Interstate 76 runs from an intersection with Interstate 71 between Seville, Ohio and Westfield Center, Ohio, about 20 miles (32 km) west of Akron, to an intersection with I-295 near Camden, New Jersey. For much of its course it is coterminous with the Pennsylvania Turnpike and the Ohio Turnpike.

It has been suggested that the number was chosen (when it was renumbered from I-80S) because the United States Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia in 1776, but there is no evidence of this.[1]

Length

Major cities along the route

• Akron, Ohio
• Youngstown, Ohio (skirts eastern and southern boundaries)
• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (through northern and eastern suburbs)
• Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Intersections with other Interstates

• Interstate 71 between Seville, Ohio and Westfield Center, Ohio
• Interstate 77 in Akron, Ohio (it runs concurrently with I-77 through downtown Akron for a few miles)
• Interstate 277 in Akron, Ohio (a connector to Interstate 77 on the south side of Akron)
• Interstate 80 in Austintown, Ohio
• Interstate 79 near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Interstate 99 in Wolfsburg, Pennsylvania
• Interstate 70 in New Stanton, Pennsylvania. They stay joined until Breezewood, Pennsylvania .
• Interstate 81 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania
• Interstate 83 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
• Interstate 95 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Spur routes

• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - I-376, I-576
• Spur to Reading, Pennsylvania - I-176
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - I-276, I-476 (now extended to Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania), I-676

Notes

• Some of the ramps at the interchange with Interstate 95 involve traffic lights; I-676 in Philadelphia also has traffic lights at the entrance to the Ben Franklin Bridge. This is because building a freeway would have disturbed historically significant areas in Philadelphia. I-76 was originally routed along the Vine Street Expressway while I-676 went on the Schuylkill Expressway, but they switched designations in 1974 due to the holdup in building the Vine Street Expressway.

• At 129 miles (207 km), I-476 is America's longest three-digit interstate. It's longer than the western Interstate 86, Interstate 19, and Interstate 97. By comparison, the average length of a three-digit interstate is 21 miles (34 km). Nevertheless, no three-digit interstate is longer than its parent.

• I-76 ends at I-295 in New Jersey, but the freeway continues as Route 42 and the Atlantic City Expressway to Atlantic City, New Jersey. While the South Jersey Transportation Authority (which owns the ACE) is not against the idea, they feel that making the change without a compelling reason would only add to motorists' confusion in southern New Jersey.

• Until mid-2003, one had to exit on U.S. Highway 19 in Cranberry Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania in order to enter Interstate 79. This is no longer true; there is a direct intersection between I-76 and I-79, thanks to the Cranberry Connector project.

References

• 2005 Rand McNally Road Atlas
• NJDOT Straight Line Diagrams