Interstate 83
Interstate 83 is an interstate highway located in the states of Maryland and Pennsylvania in the Eastern United States. Its southern terminus is at a signalized intersection with Fayette Street in Baltimore, Maryland; its northern terminus is at I-81 near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. I-83 runs from Downtown Baltimore north to I-695 near the northern suburb of Timonium on the Jones Falls Expressway before forming a concurrency with I-695. After splitting from I-695, the route follows the Baltimore–Harrisburg Expressway north to the border between Maryland and Pennsylvania. Upon crossing the state line, I-83 becomes the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States Memorial Highway and continues north through York toward the Harrisburg area. The route runs along the southern and eastern portion of the Capital Beltway that encircles Harrisburg before reaching its northern terminus.
Most of the route south of Lemoyne, Pennsylvania, is a direct replacement of U.S. Route 111, a former spur of US 11.
Route description
Maryland
Jones Falls Expressway
The Jones Falls Expressway is a freeway that carries I-83 from downtown Baltimore to the northern suburbs. It is the area's true north–south artery because I-95 runs from southwest to northeast through the southern edge of the city. Its southern terminus is at Fayette Street, and its northern terminus is at Maryland Route 25, just north of the Baltimore Beltway. Inside Baltimore, the road is maintained not by the Maryland State Highway Administration, which controls most freeways in the state, but by the city's department of transportation.The freeway begins at an at-grade, four-way intersection between the JFX, Fayette Street, and President Street, located in close proximity to the Phoenix Shot Tower. President Street continues south along the eastern edge of the central business district to terminate at a traffic circle in Inner Harbor East. Fayette Street serves as an access route into the downtown area.
Passing beneath the Orleans Street Viaduct, the JFX runs north, passing near the Washington Monument. Between exits 3 and 4, there is a 90-degree turn that sometimes requires motorists to slow down just before entering it, with an advisory speed posted at. The curve is located between the Guilford Avenue and Preston Street overpasses. Within the curve, the southbound JFX interchanges with MD 2, with an exit to St. Paul Street and an entrance from Charles Street.
Having passed this curve, the JFX begins to parallel MD 25, going under the Howard Street Bridge and interchanging with Maryland Avenue and North Avenue before continuing north past Druid Lake, forming the northeastern boundary of Druid Hill Park. Running northwest out of the city center, the JFX is paralleled by its namesake river, the Jones Falls, on one side, and the Maryland Transit Administration's Baltimore Light RailLink line on the other. Closer to downtown, the light rail line peels off in a different direction, while the falls flows directly underneath the elevated freeway.
After interchanging with Cold Spring Lane and Northern Parkway, the JFX exits Baltimore, entering Baltimore County. Passing close to Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital, the Mount Washington campus of the Johns Hopkins University, and Jones Falls Park, the route skirts the edge of Lake Roland before interchanging with Ruxton Road just south of I-695.
At the beltway, I-83 leaves the JFX and joins I-695 for a distance of, where it separates from the latter route to continue onward into northern Maryland. Meanwhile, the JFX continues for another in a four-lane divided format before terminating at an at-grade intersection with MD 25. I-83 and I-695 split off at the southern terminus of the Baltimore–Harrisburg Expressway, and I-695 continues its eastward trek toward Towson and Parkville.
Baltimore–Harrisburg Expressway
After separating from the beltway, I-83 is known as the Baltimore–Harrisburg Expressway. Running due north away from the beltway, the route parallels MD 45, 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 MD 45 crossing over I-83 once, at an interchange. 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 MD 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 York County, Pennsylvania, north of Baltimore, mere feet from a partial interchange with Freeland Road and parallel with MD 45; the latter route becomes the Susquehanna Trail when it reaches Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania
Throughout Pennsylvania, I-83 is named the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States Memorial Highway. I-83 enters Pennsylvania, crossing the Mason–Dixon line and passing to the east of Shrewsbury as it runs due north toward York. The route bypasses the boroughs of Loganville and Jacobus before entering the city of York.I-83 has a business route through downtown York, known as I-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 Pennsylvania Route 462, the Lincoln Highway, the interstate turns west for a short distance, then north again to an interchange with US 30. Beyond US 30, I-83 resumes its straight path, running due north out of York and passing to the west of Emigsville.
North of PA 297, 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 toward Harrisburg. South of Harrisburg, I-83 has an interchange with I-76. North of I-76, I-83 continues due north, passing through New Cumberland, before an interchange with the eastern terminus of PA 581 in Lemoyne.
After the interchange with PA 581, I-83 is known as the Capital Beltway. The highway turns due east and crosses the Susquehanna River over the John Harris Bridge, south of Downtown Harrisburg, passing south of Paxtang before encountering I-283 and US 322 at the Eisenhower Interchange. Within the interchange, I-83 exits from itself, with each direction of traffic following a one-lane ramp; facing east, I-83's former lanes become US 322, while, facing north, I-283's lanes become I-83. The interchanges includes ramps to local roads as well. From this point northbound to exit 51, traffic is often congested during daylight hours. I-83 and westbound US 322 continue north toward US 22 and I-81, I-283 goes due south toward the turnpike and PA 283's western terminus, and eastbound US 322 goes due east toward Hershey.
Beyond this interchange, I-83 and US 322 run due north through the eastern suburbs of Harrisburg, interchanging with US 22 northeast of the CBD in Colonial Park, before I-83 terminates at a three-way semidirectional interchange with I-81. From here, US 322 continues west along I-81 south.
History
Pennsylvania
I-83 was one of the first interstate highways built in Pennsylvania. Much of its routing through the state follows a freeway bypass of the since decommissioned US 111. The route received the I-83 designation in 1960. The first section built runs from PA 392 in Newberry Township north to PA 114 in Fairview Township. The entire highway was completed in 1971 with the massive Eisenhower Interchange in Harrisburg.From 2012 to 2015, the I-83/PA 581 interchange outside of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was modified. Formerly, I-83 was reduced to one lane going northbound through the interchange, resulting in frequent traffic jams during peak travel times. The northbound part of the highway was widened, one bridge was replaced, and several exits in the vicinity were reconfigured. A second project started in 2016, with work to be completed from its northern terminus at I-81 to just past the Union Deposit Road interchange. The project, completed in 2022, reconstructed two interchanges and associated overpasses, as well as widened adjacent sections of the highway to six throughlanes.
The interchange with PA 851 near Shrewsbury was reconstructed into a diverging diamond interchange, which opened to traffic on June 28, 2021.
In York, Pennsylvania, a reconstruction of the Mt. Rose Avenue interchange took place from 2015 to 2022 in anticipation of a future widening of I-83 around the east and north sides of the city. Also, studies are being done north of town to help ease traffic in a section heavily traveled by trucks.
On October 23, 2023, work began on a project that will reconstruct the section of I-83 in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, from the John Harris Bridge over the Susquehanna River to the Eisenhower Interchange with I-283 and US 322. The project will be split into two contracts, with the project widening and reconstructing I-83 and rebuilding interchanges. As part of this project, a new interchange will be built with PA 230 while the 13th Street interchange will be closed. Construction on both contracts is expected to be finished in 2028.
Jones Falls Expressway
The first interstate to be built in Baltimore was the JFX; the Greater Baltimore Committee pushed to enact legislation from the Baltimore City Council in 1955. It was the first to be constructed due to community opposition to the other planned freeways within the city. The JFX follows the path of the Jones Falls River, a natural corridor that divided the city into eastern and western segments. By the early 1960s, the JFX was completed as far as Guilford Avenue, within the city limits. It was completed as far as Pleasant Street in the downtown area by 1983, but the remaining to I-95 were canceled in September 1982. To compensate for the loss of the remainder of the JFX, the portion in situ was extended to Fayette Street by 1987, and the Jones Falls Boulevard project substantially rebuilt of President Street, across from the JFX at Fayette Street, 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.Due to community opposition to the other freeway plans being produced by city officials, the JFX was the very first limited-access highway to be completed within the city of Baltimore and remained so for several years. Originally, the JFX was to continue through the Southeast Baltimore neighborhoods of Fell's Point and Canton to a junction with the then-planned I-95, but opposition from residents of those neighborhoods successfully blocked that proposal. As a result, I-83 became the first Maryland road in the interstate highway System.