway became one of the first sections of the Pennsylvania Turnpike system to implement all-electronic tolling, which began along the Beaver Valley Expressway on April 30, 2017.<ref name=ptctolls2017>{{cite book|title=2017 Toll Schedule|publisher=Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission|year=2017|access-date=January 8, 2017|url=https://www.paturnpike.com/pdfs/tolls/tolls_2017/2017_Tolls.pdf|archive-date=January 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109021937/https://www.paturnpike.com/pdfs/tolls/tolls_2017/2017_Tolls.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=wtae61815/> The Beaver Valley Expressway was selected as a test area so that the PTC could work out any bugs with mailing non-E-ZPass users bills with their unpaid tolls.<ref name=wtae61815>{{cite web|url=http://www.wtae.com/news/pennsylvania-turnpike-to-end-usual-tolls-at-jersey-crossing/33653708|title=No more cash for Turnpike tolls at Beaver County plaza|publisher=[[WTAE-TV]]|location=Pittsburgh, PA|date=June 18, 2015|access-date=July 10, 2015}}</ref>

A bridge crossing I-376 from Oakland to Greenfield, the [[Greenfield Bridge]], gained some national notoriety on an episode of ''[[Last Week Tonight with John Oliver]]'' concerning [[infrastructure]]. The state could not immediately afford to replace the crumbling bridge, so instead a cover was built under the bridge to protect the vehicles on I-376. The Greenfield Bridge was finally demolished in December 2015, and a replacement was built over the following two years, officially opening on October 14, 2017.<ref>[http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2017/10/14/greenfield-bridge-opens-early/ Greenfield Bridge Opens Early After All-Day Celebration] [[KDKA-TV]] (10/14/2017)</ref>

===Route designations prior to 2009===
[[File:Interstate 376 - Pennsylvania (4164405272).jpg|thumb|left|The western end of I-376 at I-279 in Pittsburgh in 2003.  Upon its extension in 2009, the END panels were replaced with WEST panels]]
From PA&nbsp;60 to I-376's eastern terminus, I-376 has had the US&nbsp;22 and US&nbsp;30 designations for its entire history (US&nbsp;30 exiting at Wilkinsburg). Until 1961, it also carried the [[Pennsylvania Route 80|PA&nbsp;80]] designation until that route was [[Decommissioned highway|decommissioned]] due to Pennsylvania needing the designation for [[Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania|I-80]] to the north. In 1956, PA&nbsp;60 was commissioned to have the Airport Parkway and the former alignment of US&nbsp;22 and US&nbsp;30 to Pittsburgh's West End.

From 1959 to 1964, I-70 occupied the highway east of [[Pennsylvania Route 50|PA&nbsp;50]] in [[Carnegie, Pennsylvania|Carnegie]].<ref name="1960map"/> When I-70 moved to its current alignment (replacing I-70S) in 1964, the route received the [[Interstate 76 in Pennsylvania|I-76]] designation into Pittsburgh.<ref name="76 history">{{cite web |first= Richard |last= Weingroff |work= Ask the Rambler |url= https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/i76.cfm |title=Was I-76 Numbered to Honor Philadelphia for Independence Day, 1776? |date= April 7, 2011 |access-date= August 20, 2011}}</ref> West of Pittsburgh, from 1963 to 1970, [[Interstate 79 in Pennsylvania|I-79]] occupied the route. In West Middlesex, the route would receive the PA&nbsp;18 designation while the former alignment would receive a [[business route]] designation as PA&nbsp;18 Business, since it served as a bypass of West Middlesex.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kitsko |first= Jeffrey J. |url= http://www.pahighways.com/state/PA1-50.html#BUSPA18 |work= Pennsylvania Highways |title= PA&nbsp;1–PA&nbsp;50 |date= March 17, 2010 |access-date= August 20, 2011}}{{sps|certain=yes|date=September 2018}}</ref>

In 1970, I-79 swapped positions with [[Interstate 279|I-279]], necessitating that I-76 be extended to I-79. With commencement on the Beaver Valley Expressway in 1971, PA&nbsp;60 was extended to its future northern terminus in Chippewa. Finally, on October 2, 1972, after I-76 west of Monroeville moved to the [[Pennsylvania Turnpike]] and replaced I-80S, the western part of the highway took the I-279 designation while the section from Pittsburgh east to Monroeville would become the first section with the I-376 designation.<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> When I-376 was extended onto the Parkway West in 2009, I-279 was truncated to its current southern terminus at the former western terminus of I-376.<ref name="Interstate 279">{{cite news |first= Jon |last= Schmitz |title= Roads unite to form new Interstate 376 |url= http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09162/976662-147.stm |work=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]] |date= June 11, 2009 |access-date= June 12, 2009 }}</ref>

PA&nbsp;18 Business was decommissioned in 1978 when PA&nbsp;18 returned to its former alignment (where it has remained to this day) and PA&nbsp;60 was extended all the way to Hermitage.<ref name="1980map">{{cite map |url= http://www.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_pdf_files/Maps/Statewide/Historic_OTMs/1980fr.pdf |title= Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Official Transportation Map |publisher= [[Pennsylvania Department of Transportation]] |format= PDF |year= 1980 |access-date= June 27, 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite map|url=http://www.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_PDF_FILES/Maps/Type_10_GHS_Historical_Scans/Mercer_1987.pdf |title=General Highway Map—Mercer County, Pennsylvania |publisher=Pennsylvania Department of Transportation |format=PDF |year=1987 |access-date=June 27, 2017 }}</ref>
{{infobox road small
|state=PA
|type=Toll
|route=60
|name=Pennsylvania Route 60 Toll
|location=[[Chippewa Township, Beaver County, Pennsylvania|Chippewa Township]] – [[New Castle, Pennsylvania|New Castle]]
|formed=1991
|deleted=2009
}}
On November 30, 1992, the {{Convert|16.2|mi|km|adj=on}} gap in Beaver County was completed with a toll highway.<ref>{{cite news|title=Thornburgh Supports State Study on Beaver Expressway Link Job|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CZ9RAAAAIBAJ&pg=6970%2C1948070|access-date=27 June 2017|work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|date=August 15, 1979|page=5}}{{Failed verification|date=June 2017}}</ref>

When the Beaver Valley Expressway started opening in 1991, it would receive the "PA Toll&nbsp;60" designation, because it was operated by the [[Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission|PTC]]. With the opening of the Southern Expressway in 1992, PA&nbsp;60 moved to that highway, while the Airport Parkway received the PA&nbsp;60 Bus designation. PA&nbsp;60 was eventually extended to Sharon in 1997, ending at [[U.S. Route 62 Business (Sharon, Pennsylvania)|US&nbsp;62 Bus]].<ref>{{cite map|url=http://www.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_PDF_FILES/Maps/Type_10_GHS_Historical_Scans/Mercer_1997.pdf |title=General Highway Map—Mercer County, Pennsylvania |publisher=Pennsylvania Department of Transportation |format=PDF |year=1997 |access-date=June 27, 2017 }}</ref>