I-76 (east) may not have been numbered for the Bicentennial, but I-76 (west)?

[NE2]

http://books.google.com/books?id=vZxeAAAAIAAJ&q=80S

I-80S Redesignated Interstate 76.
In keeping with Colorado's Centennial-Bicentennial Celebration, Interstate 80 S will be redesignated (renumbered) Interstate 76.
The Division of Highways has received approval from the Federal Highway Administration for a permanent change of numbers on the route, which currently runs from Interstate 25 north of Denver to Interstate 80 at Big Springs, just inside Nebraska.
The latter state also has received approval to renumber the three-plus miles of I 80 S that lie inside the Nebraska Panhandle.
Signposts bearing Interstate 76 numbers will go up about January 1.
About 179 miles of I 80 S are in Colorado currently, and slightly more than five and a half additional miles are planned, to run between Interstate 70 at Wadsworth (in Arvada) and Interstate 25. The additional mileage would be routed through the valley of Clear Creek.

It's possible that this magazine was drawing a connection where none was intended by the bureaucrats.

[hotdogPi]

I just think it was numbered that way because every even number in the allowable range was taken.

[bzakharin]

I just think it was numbered that way because every even number in the allowable range was taken.

But the eastern I-76 already existed by then, so why duplicate that number and not some other?

[theline]

"In keeping with Colorado's Centennial-Bicentennial Celebration . . ."

With that wording, I'm not sure the author even means to say that road number was intentionally made the same as the centennial-bicentennial year. He may have simply meant that the number was "in keeping" or apropos to the event. Or the writer may have just been lazy with the reporting and made a vague statement, so his butt is covered if someone does the research he should have done and proves the renaming is coincidental.

[hotdogPi]

I just think it was numbered that way because every even number in the allowable range was taken.

But the eastern I-76 already existed by then, so why duplicate that number and not some other?

One of the numbers would have had to have been duplicated. If it had been any other number, the same question would have been asked.

[NE2]

Another bit of evidence: the choice of 76 required State Highway 76 to be renumbered 78. Obviously choosing 78 instead would not have led to any renumbering (and the distance between the two I-78s would have been greater than that between the two I-76s).

[Henry]

In retrospect, I think that I-76 was a good choice for what was I-80S because of the Centennial. I'd have to respectfully disagree with the first part of the thread's title, given that the eastern I-76 passes through Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence was signed, and I always believed that it was somewhat numbered in advance of the Bicentennial.

[roadman]

According to FHWA, the I-76 east numbering through Philadelphia was a coincidence - see http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/i76.cfm

[jeffandnicole]

According to FHWA, the I-76 east numbering through Philadelphia was a coincidence - see http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/i76.cfm

A very interesting read.  And if one wants to look into it further, it would've made sense to keep I-76 running thru the middle of the city, where it practically borders the area where the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall are located.

Just one minor error in the article: I-76 ends in Bellmawr, NJ, not Camden, NJ as noted.

[PHLBOS]

According to FHWA, the I-76 east numbering through Philadelphia was a coincidence - see http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/i76.cfm

A very interesting read.  And if one wants to look into it further, it would've made sense to keep I-76 running thru the middle of the city, where it practically borders the area where the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall are located.

Just one minor error in the article: I-76 ends in Bellmawr, NJ, not Camden, NJ as noted.

Further down in the article, it does indeed mention that I-76's eastern terminus being in Bellmawr, NJ.

Other tid-bits from the FHWA link:

Under this proposed change, the turnpike would carry the designation I-276 from Valley Forge to a connection with I-95 north of Philadelphia.
...
-I-276 From a junction with I-76 at King of Prussia to a junction with I-95 near Bristol

I'd be curious to know if the above tid-bits were written recently or when the I-280 to I-276 change-over occurred; if it was the latter, would the Turnpike east of the interchange (to the bridge) back then been left unnumbered (like it is on the NJ side) or simply designated as PA 276?

[Brandon]

^^ Theoretically speaking, I-276 (fmr I-280) would've had to end at I-95 or I-295 as the NJTP was not an interstate at the time, and I-276 is obviously an even 3di.

[NE2]

I-276 did end at the I-95 overpass, for a distance of 29.4 miles: http://books.google.com/books?id=86YnAQAAMAAJ&q=276
The rest of the Turnpike would have been unnumbered, as with the Northeast Extension (not PA 9 until about 1980).

New Jersey, by the way, did designate it 700P (and the Newark Bay Extension was 700N).

[jeffandnicole]

According to FHWA, the I-76 east numbering through Philadelphia was a coincidence - see http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/i76.cfm

A very interesting read.  And if one wants to look into it further, it would've made sense to keep I-76 running thru the middle of the city, where it practically borders the area where the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall are located.

Just one minor error in the article: I-76 ends in Bellmawr, NJ, not Camden, NJ as noted.

Further down in the article, it does indeed mention that I-76's eastern terminus being in Bellmawr, NJ.

Actually, it mentioned it correctly a few times while talking about the renumbering from 80S to 76, especially when referencing the Ben Franklin Bridge. But at the very bottom, the paragraph before "So...was 76 Numbered to honor Philadelphia", it said this:  "Today, I-76 is designated from Camden, New Jersey, through Philadelphia to I-71 west of Akron, Ohio."

[andy3175]

Under this proposed change, the turnpike would carry the designation I-276 from Valley Forge to a connection with I-95 north of Philadelphia.
...
-I-276 From a junction with I-76 at King of Prussia to a junction with I-95 near Bristol

Years ago, this is the sort of thing I could never glean from simple reading of maps when I used to look at each year's edition of a road atlas (usually standing in a book store since I was too cheap to buy it). I remember as a kid looking at how I-276 ending and wondering why that 276 shield never appeared on the NJ side of the Delaware River; I never thought it ended at I-95 (there was no interchange there!) and thought for sure it ended at the NJ Tpk, even before it was Interstate (but that violated my understanding of the rules of how even-prefix 3dis are routed). Then along came the Internet, and then I understood.

Regards,
Andy

[PHLBOS]

I-276 did end at the I-95 overpass, for a distance of 29.4 miles: http://books.google.com/books?id=86YnAQAAMAAJ&q=276
The rest of the Turnpike would have been unnumbered, as with the Northeast Extension (not PA 9 until about 1980).

New Jersey, by the way, did designate it 700P (and the Newark Bay Extension was 700N).

Apparently, PTC thought otherwise when these BGS at the Delaware valley Interchange w/US 13 (Exit 358/Originally Exit 29) were erected in the late 80s/early 90s.

Westbound pull-though BGS just after the East-Gate toll plaza and Bridge over the Delaware (note the gap above the Harrisburg listing):

http://goo.gl/maps/wnPqV

First approach BGS for the PA Turnpike after the Delaware Valley toll plaza (w/button-copy lettering):

http://goo.gl/maps/4p0vC

BGS gantry at eastbound/westbound split (while these date back to the early-to-mid 90s, the previous BGS' featured just 276 WEST/EAST Harrisburg/New Jersey listings and were the same age as the fore-mentioned first-approach BGS & had button-copy lettering):

http://goo.gl/maps/ww3BG

I, for one, would love to see photos of the BGS' for this interchange from the 70s or earlier to see if such contained I-276 shields.

[Henry]

Under this proposed change, the turnpike would carry the designation I-276 from Valley Forge to a connection with I-95 north of Philadelphia.
...
•I-276 From a junction with I-76 at King of Prussia to a junction with I-95 near Bristol

Years ago, this is the sort of thing I could never glean from simple reading of maps when I used to look at each year's edition of a road atlas (usually standing in a book store since I was too cheap to buy it). I remember as a kid looking at how I-276 ending and wondering why that 276 shield never appeared on the NJ side of the Delaware River; I never thought it ended at I-95 (there was no interchange there!) and thought for sure it ended at the NJ Tpk, even before it was Interstate (but that violated my understanding of the rules of how even-prefix 3dis are routed). Then along came the Internet, and then I understood.

Regards,
Andy

BTW, I wonder how that I-95/I-276 interchange project is coming along?

[DeaconG]

Under this proposed change, the turnpike would carry the designation I-276 from Valley Forge to a connection with I-95 north of Philadelphia.
...
-I-276 From a junction with I-76 at King of Prussia to a junction with I-95 near Bristol

Years ago, this is the sort of thing I could never glean from simple reading of maps when I used to look at each year's edition of a road atlas (usually standing in a book store since I was too cheap to buy it). I remember as a kid looking at how I-276 ending and wondering why that 276 shield never appeared on the NJ side of the Delaware River; I never thought it ended at I-95 (there was no interchange there!) and thought for sure it ended at the NJ Tpk, even before it was Interstate (but that violated my understanding of the rules of how even-prefix 3dis are routed). Then along came the Internet, and then I understood.

Regards,
Andy

BTW, I wonder how that I-95/I-276 interchange project is coming along?

Here you go:

http://www.paturnpikei95.com/construction/CurrentConstructionBensalem.htm

[dgolub]

According to FHWA, the I-76 east numbering through Philadelphia was a coincidence - see http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/i76.cfm

Also, if they were using it to commemorate 1776, then they should have swapped I-76 and I-676, since it's I-676 that goes to Independence Hall.

[TheStranger]

According to FHWA, the I-76 east numbering through Philadelphia was a coincidence - see http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/i76.cfm

Also, if they were using it to commemorate 1776, then they should have swapped I-76 and I-676, since it's I-676 that goes to Independence Hall.

Though granted, that was the case until delays on the Vine Street Expressway project caused 676 to be moved from the Schuylkill to the then-unfinished road.

[Henry]

According to FHWA, the I-76 east numbering through Philadelphia was a coincidence - see http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/i76.cfm

Also, if they were using it to commemorate 1776, then they should have swapped I-76 and I-676, since it's I-676 that goes to Independence Hall.

Though granted, that was the case until delays on the Vine Street Expressway project caused 676 to be moved from the Schuylkill to the then-unfinished road.

And furthermore, it was the same historic area that caused the eastbound expressway to be modified into a Breezewood!

[elsmere241]

According to FHWA, the I-76 east numbering through Philadelphia was a coincidence - see http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/i76.cfm

A very interesting read.  And if one wants to look into it further, it would've made sense to keep I-76 running thru the middle of the city, where it practically borders the area where the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall are located.

Just one minor error in the article: I-76 ends in Bellmawr, NJ, not Camden, NJ as noted.

Further down in the article, it does indeed mention that I-76's eastern terminus being in Bellmawr, NJ.

Actually, it mentioned it correctly a few times while talking about the renumbering from 80S to 76, especially when referencing the Ben Franklin Bridge. But at the very bottom, the paragraph before "So...was 76 Numbered to honor Philadelphia", it said this:  "Today, I-76 is designated from Camden, New Jersey, through Philadelphia to I-71 west of Akron, Ohio."

I remember seeing an atlas from I don't know what decade at my grandparents' house, where I-80S ended east of Pittsburgh.  What's now I-376 east from I-79, along with the rest of the PA Turnpike, was I-76.  Was it ever posted in the field like that?

[Alex]

I remember seeing an atlas from I don't know what decade at my grandparents' house, where I-80S ended east of Pittsburgh.  What's now I-376 east from I-79, along with the rest of the PA Turnpike, was I-76.  Was it ever posted in the field like that?

I have numerous maps in my collection showing that. Those done with the Rand McNally base show the shields for I-80S west of I-376's west end and I-76 east of it with red markers, indicating that signage was not posted.