Interstate 80

"I-80" redirects here. For other uses, see I80.

Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one of the original routes of the Interstate Highway System; its final segment was opened in 1986. At a length of 2,900.76 miles (4,668.32 km), it is the second-longest Interstate Highway in the United States, after I-90. It runs through many major cities, including Oakland, Sacramento, Reno, Salt Lake City, Cheyenne, Omaha, Des Moines, and Toledo, and passes within 10 miles (16 km) of Chicago, Cleveland, and New York City.

I-80 is the Interstate Highway that most closely approximates the route of the historic Lincoln Highway, the first trans-continental auto trail. The highway roughly traces other historically significant travel routes in the Western United States: the Oregon Trail across Wyoming and Nebraska, the California Trail across most of Nevada and California, the first transcontinental airmail route, and the route of the first transcontinental railroad, except for the vicinity of the Great Salt Lake.

From near Chicago east to near Youngstown, Ohio, I-80 is a toll road, containing most of both the Indiana Toll Road and the Ohio Turnpike. I-80 runs concurrently with I-90 from near Portage, Indiana, to Elyria, Ohio. In Pennsylvania, I-80 is known as the Keystone Shortway, a non-tolled freeway that crosses rural north-central portions of the state on the way to New Jersey and New York City.

Route description

Template:Lengths table |- |CA |style="text-align:right;"|199.24 |style="text-align:right;"|320.65 |- |NV |style="text-align:right;"|410.67 |style="text-align:right;"|660.91 |- |UT |style="text-align:right;"|197.51 |style="text-align:right;"|317.86 |- |WY |style="text-align:right;"|402.76 |style="text-align:right;"|648.18 |- |NE |style="text-align:right;"|455.32 |style="text-align:right;"|732.77 |- |IA |style="text-align:right;"|303.23 |style="text-align:right;"|488.00 |- |IL |style="text-align:right;"|163.52 |style="text-align:right;"|263.16 |- |IN |style="text-align:right;"|151.56 |style="text-align:right;"|243.91 |- |OH |style="text-align:right;"|237.48 |style="text-align:right;"|382.19 |- |PA |style="text-align:right;"|311.12 |style="text-align:right;"|500.70 |- |NJ |style="text-align:right;"|68.35 |style="text-align:right;"|110.00 |- class="sortbottom" |Total |style="text-align:right;"|2,900.76 |style="text-align:right;"|4,668.32 |}

File:2022-03-27 15 13 23 View north along U.S. Route 101 (Bayshore Freeway) approaching Exit 433B (Interstate 80-Bay Bridge) in San Francisco, California.jpg

Western terminus of I-80 at US 101 in San Francisco

File:I-80 Eastshore Fwy.jpg

I-80 is a major urban freeway in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Dusk view of a freeway descending into a neon lit cityscape

I-80 descending into Reno, Nevada, from the Sierra Nevada

File:02162008 Interstate80NWUtah.JPG

Mountains of the Great Salt Lake as seen approaching Salt Lake City from the west

File:2015-05-09 14 45 12 View east along Interstate 80 and U.S. Route 30 in Green River, Wyoming approaching the Green River Tunnel.jpg

Green River Tunnel in Green River, Wyoming, one of three sets of tunnels along I-80

File:GPRRAMKearney.jpg

The Great Platte River Road Archway Monument in Kearney, Nebraska, which spans I-80

A highway underneath a clear sky surrounded by harvested cropland and green pastures

I-80 near Walnut, Iowa

File:WB I-80 before the I-94-IL 394 interchange in Lansing, IL.jpg

Westbound Kingery Expressway in Lansing, Illinois

File:Eastbound Borman Expressway, Hammond, Indiana.jpg

The Borman Expressway in Hammond, Indiana, approaching exit 3

File:Cuyahoga Valley overlooking I-80 Ohio Turnpike.jpg

I-80 Ohio Turnpike at the Cuyahoga River

File:2022-06-06 18 39 21 Sign reading "Highest Point on Interstate 80 East of the Mississippi River" along eastbound Interstate 80 (Keystone Shortway) just east of Exit 111 in Pine Township, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania.jpg

Sign noting the highest point on I-80 east of the Mississippi River located in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania

File:2014-05-07 16 21 42 View of the eastern end of Interstate 80 from an airplane heading for Newark Airport-cropped.JPG

The eastern end of I-80 in Bergen County, New Jersey. Visible at the top of the photo are the George Washington Bridge and New York City.

File:2020-07-12 08 06 44 View south along the local lanes of Interstate 95 (Bergen-Passaic Expressway) at Exit 69 (Interstate 80 WEST, To Garden State Parkway, Paterson) in Teaneck Township, Bergen County, New Jersey.jpg

The east end of I-80 at I-95 in Teaneck, New Jersey

California

Main article: Interstate 80 in California

See also: San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, Carquinez Bridge, and Yolo Causeway

I-80 begins at an interchange with US Route 101 (US 101) in San Francisco and then crosses the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge into Oakland. It then heads northeast through Vallejo, Sacramento, and the Sierra Nevada before crossing into Nevada.

A portion of the route through Pinole involved the experimental transplantation of the rare species Santa Cruz tarplant in the right-of-way.

Nevada

Main article: Interstate 80 in Nevada

In Nevada, I-80 traverses the northern portion of the state. The freeway serves the Reno metropolitan area, and it also goes through the towns of Fernley, Lovelock, Winnemucca, Battle Mountain, Elko, Wells, and West Wendover on its way through the state.

The Nevada portion of I-80 follows the paths of the Truckee and Humboldt rivers, which have been used as a transportation corridor since the California Gold Rush of the 1840s. The Interstate also follows the historical routes of the California Trail, first transcontinental railroad, and Feather River Route throughout portions of the state. I-80 in Nevada closely follows, and at many points directly overlaps, the original route of the Victory Highway, State Route 1 (SR 1), and US 40.

Utah

Main article: Interstate 80 in Utah

After crossing Utah's western border in Wendover, I-80 crosses the desolate Bonneville Salt Flats west of the Great Salt Lake. The longest stretch between exits on an Interstate Highway is located between Wendover and Knolls, with 37.4 miles (60.2 km) between those exits. This portion of I-80, crossing the Great Salt Lake Desert, is extremely flat and straight, dotted with large warning signs about driver fatigue and drowsiness.

East of the salt flats, I-80 passes the southern edge of Great Salt Lake and continues on through Salt Lake City, where it merges with I-15 for three miles (4.8 km) before entering the Wasatch Range east of the city. It ascends Parleys Canyon and passes within a few miles of Park City as it follows a route through the mountains toward the junction with the eastern terminus of the western section of I-84. From the junction it continues up Echo Canyon and on toward the border with Wyoming, near Evanston.

The route of the Utah section of I-80 is defined in Utah Code Annotated § 72-4-113(10).

Wyoming

Main article: Interstate 80 in Wyoming

In Wyoming, I-80 reaches its maximum elevation of 8,640 feet (2,630 m) above sea level at Sherman Summit, near Buford, which, at 8,000 feet (2,400 m), is the highest community on I-80. Farther west in Wyoming, the Interstate passes through the dry Red Desert and over the Continental Divide. In a way, the highway crosses the Divide twice, since two ridges of the Rocky Mountains split in Wyoming, forming the endorheic Great Divide Basin, from which surface water cannot drain but can only evaporate.

Nebraska

Main article: Interstate 80 in Nebraska

I-80 enters Nebraska west of Bushnell. The western portion of I-80 in Nebraska runs very close to the state of Colorado, without entering the state. The intersection of I-76 and I-80 is visible from the Colorado–Nebraska state line. From its intersection with I-76 to Grand Island, I-80 lies in the valley of the South Platte River and the Platte River.

The longest straight stretch of Interstate anywhere in the Interstate Highway System is the approximately 72 miles (116 km) of I-80 occurring between exit 318 in the Grand Island area and milemarker 390 near Lincoln. Along this length, the road does not vary from an ideally straight line by more than a few yards. After Lincoln, I-80 turns northeast toward Omaha. It then crosses the Missouri River in Omaha to enter the state of Iowa. Part of I-80 in Nebraska is marked as a Blue Star Memorial Highway.

Iowa

Main article: Interstate 80 in Iowa

I-80 is the longest Interstate Highway in Iowa. It extends from west to east across the central portion of the state through the population centers of Council Bluffs, Des Moines, and the Quad Cities. It enters the state at the Missouri River in Council Bluffs and heads east through the southern Iowa drift plain. In the Des Moines metropolitan area, I-80 meets up with I-35 and the two routes bypass Downtown Des Moines together while I-235 proceeds straight through the metro and rejoins both on the far side. In Ankeny, the Interstates split and I-80 continues east. On the west edge of the Iowa City metropolitan area, it intersects I-380, a segment of the Avenue of the Saints. Northwest of the Quad Cities in Walcott is Iowa 80, the world's largest truckstop. I-80 passes along the northern edge of Davenport and Bettendorf and leaves Iowa via the Fred Schwengel Memorial Bridge over the Mississippi River into Illinois. The majority of the highway runs through farmland, yet roughly a third of Iowa's population live along the I-80 corridor.

Illinois

Main article: Interstate 80 in Illinois

See also: Tri-State Tollway and Kingery Expressway

In Illinois, I-80 runs from the Fred Schwengel Memorial Bridge across the Mississippi River south to an intersection with I-74. It then runs east across north-central Illinois just north of the Illinois River to Joliet. I-80 continues east through the southern suburbs of Chicago and joins I-94 just before entering Indiana.

Indiana

Main articles: Borman Expressway and Indiana Toll Road

In Indiana, I-80 runs concurrently with another Interstate Highway for its entire length. It runs with I-94 on the Borman Expressway from the Illinois state line to Lake Station, Indiana, then with I-90 on the Indiana Toll Road from Lake Station to the Ohio state line.

Between La Porte and the Toledo metropolitan area, I-80/I-90 is located within 10 miles (16 km) of the Michigan state line but does not enter that state. From the State Road 9 (SR 9) and I-80/I-90 interchange, the sign marking the Indiana–Michigan state line is visible. I-80/I-90 passes through the South Bend–Mishawaka metropolitan area, passing the University of Notre Dame and the University Park Mall, intersecting with the St. Joseph Valley Parkway. At another point in northern Indiana, I-80/I-90 comes within about 200 yards (180 m) of the Michigan border.

Ohio

Main articles: Interstate 80 in Ohio and Ohio Turnpike

In Ohio, I-80/I-90 enters from the Indiana Toll Road and immediately becomes the Ohio Turnpike. The two Interstates cross rural northwest Ohio and run just south of the Toledo metropolitan area. In Rossford, the turnpike intersects I-75 before continuing east-southeast roughly following the curve of the southwest shore of Lake Erie toward Amherst.

In Elyria Township, just west of Cleveland, I-90 splits from I-80, leaving the turnpike and running northeast as a freeway. I-80 runs east-southeast through the southern suburbs of Cleveland. Just northwest of Youngstown, the Ohio Turnpike continues southeast as I-76, while I-80 exits the turnpike and runs east to the north of Youngstown, entering Pennsylvania south of Sharon, Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania

Main article: Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania

In Pennsylvania, I-80 is the main east–west freeway through the central part of the state. It runs from the Ohio state line near Sharon to the Delaware Water Gap Toll Bridge over the Delaware River and is called the "Z.H. Confair Memorial Highway".

It traverses the extreme northern section of Greater Pittsburgh. I-80 serves as the western terminus for I-376 which connects it to Pittsburgh International Airport and on to Downtown Pittsburgh and suburban Pittsburgh. I-80 intersects I-79, which connects with Erie (about 75 miles (121 km) to the north) and Pittsburgh (about 55 miles (89 km) to the south). Further east, I-99 connects with State College and Altoona. A spur from I-80 (I-180) runs to Williamsport. Upon entering the Pocono Mountains region, I-80 meets I-81, connecting Syracuse, New York, and Harrisburg, and I-476 which connects with Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Allentown, and Philadelphia. Another spur (I-380) runs to Scranton.

In Clearfield County, I-80 reaches its highest elevation east of the Mississippi River, 2,250 feet (690 m), although other Interstate Highways east of the Mississippi, including I-26 in North Carolina and Tennessee, reach higher elevations.

In 2007, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC), combined with state legislature Act No. 44, initiated plans to enact a tolling system on the entire span of I-80 throughout the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. On October 15, 2007, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and the PTC signed a 50-year lease agreement, which would allow the PTC to maintain and, eventually, toll I-80. However, the application for a toll was rejected by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

New Jersey

Main article: Interstate 80 in New Jersey

I-80 does not enter New York City. Once the I-95/New Jersey Turnpike was extended in 1971 from its former terminus at US 46 in Ridgefield to I-80 in Teaneck, the section from Teaneck to Fort Lee was resigned as I-95, and it is the latter roadway that enters New York City via the George Washington Bridge. I-80's designated end (as per signage and New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) documents) is four miles (6.4 km) short of New York City in Teaneck, before the Degraw Avenue overpass. There, signs designate the end of I-80 and the beginning of I-95/New Jersey Turnpike northbound.

One section of I-80 running from Netcong to Denville was constructed in 1958.

History

I-80 was included in the original plan for the Interstate Highway System as approved in 1956. The highway was built in segments, with the final piece of I-80 completed in 1986 on the western edge of Salt Lake City. This piece was coincidentally dedicated close to the 30th birthday of the Interstate Highway System, which was noted at the dedication and considered to be a milestone in the history of highway construction in the United States. It was also noted at the dedication that this was only 50 miles (80 km) south of Promontory Summit, where another first in a transcontinental artery was completed—the golden spike of the US's first transcontinental railroad.

Geological study

John McPhee described the geology revealed by the building of I-80 in a series of books on the formation of the continent of North America, books that were published between 1981 and 1993 and collected in a one-volume edition in 1998 Annals of the Former World which won a Pulitzer Prize in 1999. In "Basin and Range" (1981), he described how the idea emerged in a conversation with Princeton geologist Kenneth S. Deffeyes:

What about Interstate 80, I asked him. It goes the distance. How would it be? "Absorbing," he said. And he mused aloud: After 80 crosses the Border Fault, it pussyfoots along on morainal till that levelled up the fingers of the foldbelt hills. It does a similar dance with glacial debris in parts of Pennsylvania. It needs no assistance on the craton. It climbs a ramp to the Rockies and a fault-block staircase up the front of the Sierra. It is geologically shrewd. It was the route of animal migrations, and of human history that followed. It avoids melodrama, avoids the Grand Canyons, the Jackson Holes, the geologic operas of the country, but it would surely be a sound experience of the big picture, of the history, the construction, the components of the continent.

Junction list

California

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in San Francisco

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Oakland

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type on the Oakland–Emeryville city line. The highways travel concurrently to Albany.

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Vallejo

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Fairfield

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Vacaville

 /  / Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in West Sacramento

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Sacramento

Nevada

 / Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Reno

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type south-southwest of Lovelock. The highways travel concurrently to Winnemucca.

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Wells

Utah

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Salt Lake City

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Salt Lake City. The highways travel concurrently to South Salt Lake.

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in South Salt Lake

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type southeast of Salt Lake City

 / Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Silver Creek Junction. I-80/US 189 travels concurrently to east-northeast of Evanston, Wyoming.

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Echo

Wyoming

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Little America. The highways travel concurrently to south-southeast of Walcott.

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Purple Sage. The highways travel concurrently to Rock Springs.

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type east of Rawlins. The highways travel concurrently to south-southeast of Walcott.

 / Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Laramie. I-80 / US 30 travel concurrently to southwest of Cheyenne.

 / Module:Jct error: Invalid route type southwest of Cheyenne

 / Module:Jct error: Invalid route type on the Fox Farm–Cheyenne line

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type east-northeast of Cheyenne. The highways travel concurrently to Pine Bluffs.

Nebraska

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type southwest of Big Springs

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type southwest of Big Springs

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Ogallala

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in North Platte

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type south of Lexington

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type south of Elm Creek

 / Module:Jct error: Invalid route type south of Grand Island

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in York

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Lincoln

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Lincoln. The highways travel concurrently to north-northeast of Lincoln.

 / Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Lincoln

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Waverly

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Omaha

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Omaha

 / Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Omaha

Iowa

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Council Bluffs. The highways travel concurrently through Council Bluffs.

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Council Bluffs

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type northwest of Minden

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Avoca

 / Module:Jct error: Invalid route type north-northeast of Lorah. I-80/US 6 travel concurrently to De Soto.

 / Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in De Soto

 / Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in West Des Moines. I-35/I-80 travels concurrently to Ankeny.

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type on the Clive–Urbandale city line

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Des Moines

 / Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Ankeny

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Altoona. The highways travel concurrently through Altoona.

 / Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Altoona. I-80/US 6 travels concurrently to Newton.

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type south of Malcom

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type east-northeast of Williamsburg

 / Module:Jct error: Invalid route type on the Tiffin–Coralville city line

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type north-northwest of Wilton. The highways travel concurrently to Davenport.

 /  / Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Davenport. I-80/US 61 travels concurrently through Davenport.

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Davenport

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Le Claire

Illinois

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in East Moline

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Colona

 / Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Colona

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type northeast of Princeton

 / Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in LaSalle

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Channahon

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Joliet

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in New Lenox

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in New Lenox

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type on the Mokena–Orland Park–Tinley Park city line

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Country Club Hills

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Hazel Crest. The highways travel concurrently to the South Holland–Lansing village line.

 / Module:Jct error: Invalid route type on the South Holland–Lansing village line. I-80/I-94 travels concurrently to Lake Station, Indiana.

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Lansing. The highways travel concurrently to Lake Station, Indiana.

Indiana

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Hammond. The highways travel concurrently through Hammond.

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Gary

 / Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Lake Station. I-80/I-90 travels concurrently to northwest of Elyria, Ohio.

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type southeast of Otis

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in South Bend

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type north-northeast of Middlebury

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type west-northwest of Fremont

Ohio

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Maumee

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Perrysburg

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type northeast of Stony Ridge

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type north-northwest of Milan

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in North Ridgeville

 / Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Strongsville

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type on the Richfield–Brecksville line

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Streetsboro

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type east-southeast of North Jackson

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Mineral Ridge

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Girard

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type north of Hubbard

Pennsylvania

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type south of Hermitage

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type south of Mercer

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type northwest of Grove City

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type west of Corsica

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type east-northeast of Falls Creek

 / Module:Jct error: Invalid route type northwest of Zion. I-80/US 220 travels concurrently to east of Mackeyville.

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type north of New Columbia

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type northeast of New Columbia

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Lime Ridge

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type north-northwest of Drums

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type east of East Side

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type south-southwest of Pocono Summit

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Arlington Heights. The highways travel concurrently to east of East Stroudsburg.

New Jersey

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Columbia

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type west of Stanhope. The highways travel concurrently to south-southeast of Netcong.

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Netcong

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type east of Rockaway

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Parsippany-Troy Hills

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Parsippany-Troy Hills

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Parsippany-Troy Hills

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Parsippany-Troy Hills

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Wayne

Module:Jct error: Invalid route type in Teaneck

External links

• Template:Osmrelation-inline
• Eric Buchanan's Interstate 80 Photos Index page