Interstate 80

Interstate 80 as seen from an overpass in Davis, California

Interstate 80 is the second-longest interstate highway in the United States. It goes from San Francisco, California at United States Highway 101 in the west to Fort Lee, New Jersey at Interstate 95 in the east.

Length

Major cities along the route

• San Francisco, California
• Oakland, California
• Sacramento, California
• Reno, Nevada
• Salt Lake City, Utah
• Cheyenne, Wyoming
• Lincoln, Nebraska
• Omaha, Nebraska
• Des Moines, Iowa
• Quad Cities, Iowa-Illinois (Davenport)
• Joliet, Illinois
• Chicago, Illinois (through the south suburbs)
• Gary, Indiana
• South Bend, Indiana
• Toledo, Ohio
• Cleveland, Ohio
• Youngstown, Ohio
• State College, Pennsylvania
• Paterson, New Jersey

Intersections with other Interstates

• Interstate 5 in Sacramento, California
• Interstate 15 in Salt Lake City, Utah
• The western Interstate 84 in Echo, Utah
• Interstate 25 in Cheyenne, Wyoming
• The western Interstate 76 near Big Springs, Nebraska
• Interstate 35 in Des Moines, Iowa
• Interstate 29 in Council Bluffs, Iowa
• Interstate 74 in Bettendorf, Iowa
• The western Interstate 88 near Moline, Illinois
• Interstate 74 near Moline, Illinois
• Interstate 39 in La Salle, Illinois
• Interstate 55 in Joliet, Illinois
• Interstate 57 in Tinley Park, Illinois
• Interstate 94 in South Holland, Illinois. They stay joined until Portage, Indiana. Also known as the Frank Borman Expressway.
• Interstate 90 in Portage, Indiana. They stay joined until Clearview, Ohio.
• Interstate 65 in Gary, Indiana
• Interstate 69 near Fremont, Indiana
• Interstate 75 in Toledo, Ohio
• Interstate 71 in Strongsville, Ohio
• Interstate 77 in Brecksville, Ohio
• The eastern Interstate 76 in Niles, Ohio
• Interstate 79 in Pardoe, Pennsylvania
• Interstate 99 in State College, Pennsylvania
• Interstate 81 in St. Johns, Pennsylvania
• Interstate 95 in Teaneck, New Jersey

Spur routes

• San Francisco Bay Area - I-280, I-380, I-580, I-680, I-780, I-880, I-980
• Cheyenne, Wyoming - I-180
• Lincoln, Nebraska - I-180
• Omaha, Nebraska - I-480, I-680
• Spur to Waterloo, Iowa - I-380
• The Quad Cities - I-280
• Spur to Hennepin, Illinois - I-180
• Toledo, Ohio - I-280
• Cleveland, Ohio - I-480
• Youngstown, Ohio - I-680
• Spur to Williamsport, Pennsylvania - I-180
• Spur to Scranton, Pennsylvania - I-380
• Spur to Newark, New Jersey - I-280

Notes

Among many picturesque sections of I-80 are the crossing of San Francisco Bay over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge (toll paid westbound only), the traverse above Donner Pass and Donner Lake (near Lake Tahoe) in California, and its run along the Truckee River both west and east of Reno, Nevada. Interstate 80 crosses the southern end of Great Salt Lake west of Salt Lake City, Utah.

Interstate 80 had five branches, the most of any interstate highway. However, because suffixes were not allowed on any Interstate (save for the I-35 freeways in Dallas-Fort Worth and Minneapolis-St. Paul), all five branches have since been renumbered. There were three branches called I-80N, and two of them were I-80S (both of which became separate branches of I-76 between Denver and Philadelphia). The most noticeable I-80N went from Portland, Oregon to Salt Lake City. It is now signed as the western half of I-84. The other two former I-80N routes are in Omaha (I-680) and Cleveland/Youngstown (incorporated by both I-480 and I-680).

Interstate 80 does not enter Colorado, but it comes to within a mile of the border between Nebraska and Colorado at the junction if Interstates 80 and 76.

Part of Interstate 80 in Nebraska is known as the Blue Star Memorial Highway.

Interstate 480 was a double-decker freeway that parallelled the Embarcadero in San Francisco. Despised by San Franciscans because they felt it had destroyed their city, the freeway was damaged when a major earthquake shook the Bay Area in 1989. It was completely demolished a short time later.

Interstate 880 was a double-decker freeway in Oakland, California. Like the now-demolished I-480, it was severely damaged in the 1989 earthquake. In the following years, the freeway was rebuilt so that the decks carrying its northbound and southbound lanes were built at the same level (the double-decker freeway no longer exists).

Interstate 880 was also used at one time for the current I-80 freeway around Sacramento, California, while the original I-80 went directly through the city. I-80 now goes onto the original I-880, while the old I-80 is currently the Business I-80/US 50/Secret I-305 freeway in Sacramento.

Interstate 580 is the secret name for the US 395 freeway in Reno, Nevada.

Interstate 180, between San Rafael and Richmond, California, is now an extension of I-580.

Interstate 580 in Omaha shared a freeway with US 75.

Interstate 180 in Cheyenne, Wyoming is an interstate with traffic lights.

To add to the quirks about I-80, in Ohio all the way to a Chicago suburb, intersects three interstates (I-90 in Clearview, Ohio to Portage, Indiana, I-94 from Portage, Indiana to the South Holland, Illinois interchange, I-294 all the way to Markham, Illinois; a 4-mile tollway portion). Also, all of I-80 in Indiana is duplexed with another interstate.

Although it never enters Michigan, Interstate 80 (with Interstate 90) lies within ten miles of the Michigan state line between La Porte, Indiana and Toledo, Ohio.

I-80 does not go all the way to New York City, New York via the George Washington Bridge. Its designated end is about four miles short of New York City in Fort Lee, New Jersey. There, it joins and becomes designated as I-95, which does cross the bridge. The New Jersey Turnpike ends at exit 18, which is actually just the toll plaza at the northern terminus. The next exit on I-95 is exit 68, which is consistent with the exit structure on I-80. (The truth is that the exit numbers on this section of I-95 match the mile markers on I-95 had the Somerset Freeway been built. The fact that they are similar to what the exit numbers are on I-80 is just a coincidence.)

Reference

• 2005 Rand McNally "The Road Atlas 2005" - newest feature- interstate mileage by state

Primary Interstate Highways
4 5 8 10 12 15 16 17 19 20 24 25 26 27 29 30 35 37 39 40 43 44 45 49 55 57 59 64 65 66 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 93 94 95 96 97 99 238 H-1 H-2 H-3 A-1 A-2 A-3 A-4 PRI-1 PRI-2 PRI-3