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| Interstate 279 Auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System |
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| Maintained by PennDOT | |||||||||||||
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| Length: | 13.3 mi[1] (21.40 km) | ||||||||||||
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| Formed: | 1972 | ||||||||||||
| South end: |    I-376/US 22/US 30 in Pittsburgh |
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| Major junctions: |
  I-579/PA 28 in Pittsburgh |
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| North end: |  I-79 in Franklin Park |
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>Interstate 279 (abbreviated I-279) is a north–south Interstate Highway spur that lies entirely within Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Its southern end is at Interstate 376 in Pittsburgh, and the north end in Franklin Park at Interstate 79. It primarily serves at the main access route between Pittsburgh and its northern suburbs. As of June 11, 2009, I-279 has been truncated and now ends at the Fort Pitt Bridge in Pittsburgh. The Parkway West section has been renumbered as Interstate 376.
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Route description
The highway is locally referred to as "Parkway North". At the southern terminus of 279, the highway continues as Interstate 376. I-279 also has a concurrency with U.S. Route 19 Truck from its southern terminus to exit 11. This concurrency continues on Interstate 376. I-279's southern terminus is at Interstate 376 in downtown Pittsburgh. Interstate 579 intersects I-279, but is only accessible by southbound traffic; likewise, traffic from I-579 can only head northbound on I-279 by the Interstate 279 Interchange. 279 crosses the Fort Duquesne Bridge over the Allegheny River, providing easy access to Heinz Field and PNC Park. The Parkway North features two reversible HOV lanes. A related tragedy occurred in 1995 when a negligent highway worker failed to close the outbound gates, leading to a headon 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.
History
The former southern portion of the highway, from the southern interchange with Interstate 79 to downtown Pittsburgh was a completed highway long before the section that runs from north of downtown, from downtown Pittsburgh to the northern interchange with Interstate 79. In fact, the I-279 designation was once used for the sections of Interstate 79 west of Pittsburgh, with the idea being that once the North Hills extension was completed, that the highway west of the city would be numbered Interstate 279, and the highway running through Pittsburgh would be numbered as Interstate 79. Plans were made to extend I-279 to its current northern terminus in Franklin Park, and construction began in the mid 1980s, and the construction concluded in September 1989. During the late 1990s and the early 2000s, several rehabilitation and construction projects were done on the Fort Pitt Bridge and the tunnels, creating detours and traffic problems during the construction projects.
Southern section renamed Interstate 376
I-279 now ends at the Fort Pitt Bridge. Temporarily, the segment from Carnegie to the Ft. Pitt Bridge has been labeled, I-279/I-376/US-22/US30. By the end of 2009 all the 279 signs will be removed, and the exit numbers will be changed to reflect the route (Exit 7ABC = Exit 1ABC)[2].
Exit list
The entire route is in Allegheny County.
| Location | # | Destinations | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Old | New | |||
| Pittsburgh | 6A |  I-376 (Penn-Lincoln Parkway, US 22, US 30) – Downtown Pittsburgh, Monroeville, Pittsburgh International Airport |
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| 6C | 1A | Fort Duquesne Boulevard – Convention Center, Strip District | ||
| Fort Duquesne Bridge over Allegheny River | ||||
| Pittsburgh | ||||
| 7A | 1B | North Shore - Heinz Field, PNC Park, Carnegie Science Center | No northbound entrance | |
| 7B | 1C |   PA 65 north (Ohio River Boulevard) to US 19 |
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| 9th Street | Southbound exit and northbound entrance; HOV only | |||
| 7C | 1D |  PA 28 north / Chestnut Street, Ohio Street – Etna |
Southbound exit is via exit 8B | |
| 8A | 2A |  I-579 south (Veterans Bridge) |
Southbound exit and northbound entrance | |
| 8B | 2B | East Street | Southbound exit and northbound entrance | |
| 9 | 3 | Hazlett Street | Northbound exit and entrance | |
| 10 | 4 | Venture Street | Southbound exit and entrance. Provides access to US 19 Truck North | |
| 11 | 4 |  US 19 Truck north (McKnight Road) / Evergreen Road |
North end of US 19 Truck overlap; northbound exit and southbound entrance | |
| Ross Township | 12 | 5 | US 19 (Perrysville Avenue) |
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| 14 | 7 | Bellevue, West View | ||
| Ohio Township | 15 | 8 | Camp Horne Road | |
| Franklin Park | 20 |  I-79 north – Erie |
Northbound exit and southbound entrance | |
References
- ^ Route Log - Auxiliary Routes of the Eisenhower National System Of Interstate and Defense Highways - Table 2
- ^ "Roads unite to form new Interstate 376". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09162/976662-147.stm. Retrieved 2009-06-11.
- DeLorme computer program
External links
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