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[Rothman]

Heh.  A lot of people in the world would see the anger on this forum as strange and unnecessary.

And, going from "Pittsburgh is big enough that I-70 should be re-routed" to "I-70 stays put" is an interesting argument shift.

[sprjus4]

Honestly, none of the interstate highways need to be rerouted. It would cause too much confusion. These routes have already been established for decades.

And for the record, I-80 doesn't reach Cleveland in the same way I-70 doesn't reach Pittsburgh.

[mgk920]

since Pittsburgh is a major metropolitan area and deserves to be served, directly or indirectly, by an Interstate ending in '0'

Pittsburgh isn't as large as you think.

First of all, it's one of only 34 Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the United States with at least 2,000,000 population, so yes, it is a major city, like it or not. Second of all, the only one of those 34 Metropolitan Statistical Areas that does not have at least one Interstate ending in '5' or '0' passing through it is Orlando, which a) was a sleepy backwater when the Interstate Highway System was signed into law, b) didn't pass 2,000,000 population until the 2010 Census, and c) is located on a peninsula, isolating it from the east/west portion of the Interstate grid.

This idea that Pittsburgh is not a major city is ignorant. And no, I don't want to hear about population loss either, unless you're also prepared to reroute I-75 away from Detroit, and I-80 and I-90 away from Cleveland. If those three Interstates all stay put, then I-70 stays fucking put as well.

Also, you have to keep in mind that Pittsburgh would be a far, far larger city of Pennsylvania state law would be rewritten to include most or all of a metro area in the city limits.  Most cities in Pennsylvania are seriously 'underbound'.

Mike

[hbelkins]

since Pittsburgh is a major metropolitan area and deserves to be served, directly or indirectly, by an Interstate ending in '0'

Pittsburgh isn't as large as you think.

Angelo71 has entered the chat. 

[Scott5114]

Honestly, none of the interstate highways need to be rerouted. It would cause too much confusion. These routes have already been established for decades.

And for the record, I-80 doesn't reach Cleveland in the same way I-70 doesn't reach Pittsburgh.

I don't know that it would really cause as much confusion as other reroutings/renumberings might. The Pennsylvania Turnpike already carries the I-76 number, and I imagine most people refer to it by name rather than number anyway. Really, the most-impacted stretch of road would be the part of I-70 between Washington and New Stanton, and it might be best for that not to carry an Interstate number anyway.

[TempoNick]

How about leaving I-70 where it is, since Pittsburgh is a major metropolitan area and deserves to be served, directly or indirectly, by an Interstate ending in '0'? Besides, there's an ongoing reconstruction and modernization of the substandard segment of I-70 between Washington and New Stanton.

Rerouting I-70 through Morgantown would basically leave it where it is.

[TempoNick]

There's no real reason to re-route and disturb numbering that's been in place for decades. The rebuilt sections of I-70 between Washington and New Stanton and on the Turnpike are pretty nice. Breezewood to Hancock is adequate, Breezewood itself aside. I-70 has greatly reduced grades compared to I-68, which is a big issue for trucks and, frankly, even some cars. I-70's current alignment also has better weather conditions with fewer problems from snow in winter and fog the rest of the year.

I-70 is supposed to be one of our major East-West corridors. It dead ends in the middle of nowhere in Baltimore, has that Gap in Breezewood, substandard roads in PA and Missouri; has an ugly left hand turn in Indianapolis (but it's good in Ohio and Illinois). Rerouting I-70 along I-68 would be more consistent with what I-70 is supposed to be. It deserves to be a better road.

[TempoNick]

First of all, it's one of only 34 Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the United States with at least 2,000,000 population, so yes, it is a major city, like it or not. Second of all, the only one of those 34 Metropolitan Statistical Areas ...

Yeah, city population means nothing. You have to look at the size of the entire metro area. That determines what kinds of businesses and amenities a city has. A city the size of Pittsburgh would never be able to support the Steelers. It's because the metro area is so large that the Steelers are viable as a business.

Another good way to look at area size is by looking at the size of the TV market. I think Pittsburgh is the 22nd largest TV market or something like that. That's pretty big.

[mgk920]

There's no real reason to re-route and disturb numbering that's been in place for decades. The rebuilt sections of I-70 between Washington and New Stanton and on the Turnpike are pretty nice. Breezewood to Hancock is adequate, Breezewood itself aside. I-70 has greatly reduced grades compared to I-68, which is a big issue for trucks and, frankly, even some cars. I-70's current alignment also has better weather conditions with fewer problems from snow in winter and fog the rest of the year.

I-70 is supposed to be one of our major East-West corridors. It dead ends in the middle of nowhere in Baltimore, has that Gap in Breezewood, substandard roads in PA and Missouri; has an ugly left hand turn in Indianapolis (but it's good in Ohio and Illinois). Rerouting I-70 along I-68 would be more consistent with what I-70 is supposed to be. It deserves to be a better road.

And was done on the somewhat cheap through the mountains just west of Denver, not drilling the proposed Red-Buffalo tunnel in favor of the 7% grades over Vail Pass, for one.

Mike