INTERSTATE 83

'Interstate 83' (abbreviated 'I-83') is an interstate highway in the eastern United States. Its southern terminus is in Baltimore, Maryland at the Fayette Street exit; its northern terminus is in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania at Interstate 81.
The entire route is a direct replacement of US 111, a former spur of US 11.

Contents

Route description

Maryland

Jones Falls Expressway

Baltimore-Harrisburg Expressway

Pennsylvania

History

Jones Falls Expressway

Future

Exit list

Maryland

Pennsylvania

Auxiliary routes

See also

References

External links

Route description

Major cities 'Bolded cities' are officially-designated control cities for signs
★ 'Baltimore, Maryland' ★ 'York, Pennsylvania' ★ 'Harrisburg, Pennsylvania'

Maryland

Jones Falls Expressway

Main articles: Jones Falls Expressway

Interstate 83 begins its northern trek at Fayette St. in downtown Baltimore, east of the central business district. Originally planned to continue south of Fayette St. to Interstate 95 north of the Fort McHenry Tunnel, the route was truncated in late 1982 and now ends at Fayette St., downgrading into President St. south of the intersection.
North of Fayette St., I-83 is an elevated four- and six-lane freeway, known locally as the 'Jones Falls Expressway' or 'JFX', that parallels Maryland Route 25 Falls Road and its namesake river, the Jones Falls, which flows directly beneath the freeway. Both I-83 and MD 25 follow a circuitous path out of the city centre, passing beneath US 40 Orleans St with no access and interchanging with Maryland Route 2 and US 1 north of the CBD. Beyond US 1, the JFX is also paralleled by the Baltimore Light Rail system.
After exiting Baltimore, the JFX continues north and eventually reaches Interstate 695, the Baltimore Beltway. I-83 separates from the JFX, which runs beyond the Beltway and terminates at MD 25, and joins I-695 for 1.4 miles; recent construction work widened the concurrency between the two Interstates to ten lanes. I-83 and I-695 split off at the southern terminus of the Baltimore-Harrisburg Expressway, and I-695 continues its eastward trek towards Towson and Parkville.

Baltimore-Harrisburg Expressway

After separating from the Beltway, I-83 is now known as the 'Baltimore-Harrisburg Expressway'. Running due north away from the Beltway, the route parallels Maryland Route 45 York Road, the former route of US 111. Passing to the west of Timonium and Cockeysville, I-83 leaves the suburban belt around Baltimore and enters rural Baltimore County just north of Hunt Valley at Shawan Road. I-83 and MD 45 continue to parallel one another through the northern portion of the county, with both crossing over each other repeatedly. This segment of I-83 has several sections with higher than usual gradients.
The only major settlement encountered by I-83 along this stretch is Monkton, reached via Maryland Route 137. To the west of I-83, MD 137 connects with the northern terminus of MD 25, I-83's former companion to the south.
The Interstate eventually crosses the Mason-Dixon Line into Pennsylvania 25 miles north of Baltimore, mere feet from a partial interchange with Freeland Road and parallel with MD 45; the latter route becomes the Susquehanna Trail on the other side of the line.

Pennsylvania

|-
|MD
|37
|60
|-
|PA
|51
|82
|-
|Total
|88
|143
|}
I-83 enters Pennsylvania southeast of New Freedom, passing to the east of Shrewsbury and running due north towards York. The route bypasses the towns of Loganville and Jacobus before entering the city of York.
Uniquely for an Interstate near the east coast, I-83 has a business route through downtown York, known as Interstate 83 Business. The business route follows the former path of US 111, while I-83 turns northeast and then north again to bypass the urban area. Near US 30 Lincoln Highway, the Interstate turns west for a short distance, then north again to interchange with the U.S. route. Beyond US 30, I-83 resumes its straight path, running due north out of York and passing to the west of Emigsville.
North of Pennsylvania Route 295, I-83 is known as the 'Susquehanna Expressway'. It maintains this name as it passes to the south and west of Valley Green, continuing north towards Harrisburg. South of Harrisburg, I-83 interchanges with Interstate 76, the Pennsylvania Turnpike. North of I-76, I-83 continues due north, passing through New Cumberland, before merging with Pennsylvania Route 581 in Lemoyne.
After merging with PA 581, I-83 is known as the 'Harrisburg Expressway'. The highway turns due east within the merge and crosses the Susquehanna River south of Harrisburg's central business district, passing through Paxtang before encountering a complex interchange with Interstate 283 and US 322. Within the interchange, I-83 exits from itself, with each direction of traffic following a one-lane ramp; I-83's former mainline carriageways become US 322, while I-283's former mainline carriageways become I-83. The interchanges includes ramps to local city streets as well.
Beyond this interchange, I-83 runs due north again through eastern Harrisburg, interchanging with US 22 northeast of the central business district, before terminating at a three-way semi-directional interchange with Interstate 81.

History

Jones Falls Expressway

Main articles: Jones Falls Expressway

The first Interstate to be built in Baltimore was the Jones Falls Expressway; it was the first to be constructed due to community opposition to the other planned freeways within the city. By the early 1960s, the JFX was completed as far as Guilford Ave, within the city limits. It was completed as far as Pleasant St. in the downtown area by 1983, with the cancellation of the remaining 4.4 miles to Interstate 95 being undertaken in September 1982. To compensate for the loss of the remainder of the JFX, the portion in situ was extended to Fayette St. by 1987, and the 'Jones Falls Boulevard' project substantially rebuilt 3/4 of a mile of President St., across from the JFX at Fayette St., to allow the traffic to and from the Interstate to be collected and distributed from the surrounding city streets. By 1990, the project was completed.

Future

The possibility of extending I-83 north to Rochester, New York instead of I-99 was discussed at the October 2002 I-99 Task Force meeting. However, part of the proposed route on US 11/US 15 has been recently rebuilt as a four lane surface road, which does not meet Interstate standards.^[1] Expensive additional reconstruction, including new interchanges, service roads and realignments, would be necessary. The farthest north that I-83 could be extended currently would be Benvenue, Pennsylvania on a bridge over the Susquehanna River, where a recently-built freeway section of US 22/US 322 (the Dauphin Bypass) downgrades to an undivided four-lane road.

Exit list

Maryland

For exits south of I-695, see Jones Falls Expressway. The entire route north of I-695 is in Baltimore County.

Location	Mile	#	Destinations	Notes
	9.7
	9.7		, Washington	South end of I-695 overlap
	11.3		, New York	North end of I-695 overlap
	12.6	16	Timonium Road - Timonium	Signed as exits 16A (east) and 16B (west) northbound
	14.0	17	Padonia Road
	15.4	18	Warren Road (MD 943 east) - Cockeysville	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	17.2	20	Shawan Road - Cockeysville	Signed as exits 20A (east) and 20B (west)
	21.0	24	Belfast Road - Butler, Sparks, Reisterstown
	24.3	27
	27.6	31	Middletown Road - Parkton
	29.6	32
	33.2	36
	34.4	37	Freeland Road	Southbound entrance and northbound exit

Pennsylvania

County	Location	#	Destinations	Notes
York	Shrewsbury Township	4
	Springfield Township	8
		10
	Spring Garden Township	14
		15
		16		Signed as exits 16A (south) and 16B (north)
		18
	Springettsbury Township	19		Signed as exits 19A (east) and 19B (west)
	Manchester Township	21A		Signed as exit 21 southbound
		21B		Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		22
		24
		28
	Newberry Township	32
		33
	Fairview Township	34	Valley Green	Northbound exit and entrance
		35
		36
		38	Reesers Summit
		39A
		39B
		40A	Limekiln Road
Cumberland	Lower Allen Township	40B	New Cumberland
	Lemoyne
		41A
		41B	Highland Park
		42	Lemoyne	No southbound entrance
Dauphin	Harrisburg	43	2nd Street - State Capitol
		44A
		44B	19th Street, 17th Street
		45	Paxtang	Northbound exit and entrance
		45	Paxton Street, Bass Pro Drive	Southbound exit and entrance
	Swatara Township	46A	- Airport, Lancaster
		46B		Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		47		South end of US 322 overlap; southbound exit and northbound entrance
	Lower Paxton Township	48	Union Deposit Road
		50		Signed as exits 50A (east) and 50B (west)
		51		Northbound exit and southbound entrance; signed as exits 51A (south/west) and 51B (north)

Auxiliary routes

I-83 has only one spur route: Interstate 283, a connector to Interstate 76 southeast of Harrisburg.

See also

★ Jones Falls Expressway

★ Eisenhower Interchange

References

1. Aaroads - Corridor 9

External links

★ AARoads - I-83 Maryland

★ AARoads - I-83 Pennsylvania

★ Interstate Guide - I-83

★ Maryland Multiplexes - I-83/I-695 Duplex

★ Pennsylvania Multiplexes - I-83/US 322 Duplex