Interstate 70

Interstate 70 is a long interstate highway in the United States. It runs from Cove Fort, Utah at Interstate 15 to a Park and Ride in Baltimore, Maryland.

Length

When I-70 leaves the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Breezewood, Pennsylvania, there is a sign of a policeman pointing at you saying, "You! Slow Down!" You then have to drive a few blocks on US 30 before returning to I-70. This is a rare instance of a traffic light on an interstate. This could be fixed by building a direct connection between the PA Turnpike and the freeway section of I-70. However, it is argued that building a direct connection between the two would disrupt the economy in Breezewood which serves motorists passing through the town.

I-70 was originally supposed to intersect with Interstate 95 in Baltimore. Due to opposition from environmental groups, this plan was scrapped. The intersection to I-95 and the spur route to downtown (I-170) had already been built before plans were cancelled. The signs for I-170 are now replaced with signs for US 40, and I-70 terminates in a Park and Ride. Only the exit ramp to nowhere on I-95 lets you know it was planned.

The aforementioned I-170 ends shortly beyond the US 1 (Fulton Avenue/Monroe Street) junction. No traffic is allowed on this part of the freeway (all traffic must utilize the exit ramp back to surface streets and US 40), although streetlights and an empty sign bridge serve as proof that I-170 was to be extended beyond this point, along with vacant ramps to/from US 1. After the I-70 extension was scrapped, I-170 was to continue towards I-95 and be renamed I-595. After that plan fell through, US 40 was rerouted to the old I-170 freeway. A ghost ramp onto southbound I-95, the most obvious clue that I-70/I-595 was planned to intersect there, has been demolished.

I-70 could be extended into New York City, via I-695, I-95 and the New Jersey Turnpike, and it could also go through Baltimore after all. As for its current terminus in Baltimore, the I-70 designation would be completely dropped for possibly I-995, which would meet its shameful end at a Park & Ride. The new I-70 extension would be routed along the southwestern edge of I-695, follow I-95 through Baltimore up to Wilmington, Delaware, and then follow the New Jersey Turnpike to Newark, New Jersey, where it would then enter Manhattan along the former I-495. The opposition to this would be that this would create a 150-mile multiplex of I-70 and I-95 and that it would be as silly as, say, extending I-70 to Los Angeles via I-15 and I-10.

I-70 could also be extended eastward to Dover, Delaware, along I-695, I-97, and the U.S. 50/U.S. 301/I-595 multiplex to the east side of the Chesapeake Bay.

Although there are no immediate plans to upgrade MD 32 between West Friendship, Maryland and Millersville, Maryland to Interstate status, one possibility is to rename the highway Interstate 870 (although it might be a secret route at first). This is because all of the I-x95 spur routes in the Baltimore-Washington metropolis have been exhausted. Also, I-870 would connect I-70 in the west to I-97 in the east. It would serve as a halfway interstate route between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., and also link to the communities of Columbia, Maryland, Savage, Maryland and Fort Meade in between.

There are plans to completely dismantle the I-170 freeway in Baltimore, similar to the demolition of the hated I-480 in San Francisco. The overpasses would also be demolished, and the trench created for the freeway would be refilled so that new houses and/or businesses could be built. In addition, the streets that currently cross the freeway would be rebuilt as new surface streets, and US 40 would once again follow the entire Mulberry Street/Franklin Street corridors to/from downtown.

In Frederick, Maryland, I-70 was split into two branches: I-70N, which led into Baltimore, and I-70S, which took a path into the Washington, D.C. area. I-70N is now I-70, while I-70S has been renamed I-270. The I-70S designation was also used for the current I-70 freeway in Western Pennsylvania. (There are signs along US 40 in Baltimore that still depict the I-70 freeway as I-70N. Trucks are directed onto it via I-695.)

I-70 went through Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at one point; its original route has been incorporated into I-376, as well as parts of I-76, I-79 and I-279.

I-470 around Denver exists in three sections: CO 470 (main), E-470 (eastern extension) and W-470 (western extension). There are no immediate plans to promote the 470s (as they are called in Denver) to Interstate status, and no I-470 signs are to be found in Denver, but it could happen if Colorado wanted to do so.

The Eisenhower Tunnel on I-70 is the highest vehicular tunnel in the world, and the longest tunnel built under the interstate program.

In Kansas City, Missouri, I-670 cuts directly through the downtown while I-70 bypasses the taller buildings. Westbound I-670 is also designated Alternate I-70 making this the only "alternate" interstate in the country.

In Saint Louis, Missouri, I-70 spawns two child routes: I-170, or the Innerbelt Expressway, and I-270, or the American Veterans Memoral Highway. In addition to the two child routes, people often confuse Missouri Route 370 to be I-370. The 12 mile freeway gives area commuters an alternate route across the Missouri River, allowing them to avoid the congestion on I-70's Blanchette Bridge crossing of the Missouri River. Route 370 runs from I-270 at the Bridgeton/Hazelwood border (at Exit 22B) to I-70 in St. Peters (at Exit 224).

2005 Rand McNally "The Road Atlas 2005" - newest feature- interstate mileage by state

Primary Interstate Highways


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