Interstate 476

Interstate 476 (I-476) is a 132.1-mile (212.6 km) auxiliary Interstate Highway of I-76 in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The highway runs from I-95 near Chester north to I-81 near Scranton, serving as the primary north–south Interstate corridor through eastern Pennsylvania. It consists of both the 20-mile (32 km) Mid-County Expressway, locally referred to as the "Blue Route", through Delaware and Montgomery counties in the suburban Philadelphia area, and the tolled, 110.6-mile (178.0 km) Pennsylvania Turnpike Northeast Extension, which connects the Philadelphia metropolitan area with the Lehigh Valley, the Pocono Mountains, and the Wyoming Valley to the north. The Mid-County Expressway passes through suburban areas, while the Northeast Extension predominantly runs through rural areas of mountains, forest, and farmland, with development closer to Philadelphia and in the Lehigh Valley and the Wyoming Valley. I-476 intersects many major roads, including I-76 in West Conshohocken, I-276 (Pennsylvania Turnpike) in Plymouth Meeting, U.S. Route 22 (US 22) near Allentown, and I-80 near Hickory Run State Park. At its opening in 1979, I-476 was a three-mile-long (4.8 km), four-lane spur expressway connecting I-76 with Chemical Road in Plymouth Meeting. The highway expanded the capacity for travel between King of Prussia, I-76, the Philadelphia Main Line, and Philadelphia suburbs to the city's north and in South Jersey. The highway was initially planned to connect down to I-95 in Delaware County. This portion of the highway opened in 1991. In 1996, the I-476 designation was affixed to the preexisting Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, replacing Pennsylvania Route 9 (PA 9). The former state route was an older, pre-Interstate limited-access highway that opened in sections between 1955 and 1957. This extended I-476 approximately 110 miles (180 km) north of Plymouth Meeting to Clarks Summit (north of Scranton) as a part of the Pennsylvania Turnpike system, and...