Interstate 76 in Pennsylvania

Interstate 76 in Pennsylvania is actually two separate roads. The majority of the highway is known as a toll road in other states. The highway starts west of PA near Youngtown Ohio as part of the Ohio Turnpike. It then enters Pennsylvania at New Stanton and continues through the entire southern part of PA until it reaches the Philadelphia area near the Valley Forge exit. Beyond Valley Forge, the PA turnpike turns into Interstate 276. Interstate 76 itself continues through the city of Philadelphia and is known as the Schuylkill Expressway. It then continues south through center city and across the Walt Whitman bridge where the route ends on the New Jersey border.

O’Connor Law Offices Along I-76

The law offices of O’Connor Law have a strong presence along the I-76 corridor. The firm has offices in Pittsburgh in the west along with branch offices in cities such as Lancaster and Reading, which have exits off of I-76. The firm also has an office in Bala Cynwyd which is along the Schuylkill Expressway.

Interstate 76 has its fair share of automobile, truck, motorcycle and tractor-trailer accidents. This is especially true during the peak rush hour times in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, where locals avoid the road if they can due to the high amounts of traffic.

Accidents on the Schuylkill Expressway

The Schuylkill Expressway earned a grim nickname in the year 2000, being commonly called the “Sure-kill Expressway.” On September 24, 2000 one of the worst accident in the history of the highway occurred when a tractor-trailer plowed into a line of cars stopped because of an earlier accident, which resulted in three dead and nine injured.

The accident occurred shortly after midnight on the westbound side of the highway, two miles east of the Conshohocken interchange. After hitting these cars, the truck continued down the highway only to catch on fire and cause several other cars to catch fire as well. Twelve vehicles, including two trucks and ten passenger vehicles were involved. The highway was closed for hours until 5:45 AM when the eastbound lanes reopened and 8:02 AM when the westbound lanes reopened.

Bomb Scare on the Schuylkill Expressway

Usually congestion on the Schuylkill is from the volume of traffic it carries, except on October 11, 2004. A suspicious metal box with the letters “ELF” was seen by a Norfolk-Southern Railroad employee suspended from a PECO Energy high-tension line tower near the Belmont Avenue/Green Lane interchange.

Authorities were alerted around 6:30 PM and closed both eastbound and westbound until around 9:30 PM. Members of the state and Montgomery County bomb squads were brought in to take care of the package by first blasting it with a water cannon to open it. This tactic failed, so the bomb squads deposited it in a steel explosion containment vessel to detonate it at an undisclosed location. The FBI stated that they were investigating if there was a connection to the Earth Liberation Front, which uses the acronym “ELF.” They have had interest in bringing transmission towers down and are suspected to be connected to a devastating fire in January 2003 in Erie which damaged property including a car dealership.

Deadly Bus Crash Near Harrisburg on I-76 Turnpike

In March 2013, a tour bus carrying 23 university lacrosse players crashed along the Pennsylvania Turnpike in central Pennsylvania, leading to two fatalities. The Pennsylvania State Police said that the accident happened on the eastbound side of the Pennsylvania Turnpike (Interstate 76) at mile marker 227, located in between Carlisle and Mechanicsburg. It was a tragedy that is still felt by the community.

Interstate 76 (Pennsylvania) Accident Statistics for 2012

The length of Interstate 76 in Pennsylvania runs 311 mile. It starts as the Pennsylvania Turnpike at the Ohio border in Lawrence County in North Beaver Township to the west, to the Valley Forge interchange in Montgomery County to the east. From there, it becomes a free road known as the Schuylkill Expressway that runs 25 miles through the city of Philadelphia before ending at the Walt Whitman Bridge that connects to New Jersey.

PennDOT records all of the accidents on each highway in PA. Below is the breakdown of accidents on I-76 for the year 2012.

Passenger Vehicle (Automobile, Small Truck, SUV, Van)

In 2012, Passenger vehicles were involved in 999total crashes on Interstate 76. The statistics include the following: 28 angle crashes; 6 head on; 265 hit fixed object; 1 hit pedestrian; 18 non-collision; 6 other/unknown; 602 rear end; 2 sideswipe (opposite direction); 71 sideswipe (same direction).

Motorcycle

In 2012, 17 motorcycles were involved in crashes on Interstate 76. The statistics include the following: 1 angle crash; 3 hit fixed object; 3 non-collision; 3other/unknown; 5 rear end; 2 sideswipe (same direction).

Legally Intoxicated Driver

In 2012, there were 23 cases of legally intoxicated drivers arrested on Interstate 76. The statistics include the following: 0 angle crashes; 2 head on; 16 hit fixed object; 0 non-collision; 3 rear end; 2 sideswipe (opposite direction); 0 sideswipe (same direction).

Heavy Truck

In 2012, there were 71 crashed involving heavy trucks on Interstate 76. The statistics include the following; 2 angle crashes; 0 head on; 11 hit fixed object; 0 hit pedestrian; 3 non-collision; 0 other/unknown; 32 rear end; 0 rear to ear; 0 sideswipe (opposite direction) 23 sideswipe (same direction).

Distracted Driving

In 2012, there were 43 cases of distracted drivers getting into crashes on Interstate 76. The statistics include; 0 angle crashes; 5 hit fixed objects; 0 non-collision; 37 rear end; 1 sideswipe (same direction).