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Interstate 76 west - Schuylkill Expressway
Interstate 76 is in the process of crossing the tidal Delaware River from New Jersey into Pennsylvania by way of the Walt Whitman Bridge. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
There are designated lanes for cash payments at the tollbooth up ahead. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
After the tollbooth, Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) is a few miles' drive southwest along I-95. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
A subsequent overhead diagram displays the movements included at exit 351. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
The toll rate for both cash and E-ZPass is $6. Pennsylvania still openly flaunts cash tolls unlike some nearby states. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Exit 351, which also accesses Front Street, is half a mile away. Drivers making their way from I-76 west to I-95 south must first deal with a traffic light at Front Street. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Exit 351 is also one access point to the Broad Street Sports Complex. It is now ⅜ mile away; Pennsylvania still embraces such measurements where many other states have discarded them. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
I-76 reaches the end of the bridge and is now in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is christened the Schuylkill Expressway, after the river it follows for part of its course, and will bear this name for 24 miles. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
The Walt Whitman's tollbooth remains in place as of 2025. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
The three exits after the toll (351, 350, 349) fall within a half-mile span. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
I-76's control city at I-95 is "Central Philadelphia", referred to locally as Center City. I-76 will maintain four through lanes to downtown. I-95's northbound control city is Trenton, New Jersey, a vestige of the pre-Pennsylvania Turnpike Interchange Project which routed I-95 away from there in 2018 and replaced it with an extended I-295. Southbound, I-95 most directly leads to Chester, as well as to Wilmington, Delaware and Baltimore, Maryland. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Exit 350 leads to Seventh Street, which leads a block south to the parallel Packer Avenue. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Exit 349 intersects Pennsylvania Route 611 (Broad Street). The notorious sports complex served by the exit includes Lincoln Financial Field (Eagles), Citizens Bank Park (Phillies), and Wells Fargo Center (76ers/Flyers). Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Exit 348 is a left exit to Pennsylvania Route 291 (Penrose Avenue), a route associated with south Philadelphia's oil refineries and the airport. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
This sign points the way to exit 349. PA 611, once known as U.S. Route 611, is one of the main north-south arterials within Philadelphia. From there it cuts through the suburbs of Montgomery and Bucks counties (including having a Pennsylvania Turnpike interchange in Willow Grove), passes through Easton in the Lehigh Valley, and ultimately ends up in the Stroudsburg area of the Pocono Mountains. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Most of Broad Street from here south to I-95 is lined with stadium parking. It also forms the east end of south Philly's Roosevelt Park. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
The Interstate passes over Broad Street up ahead. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Penrose Avenue is a left exit just ahead. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
At Penrose, I-76 dwindles to just two lanes in each direction. Just below this interchange sits a traffic circle where Penrose intersects Packer and Moyamensing avenues and 20th Street. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
A gore sign at left marks exit 348. There is a 14-foot clearance for the passage of the offramp under I-76 east, which "flies over" the offramp. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Mile marker 348 is just after the exit. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
At Quartermaster Plaza opposite Passyunk Homes, I-76 shifts orientation 90 degrees from west to north, though its cardinal directions in the field are not affected. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Exit 347 with Passyunk Avenue is half a mile past this CSX rail underpass. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Now pointed north, the Interstate begins paralleling the railroad which sits just to its left. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Exit 347 follows a wide curve to the left. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
A sharp cloverleaf ramp leads from westbound I-76 to Passyunk, which is diagonally oriented through southwest Philadelphia. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
The highway's right lane ends ahead. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
A portion of Vare Avenue now merges in at left, and a new westbound left lane forms, with the old left lane becoming the new right lane. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Exit 346C (westbound Vare Avenue/Mifflin Street) is ¼ mile away. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Half a mile past exit 346C sits exit 346B with University Avenue. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Between exits, this variable message sign displays the times and distances to the interchanges at I-676 and US 202. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
The highway curves to the right as an I-76 shield sits to the right. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Access to University Avenue (named for the University of Pennsylvania) from I-76 west is by way of 34th Street and a bridge over the Schuylkill River. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
This gore sign points to exit 346B. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
The University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University are respectively off the next two exits, 346A and 345. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
The Philadelphia skyline is visible in the distance as I-76 makes its closest approach to Center City. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Exit 346A with South Street is on the left in ¼ mile. This exit still has its "old exit" notation (in this case, exit 40) over two decades after the 2001 changeover to mileage-based exit numbering in Pennsylvania. This signage coincides with I-76's crossing of the Schuylkill River. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Again reflecting PennDOT wisdom, the next advance sign for South Street gives a distance of 2/10 mile. This sign thus comes only .05 mile after the previous sign. Both these two signs and many others over the next few miles are old button-copy signs dating to the construction of the Schuylkill Expressway. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
I-76 signage accompanies the Interstate's entry into University City just west of Center City. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
The next two exits after South Street are listed on the right side of this gantry. The sign also notes Center City as being 9/10 of a mile away. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
South Street's ramp gore sign visibly attracts graffiti. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
South Street, which crosses the Schuylkill into Center City to the east and runs into UPenn to the west, has its highway overpass marked. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
In ¼ mile, exit 345 will lead to 30th Street and the 30th Street Amtrak and SEPTA train station. Another non-standard distance, 6/10 mile, is given for exit 344 to westbound Interstate 676 and U.S. Route 30. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
The Interstate proceeds to curve gradually left alongside FMC Corporation's corporate offices. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
At the exit sign for exit 345 (attached to the Walnut Street overpass), exit 344 is 4/10 mile away. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
At exit 345, I-76 enters one of Philadelphia's signature double-decker freeway passages. In this case, Schuylkill Avenue runs overhead. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Exit 344 now lies 2/10 mile away. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Exit 344 is at right. This is the western terminus of I-676, which runs east and south to Camden, New Jersey via the Ben Franklin Bridge. US 30 joins I-76 here for a concurrency. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
I-76 emerges from under Schuylkill Avenue after passing under Amtrak's Keystone Corridor, which also carries SEPTA's Market-Frankford Line through the city. Amtrak's Northeast Corridor absorbs the Keystone just to the east and runs under Center City and out to Northeast Philadelphia and beyond. The ramp from I-76 west to I-676 east is at right. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
At I-676, I-76's control city becomes Valley Forge. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art across the Schuylkill is visible at right at the 676 merge. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
After Girard Avenue ¾ mile away, the gaps between exits on I-76 begin to widen. As the highway has now left Center City behind, surrounding development is becoming less dense. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
I-76 reassurance sits beside the Spring Garden Street overpass seen here. US 30 is not acknowledged along this segment of the Interstate. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
At left, with CSX right-of-way in between, the Keystone Corridor (which carries SEPTA's Paoli/Thorndale Line from Center City out to Thorndale in Chester County) runs parallel to I-76 for a few feet before turning toward the west. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
East Fairmount Park is off exit 342 ahead. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Exit 342 (old exit 36), 2/10 mile away, is where US 30 leaves I-76 to join U.S. Route 13 westbound on Girard Avenue. This exit serves the Philadelphia Zoo. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
To the right, the MLK Jr. Trail separates the westbound offramp to Girard from the river. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
The westbound component of exit 342 is elevated. From this interchange, US 30 overlaps with US 13 along Girard Avenue to Mill Creek, where it turns northwest onto Lancaster Avenue as the "Main Line" west out of Philly, parallel to the namesake historic railroad. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
After the westbound offramp flies overhead, Girard Avenue itself crosses I-76. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
A curve to the left takes I-76 into west Philly's Fairmount Park. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Montgomery Drive is ¾ mile away; then, nearly two miles pass before U.S. Route 1 is intersected. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
There is 14-foot, 1-inch vertical clearance at a subsequent freight railroad overpass. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
The westbound carriageway then receives the onramp from Girard to the right. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
The common area of West Fairmount Park and the Mann Music Center can be reached from exit 341 ahead. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Exit 341, 3/10 mile away, is marked for both Montgomery Drive and MLK Jr. Drive. Trucks and buses may not use this exit due to park restrictions. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Still more I-76 reassurance sits prior to exit 341. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
The Interstate curves its way wide right to exit 341. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
West of here, Montgomery Drive goes out to Belmont Avenue where it becomes Georges Hill Drive, but to the east, there is no road crossing of the river to East Fairmount. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Continuing to curve right, the westbound lanes receive traffic from Montgomery and MLK at right. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
The US 1 merge is a mile ahead, with Lincoln Avenue intersected half a mile afterward. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Interests to Northeast Philadelphia are directed to exit 340B. The Hawk Hill campus of St. Joseph's University is off exit 339. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Exit 340B to US 1 north (Roosevelt Boulevard) is half a mile away. Exit 339 to US 1 south (City Avenue) is 4/10 mile away on the left. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
A fourth lane opens up to the right for traffic bound for US 1 north. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Both directions of US 1 have height-restricted bridges ahead. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Despite the lower number, exit 339 begins a tenth of a mile prior to exit 340B. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Exit 339 is at the beginning of a curve to the left. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
With 14-foot, 1-inch vertical clearance, westbound I-76 passes under the ramp from US 1 south to I-76 east. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Signage for exit 340A finally appears, to Lincoln Drive and Kelly Drive in 3/10 mile. Mid-ground, US 1 south passes overhead. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Germantown and Wissahickon Park, in North Philly, are off exit 340A. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Exit 340A is in the distance to the right. Meanwhile, the lane for exit 339 has been following the highway in the median this whole time, and is still 4/10 mile away for US 1 through traffic. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
The exit 340A gore sign. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Soon afterward, I-76 and US 1 part ways, and the far-left lane of westbound I-76 ends as US 1 south takes it away. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
After I-76 crosses City Avenue, and as it prepares to receive an onramp from it, it departs the city and county of Philadelphia and enters Montgomery County. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
The next 12 miles of I-76 has a variable speed limit, due to its large number of curves as it continues to follow the course of the Schuylkill River. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Exit 338 with Belmont Avenue and Green Lane is a mile away. It serves Roxborough Memorial Hospital in Philadelphia's Roxborough-Manayunk neighborhood. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Manayunk and Roxborough are also two separate neighborhoods in northwest Philly, and the former also has its own SEPTA station. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
The variable speed at the time of these photos was 40 miles per hour. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
To the right, two parallel CSX lines diverge, one crossing the river back into Philadelphia and the other being passed over by I-76 here at mile marker 338.5. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
A VMS in the median then states I-476 is 7 miles and 7 minutes ahead. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Exit 338 leaves I-76 opposite the Manayunk Bridge Rail Trail. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
The exit 338 gore sign. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Traffic from Belmont and Green enters at right. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Exit 337, serving the Gladwyne area of Lower Merion Township, is a mile away. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
The variable speed is now 45 miles per hour, and the Interstate's next 5 miles are a designated deer watch area. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
At mile marker 337, there is a rock formation along the eastbound lanes that had giant icicles on it when these photos were taken thanks to polar vortex conditions. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
The Interstate then crosses the same CSX track it crossed over about a mile ago. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Exit 337 is ahead, intersecting Hollow Road. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Exit 337 is a westbound exit and eastbound entrance. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
The variable speed is now 50 miles per hour as the highway crosses Hollow Road. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Mill Creek Road is crossed next beside the Lower Merion Township Park. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
This portion of I-76 is designated as the Firefighter Thomas Royds Memorial Highway. Royds was a volunteer with the Lower Merion Fire Department who died in 2021 when he was struck by a vehicle around this spot while responding to a previous crash. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Underneath this crossing is Waverly Road. The Philadelphia line has now finally turned away from I-76, leaving the Interstate firmly within Montgomery County. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Exit 332, intersecting Pennsylvania Route 23 leading toward Conshohocken, is two miles away. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Also two miles ahead is exit 331 which intersects one of I-76's children, Interstate 476, with control cities of Plymouth Meeting and Chester. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Via I-476, the Pennsylvania Turnpike is 6 miles and 6 minutes from this VMS. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Exit 332 now sits a mile away. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
At exit 331, I-476 south (331A) is a left exit, and I-476 north (331B) is a right exit. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Spring Garden Street, not the same as the one in Philly, passes overhead before the exits. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Exit 332 lies ahead. PA 23 goes from here through northern Chester County, Morgantown in southern Berks County, and the city of Lancaster, ultimately ending up in the borough of Marietta on the Susquehanna River in western Lancaster County. It is also a thoroughfare through Valley Forge and some of Lancaster County's Amish communities. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
The exit 332 gore sign. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
The portion of I-476 intersected by I-76 is known as the Mid-County Expressway, and was provisionally referred to as the Blue Route. Exit 331B sits ahead to I-476 north and Plymouth Meeting, where it encounters the mainline of the Pennsylvania Turnpike (that section of which bears the designation of Interstate 276) and enters the Turnpike system as its Northeast Extension, which it remains to Scranton 111 miles to the north via Allentown. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
I-76 subsequently passes over ramps from I-476 north to Matsonford Road and from I-476 south to I-76 west. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
At exit 331A, there is half-mile advance signage for exit 330, which intersects Pennsylvania Route 320 and serves Gulph Mills. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
I-476 itself then passes over I-76. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
I-76 next passes over the ramp from I-476 south to I-76 east. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
I-76 still has a variable speed limit for the next four miles. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
There is I-76 reassurance after its exchange with its child. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Subsequently, I-76 crosses Matsonford Road. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
There is 14-foot, 3-inch vertical bridge clearance for the next 1¼ miles. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Exit 330 is imminent. A more westerly Philadelphia metro thoroughfare, PA 320 runs between US 13 in Chester in Delaware County and PA 23 just to the north in Swedeland, Upper Merion Township. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
After a curve to the left, there is ¾-mile advance signage for exit 329, which is marked as serving King of Prussia and Montgomery County seat Norristown. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
The forthcoming exit is the first of two for King of Prussia. Henderson Road is also off the next exit. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
I-76 then takes time to cross PA 320. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
An AM radio frequency is given at right for Valley Forge National Historical Park information. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
The turnpike is now 3 miles and 4 minutes away. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Exit 329 is up ahead, leading to the parallel Gulph Road. Henderson Road is straight across at the end of the ramp. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
In just under two miles, exit 328 and 327 will provide movements to U.S. Route 202 toward King of Prussia and West Chester, and to westbound U.S. Route 422 toward Pottstown. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
An onramp from Gulph Road comes in on the right. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
The Valley Forge park is off exit 328A, and the Valley Forge Casino Resort off exit 327. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
This one-mile advance sign reveals that exit 327 leads to Mall Boulevard. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
I-76 will reach the turnpike in 1½ miles. The Pennsylvania Turnpike at this interchange has controls of state capital Harrisburg westbound, and, as I-276, New Jersey eastbound. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Exit 328A additionally leads to Swedesford Road. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
From I-76 west, the Valley Forge park is via US 422 west. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
A pair of overhead gantries point to the designated lanes (two each) for the turnpike and US 202/422. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Exit 328B sits just behind a railroad bridge. After King of Prussia, northbound US 202 heads into Norristown as DeKalb Pike, then continues northeastward toward Bucks County seat Doylestown, and later into New Jersey by way of the Lambertville-New Hope Bridge over the Delaware River. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Traffic bound for Mall Boulevard is to use the left lane. The center lane is for movements to US 202 south, and the right lane for US 422 west. Photo taken 01-25-2025.
Exit 327 is the last on I-76 before the turnpike toll and entry. US 202 goes west of here as a freeway, turning to the south just before West Chester (the seat of Chester County) where it picks up U.S. Route 322 and overlaps with it to US 1 at Concordville. US 202 then proceeds to Delaware, takes I-95 through Wilmington, and ends at US 13 in New Castle. Meanwhile, US 422 continues paralleling the Schuylkill River, with numerous curves, through Pottstown and out to Reading. Photo taken 01-25-2025.