Pennsylvania Route 8

"PA 8" redirects here. PA 8 may also refer to Pennsylvania's 8th congressional district.

PA Route 8
Route information
Maintained by PennDOT
Length:	148.6 mi[1] (239.15 km)
Existed:	1926 – present
Major junctions
South end:	I-376 / US 22 / US 30 in Pittsburgh
	PA 28 in Pittsburgh I-76 / Penna. Tpk. in Hampton Township US 422 near Butler I-80 near Barkeyville I-90 near Erie
North end:	US 20 in Erie
Location
Counties:	Allegheny, Butler, Venango, Crawford, Erie
Highway system
Roads in Pennsylvania Interstate • US • State • Legislative ← PA 7 PA 9 →

Pennsylvania Route 8 (PA 8) is a major 148-mile (238 km) long route in western Pennsylvania. Officially, PA 8 is named the William Flinn Highway. Its southern terminus is at Interstate 376, U.S. Route 22, and U.S. Route 30 (I-376/US 22/US 30) in Pittsburgh. Its northern terminus is US 20 in Erie.

Route description

Pittsburgh to Interstate 80

The southern terminus of PA 8 is at an interchange with I-376, US 22, and US 30 east of downtown Pittsburgh. The route, running along Ardmore Boulevard, Penn Avenue and Washington Boulevard, heads west from I-376 and runs through the eastern districts of the city. PA 8 has intersections with Pennsylvania Route 380 and Pennsylvania Route 130 prior to crossing the Allegheny River and exiting Pittsburgh.

Route 8 is a major street in downtown Butler.

North of the bridge that crosses the Allegheny River, PA 8 meets Pennsylvania Route 28 at an interchange. 8 miles (13 km) north of Pittsburgh, PA 8 intersects Interstate 76 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike at exit 39. In Middlesex Township, PA 8 runs concurrent with Pennsylvania Route 228 for 2 miles (3 km). In Butler, PA 8 crosses Connoquenessing Creek on the General Richard Butler Bridge then runs with Pennsylvania Route 356 through downtown on South Main Street.

North of the city of Butler, PA 8 meets U.S. Route 422 at an interchange. About 12 miles (19 km) east of Slippery Rock, PA 8 meets Pennsylvania Route 528 and Pennsylvania Route 173. In the Moraine State Forest, PA 8 meets Pennsylvania Route 108. In the town of Harrisville, PA 8 intersects Pennsylvania Route 58 (Grove City Harrisville Road). A few miles north of the Butler-Venango county line, PA 8 meets Interstate 80 at exit 29 near Barkeyville.

Mae West Bend

About 0.5 miles (0.8 km) north of the interchange of PA 28 (in the borough of Etna) is a very sharp and hazardous curve, known to Pittsburghers as "Mae West Bend". The site of numerous accidents over the years, this curve has recently been widened by razing the deteriorating buildings along the inner edge of the curve and digging out the mountainside so that two lanes ran in each direction throughout the curve (Southbound travellers previously had to merge left on the curve as the right lane ended).

Interstate 80 to Erie

2 miles (3 km) north of I-80, PA 8 becomes a limited-access highway. The expressway is 9 miles (14 km) long and has only two exits, one of which serves as the northern terminus of Pennsylvania Route 308. North of the expressway, PA 8 is called Pittsburgh Road. South of Franklin, PA 8 merges with U.S. Route 62, beginning a 10-mile (16 km) concurrency with the route. In Franklin, PA 8 and US 62 meet U.S. Route 322 in the city center. The routes form a short, 0.5 miles (0.8 km) concurrency through the city before splitting near the Allegheny River. North of US 322, PA 8 and US 62 begin to parallel the Allegheny River. West of downtown Oil City, the concurrency with US 62 ends. US 62 crosses the Allegheny and runs south of the city before turning north towards the Allegheny National Forest and New York. PA 8, however, continues into Oil City, where PA 8 meets Pennsylvania Route 8 Business, the first of two auxiliary routes of PA 8, at Center Street. While PA 8 Business heads into Oil City, PA 8 runs west of the city along the former routing of Pennsylvania Route 8 Bypass, rejoining PA 8 Business at North Seneca Street north of town.

North of Oil City, PA 8 is named Oil City-Titusville Road. In the city of Titusville, PA 8 meets Pennsylvania Route 27 and the southern terminus of Pennsylvania Route 89 at the intersection of Franklin Street and Central Avenue. PA 8 forms a concurrency with PA 27 westward along the one-way streets of Central Avenue and Diamond Street before splitting at Spring Street.

In Riceville, PA 8 intersects Pennsylvania Route 77. 5 miles (8 km) north of PA 77, PA 8 enters Erie County. In Union City, PA 8 merges with U.S. Route 6 for 0.5 miles (0.8 km) through downtown. Just north of the split with US 6, PA 8 meets the southern terminus of the northern segment of Pennsylvania Route 97. PA 8 passes by a dry lake called Union City Lake south of Wattsburg, where it merges with Pennsylvania Route 89. The two routes run concurrent to one another through Wattsburg, where PA 8 and PA 89 meet the western terminus of Pennsylvania Route 474, to the Venango Township community of Lowville, where PA 8 breaks from PA 89, taking a more westerly routing than PA 89. PA 8 is named Wattsburg Road between Lowville and the Erie city line.

1.5 miles (2.4 km) southeast of Erie, PA 8 interchanges with Interstate 90 at exit 29, which shows a sign for Parade Street (northbound) and Hammett (southbound).

In the city itself, PA 8, as Pine Avenue, meets the northern terminus of Old French Road (PA 97) a mere 700 feet (210 m) south of its northern terminus at U.S. Route 20. PA 97 and PA 8 effectively join to become Parade Street, which continues north to Front Street, just south of the Bayfront Parkway.

History

PA 8 was first signed in 1926 from West Virginia to Erie. South of Pittsburgh, PA 8 followed the current U.S. Route 19 alignment from the West Virginia state line to Canonsburg, as well as the present Pennsylvania Route 50 alignment from Bridgeville to Crafton. The West Virginia – Pittsburgh segment was decommissioned in 1930.^[2]

In 1934, construction began on PA 8 between the Allegheny–Butler county line and Three Degree Road. This segment opened in 1935. Later, in 1958, construction commenced on the segment from Grant Avenue to Pennsylvania Route 28 in Etna. In that same year, the route was widened and a median was installed from Franklin to Reno. The Grant Avenue – PA 28 segment was completed the following year. In 1961, PA 8 from the end of the Richard C. Frame Memorial Highway at Interstate 80 to Franklin was upgraded with a median, and, in 1968, the section from Reno to Oil City had a median installed as well.^[3][4][5][6]

In 1973, construction began on the section of expressway from Pennsylvania Route 308 in Pearl to the northern end of the present expressway south of Franklin in Venango County. That same year, the southern terminus of PA 8 was moved from West Carson Street in Pittsburgh to Pennsylvania Route 28 in Etna. In 1974, construction began on the remainder of the expressway from the present southern end at Wesley to PA 308. The highway was completed in 1976. In 1977, the southern terminus was moved to its current location from PA 28 in Etna. In 1979, the route was realigned onto what was then PA 8 Bypass (Main Street) to bypass downtown Oil City. PA 8 Bypass, initially signed in 1941, was decommissioned while the former routing in PA 8 in Oil City became Pennsylvania Route 8 Business.^[7]

Major intersections

County	Location	Mile	Destinations	Notes
Allegheny	Wilkinsburg	0.0	I-376 / US 22 / US 30 (Penn-Lincoln Parkway)	Exit 8 (I-376)
	Pittsburgh	2.45	PA 380 east (Dallas Avenue)	Southern terminus of concurrency
		2.76	PA 380 west (Penn Avenue)	Northern terminus of concurrency
		4.98	PA 130 (Allegheny River Boulevard)	Western terminus of PA 130
	Etna	7.11	PA 28 (Allegheny Valley Expressway)	Interchange, Exit 5 (PA 28)
	Hampton Township	16.17	I-76 / Penna. Tpk. (Pennsylvania Turnpike)	Interchange, Exit 39 (Butler Valley)(I-76)
	Richland Township	17.83	PA 910 (Gibsonia Road)
Butler	Middlesex Township	22.58	PA 228 west (Mars Criders Road)	Southern terminus of concurrency
		24.27	PA 228 east (Glade Mill Road)	Northern terminus of concurrency
	Butler	34.42	PA 356 east (Wayne Street)	Southern terminus of concurrency
		34.69	PA 68 / PA 356 west (Jefferson Street)	Northern terminus of concurrency
	Butler Township	36.02	US 422 (Benjamin Franklin Highway)	Interchange
	Center Township	37.48	PA 308 (Sunbury Road)	Southern terminus of PA 308
	Clay Township	43.84	PA 138 (Euclid Road)	Western terminus of PA 138
	Brady Township	47.05	PA 528 (Prospect Road)	Northern terminus of PA 528
		47.08	PA 173 (Centreville Pike)	Southern terminus of PA 173
	Mercer Township	52.87	PA 108 (Franklin Road)	Eastern terminus of PA 108
	Harrisville	55.84	PA 58 (Eau Claire Road)
Venango	Irwin Township	59.95	PA 208
		60.84	I-80	Interchange, Exit 29 (I-80)
		66.15	PA 308	Interchange, Northern terminus of PA 308
	Franklin	75.90	US 62 south (Mercer Road)	Southern terminus of US 62 concurrency
		77.38	US 322 west (13th Street)	Southern terminus of US 322 concurrency
		77.80	US 322 east (Liberty Street)	Northern terminus of US 322 concurrency
	Oil City	85.34	US 62 north (Petroleum Street) / PA 428 (Halyday Street)	Northern terminus of US 62 concurrency, Southern terminus of PA 428
	Rouseville	88.71	PA 227	Southern terminus of PA 227
	Oakland Township	93.58	PA 417	Northern terminus of PA 417
Crawford	Titusville	100.70	PA 27 east (Central Avenue) / PA 89 north (Franklin Street)	Southern terminus of PA 27 concurrency, Southern terminus of PA 89
		101.12	PA 27 west (Central Avenue)	Northern terminus of PA 27 concurrency
	Bloomfield Township	113.85	PA 408 (Central Avenue)	Eastern terminus of PA 408
	Riceville	1XX.XX	PA 77
Erie	Union City	122.13	US 6 west (Meadville Road)	Southern terminus of concurrency
		122.78	US 6 east (High Street)	Northern terminus of concurrency
		122.93	PA 97 (Waterford Street)	Southern terminus of PA 97
	Amity Township	130.59	PA 89 south (Beaverdam Road)	Southern terminus of concurrency
	Wattsburg	131.11	PA 474 (Jamestown Street)	Western terminus of PA 474
	Venango Township	132.69	PA 89 north	Northern terminus of concurrency
	Millcreek Township	145.10	I-90	Interchange, Exit 29 (I-90)
	Erie	148.44	PA 97 (Old French Road)	Northern terminus of PA 97
		148.54	US 20 (26th Street)	Northern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Bannered routes

PA 8 Business

PA Route 8 Business
Location:	Oil City, Pennsylvania
Existed:	2000–present

Pennsylvania Route 8 Business is a 1-mile (1.6 km) long business route in Venango County, Pennsylvania.

In 1979, a two-lane but development-free bypass of Oil City was constructed on the westbank of Oil Creek and featured the designation of Pennsylvania Route 8 Bypass. The original eastbank sector and its two bridges were initially kept as mainline Route 8. The first half of the very short route features one-way couples through the heart of the municipality, and the northern half features a single, business-lined two-lane street. Mainline Route 8 was redirected to the former bypass upon the commissioning of Route 8 Business.^[8]

PA 8 Truck

PA Route 8 Truck
Location:	Titusville, Pennsylvania
Existed:	1980–present

Pennsylvania Route 8 Truck is a ¹⁄₂-mile (0.80 km) long truck route in Titusville, Crawford County, Pennsylvania. In 1980, the designation was established to remove trucks from the complicated intersection with Pennsylvania Route 27 and to provide direct access for local trucks past the borough's small industrial area along St. John Street. For its entire length it is cosigned with Truck Route 27.

References

1. ^ DeLorme Street Atlas USA 2007 software, Toggle Measure Tool
2. ^ Pennsylvania Department of Highways (1930). Pennsylvania Road Map (front section) (Map). ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_pdf_files/Maps/Statewide/Historic_OTMs/1930fr.pdf. Retrieved 2007-12-28. 
3. ^ Pennsylvania Department of Highways (1940). Pennsylvania Road Map (front section) (Map). ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_pdf_files/Maps/Statewide/Historic_OTMs/1940fr.pdf. Retrieved 2007-12-28. 
4. ^ Pennsylvania Department of Highways (1960). Pennsylvania Road Map (front section) (Map). ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_pdf_files/Maps/Statewide/Historic_OTMs/1960fr.pdf. Retrieved 2007-12-28. 
5. ^ Pennsylvania Department of Highways (1970). Pennsylvania Road Map (front section) (Map). ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_pdf_files/Maps/Statewide/Historic_OTMs/1970fr.pdf. Retrieved 2007-12-28. 
6. ^ Pennsylvania Senate Bill 1088 (1985-1986)
7. ^ PennDOT (1980). Pennsylvania Road Map (front section) (Map). ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_pdf_files/Maps/Statewide/Historic_OTMs/1980fr.pdf. Retrieved 2007-12-28. 
8. ^ PA 1 - PA 50 (Map). 2010. http://www.pahighways.com/state/PA1-50.html. Retrieved 2011-02-02. 

External links

• Pennsylvania Route 8 Junction List