U.S. Route 30 or U.S. Highway 30 (US 30) is an east–west main route of the United States Numbered Highway System, with the highway traveling across the Northern U.S. With a length of 3,072 miles (4,944 km), it is the third-longest U.S. Highway, after US 20 and US 6. The western end of the highway is at US 101 in Astoria, Oregon; the eastern end is at Virginia Avenue, Absecon Boulevard, and Adriatic Avenue in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The "0" as the last digit in the number indicates that it is a coast-to-coast route and a major east–west route. Despite long stretches of parallel and concurrent Interstate Highways, it has not been decommissioned unlike other long-haul routes such as US 66. It is also the only U.S. Highway that has always been coast-to-coast since the beginning of U.S. Numbered Highway System.

U.S. Route 30 marker

U.S. Route 30

Map
US 30 highlighted in red
Route information
Length3,072 mi (4,944 km)
Existed1926[citation needed]–present
Major junctions
West end US 101 in Astoria, OR
Major intersections
East endVirginia Avenue/Absecon Boulevard in Atlantic City, NJ
Location
CountryUnited States
StatesOregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey
Highway system
US 29 US 31

US 20 and US 30 break the general U.S. Highway numbering rules in Oregon, since US 20 actually starts south of US 30 in Newport, running through the middle of Oregon, while US 30 runs parallel to the north of the state (the Columbia River and Interstate 84, or I-84). The two run concurrently and continue in the correct positioning near Caldwell, Idaho. This situation is because US 20 was not a planned coast-to-coast route while US 30 was.

Much of the historic Lincoln Highway, the first road across the U.S. (from New York City to San Francisco), became part of US 30; it is still known by that name in many areas.

Route description edit

Lengths
  mi km
OR 477 768[1]
ID 416 669[2]
WY 454 731[3]
NE 451 726[4]
IA 330 530[5]
IL 151 243[6]
IN 152 245[7]
OH 245 394[8]
WV 3 4.8[9]
PA 333 536
NJ 58 93[10]
Total 3,072 4,944

Oregon edit

 
Western terminus of US 30 in Astoria, Oregon

The western terminus of US 30 is at an intersection with US 101 at the southern end of the Astoria–Megler Bridge in downtown Astoria, Oregon, approximately five miles (8.0 km) from the Pacific Ocean. It heads east to Portland, where it uses a short section of freeway built for the canceled I-505. From there, it heads around the north side of downtown on I-405 and I-5 to reach I-84. Most of the rest of the route is concurrent with I‑84, with only about 70 miles (110 km), under a fifth of its remaining length, off the freeway, mainly on old alignments.

Idaho edit

Upon entering Idaho, US 30 runs along its old surface route through Fruitland and New Plymouth before joining I‑84. It leaves at Bliss and soon crosses the Snake River, running south of it through Twin Falls and Burley before crossing it again and rejoining I‑84. At the split with I-86, US 30 continues east with I‑86 almost to its end at Pocatello. US 30 cuts southeast through downtown Pocatello to I-15, where it heads south to McCammon. There, it exits and heads east and southeast into Wyoming, not paralleling an Interstate Highway for the first time since Portland.

Wyoming edit

In Wyoming, US 30 heads southeast through Kemmerer to Granger, where it joins I-80 across the southern part of the state. It is also here that it joins the historic Lincoln Highway. As in the previous two states, US 30 remains with the Interstate highway for most of its path, only leaving for the old route in the following places:

Nebraska edit

Unlike the three states to the west, Nebraska keeps US 30 completely separate from its parallel Interstates (I-80 in this case). From the state line to Grand Island, US 30 closely parallels I‑80. East of Grand Island, US 30 diverges from I‑80 and runs northeast toward Columbus on a highway parallel to the Platte River. At Columbus, it turns east toward Schuyler and Fremont and crosses the Missouri River into Iowa east of Blair.

Iowa edit

US 30 crosses Iowa from west to east approximately 20 miles (32 km) north of I-80. Between Missouri Valley and Denison, US 30 runs in a southwest–northeast direction. Several freeway bypasses have been built around the major cities on US 30: Ames, Marshalltown, Tama, Cedar Rapids, Mount Vernon and DeWitt. It crosses the Mississippi River into Illinois on the Gateway Bridge at Clinton.

US 30S and US 30A are two previous alternate alignments of US 30 in Iowa. They followed the original alignment of US 30 in the state. They both began in Nebraska, entered Iowa in Council Bluffs, and extended north to Missouri Valley via Crescent to meet the current highway.

Illinois edit

US 30 heads east in Illinois to Rock Falls, where it begins to parallel I-88. At Aurora, it turns southeast to Joliet, where it is a major thoroughfare in the city of Joliet (Plainfield Road), and then back east through New Lenox, Frankfort, Mokena, Matteson, Olympia Fields, Park Forest, Chicago Heights, Ford Heights, and Lynwood to the Indiana state line, bypassing Chicago to the south. Notwithstanding, the original 1926 routing of US 30 ran directly through downtown Chicago.

Indiana edit

US 30 in Indiana is a major rural divided highway. It is not a freeway except at Fort Wayne, where it runs around the north side on I-69 and I-469. Between I-65 (at Merrillville) and I‑69 (at Fort Wayne), there are over 40 traffic signals on this divided highway, hindering smooth traffic flow. This is especially pronounced near Warsaw and Columbia City, where the speed limit is reduced as the highway runs through a commercial section with many businesses and traffic signals. Many of the other signals are concentrated between Hobart and Valparaiso, the two cities being about 20 miles (32 km) apart. It is, however, a four-lane divided road through its entirety within Indiana, generally avoiding small towns. Speed limits range but are generally 60 mph (97 km/h).

Ohio edit

US 30 continues into Ohio, where it is mainly a four-lane divided highway until Canton. A proposal to make US 30 a limited-access freeway from Trump Avenue and State Route 11 (SR 11) was set in 2019 and federal funding set $18 million (equivalent to $20.4 million in 2022[11]) to construct the new freeway.[12] As of 2020, the only sections that were limited access freeways are in Van Wert, Bucyrus, Mansfield, Wooster, and Canton. A section between I-71 and US 250 is a divided four-lane highway. A section between SR 57 and SR 172 is a four-lane divided highway, with traffic signals at two intersections. The highway passes through Van Wert. After Van Wert, it travels through Upper Sandusky where the highway runs concurrently with US 23. The section between Mansfield and Canton follows the old Lincoln Highway. The last remaining segments that will be upgraded to a freeway are past Canton; currently, the highway is a two-lane route that passes through East Canton, Minerva, and Lisbon. After Lisbon, it runs concurrently with SR 45 for three miles (4.8 km) and becomes a freeway. Designated with signs marking routes SR 11, SR 7, SR 39, and US 30. After joining SR 11, SR 7 becomes a part of the freeway where all three routes split in East Liverpool where US 30 joins SR 39 for one mile (1.6 km) and US 30 crosses the Ohio River into West Virginia.

West Virginia edit

US 30 runs for only about four miles (6.4 km) in West Virginia. It crosses the Ohio River over the Jennings Randolph Bridge, continuing the freeway from the Ohio section. After cutting through the town of Chester with only one interchange, West Virginia Route 2 (Carolina Avenue), the freeway section ends not too long after. US 30 continues across the northernmost piece of the Northern Panhandle on a two-lane road.

Pennsylvania edit

 
US 30 westbound in Paoli, Pennsylvania, along the Philadelphia Main Line, October 2018

US 30 heads southeast into Pennsylvania, joining US 22 and then the Penn-Lincoln Parkway West west of Pittsburgh. It heads through downtown Pittsburgh on I-376/US 22, leaving at Wilkinsburg for its own alignment. From there, it roughly parallels the Pennsylvania Turnpike (I-76) to the Philadelphia area, though, in many areas, particularly from York past Lancaster, and bypassing Coatesville, Downingtown, and Exton, it is far enough from the Pennsylvania Turnpike to require its own freeway. As it approaches Philadelphia, US 30 constitutes the main road of the Philadelphia Main Line, a string of affluent suburbs west of the city; often called Lancaster Avenue and Lancaster Pike through this stretch. US 30 then briefly joins I‑76 near Center City, Philadelphia, splitting onto I-676 as it crosses the Delaware River on the Benjamin Franklin Bridge.

New Jersey edit

US 30 splits from I-676 just east of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge toll plaza in Camden and heads southeast to Atlantic City, generally parallel to the Atlantic City Expressway, passing through the New Jersey Pine Barrens. For most of its New Jersey run, it is known as the White Horse Pike. It ends in Atlantic City at the intersection of Absecon Boulevard, Virginia Avenue, and Adriatic Avenue, about 0.5 miles (0.80 km) from the Atlantic Ocean.

History edit

US 30 was originally proposed to run from Salt Lake City, Utah, to Atlantic City, New Jersey.[13] West of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, this was designated largely along the Lincoln Highway, as part of a promise to the Lincoln Highway Association to assign a single number to their road as much as possible. West of Salt Lake City, US 40 continued to San Francisco, California, although it ran farther north than the Lincoln Highway east of Wadsworth, Nevada, and west of Sacramento, California.[14]

The governments of Idaho and Oregon objected to Salt Lake City as the terminus for US 30 and requested extensions. What is now US 30 through those states (west of Burley, Idaho) had been designated as part of US 20, another transcontinental route, but traveled through Yellowstone National Park and was inaccessible during the winter season. The states agreed to take US 30 along that route, splitting from the route to Salt Lake City at Granger, Wyoming, and running along what had been designated as US 530. (That number was then reused for the spur toward Salt Lake City.) The planned US 530 had ended at US 91 at McCammon, Idaho, where the new US 30 turned north to Pocatello, meeting the planned US 20. (US 20 was truncated to Yellowstone National Park but later extended along its own route to the Pacific Ocean.) What had been designated as US 630, from US 30 at Echo to Ogden, Utah, was to be extended east on former US 30 to US 30 at Granger and northwest on US 91 and what had been designated US 191 to US 30 at Burley.[14]

Utah objected to that plan, however, as it removed US 30 from that state, giving them only US 630, a branch. A compromise was reached, in which the US 630 route would become the main line of US 30, once improved to higher standards, but that was still not deemed completely satisfactory. Ultimately, in the final system, a split was approved between Burley, Idaho, and Granger, Wyoming, with US 30N running along the modern routing US 30, and US 30S taking the route through Utah (planned as US 630). In the final plan (dated November 11, 1926), the route toward Salt Lake City became US 530, ending at US 40 at Kimball Junction, Utah.[14][15][page needed]

Around 1931, a split in Ohio was designated, from Delphos east to Mansfield. The original US 30 was assigned US 30S, and a straighter route became US 30N. US 30S was eliminated c. 1975, putting US 30 on former US 30N.[citation needed]

US 30 was rerouted c. 1931 to bypass Omaha, Nebraska, and Council Bluffs, Iowa, to the north. The former route, from Fremont, Nebraska, to Missouri Valley, Iowa, was designated US 30S. Around 1934, it was truncated to Omaha and c. 1939 it was changed from US 30S to US 30A and was removed from service in 1969 when the historic Douglas Street bridge was demolished.[citation needed] Later sections were relocated to parallel Interstate Highways in several states, including I-84 in Oregon and Idaho.

A signed US 30 Bypass was created in Portland, Oregon, beginning at the St. Johns Bridge, following (roughly) Lombard Street in North Portland, continuing along Sandy Boulevard, and rejoining the I-84/US 30 route in the center of the town of Wood Village.[citation needed] Portland also had a US 30 Business route along Northeast Sandy Boulevard; the route, however, was decommissioned in 2007.[citation needed]

In 1988, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) engineers proposed that US 30 be rerouted and upgraded to a four-lane controlled-access expressway through a portion of Lancaster County. The American Farmland Trust (AFT) opposed the plan because, according to Jim Riggle, then Director of Operations at AFT, it "would have cut right through the heart of the best farmland [and] would probably have been the death knell of the Amish community". The plans were averted when more than a thousand Amish people, people who do not usually participate in the public process, "drove their buggies to the meeting hall and expressed their concern by simply sitting quietly in the audience in their black homespun suits".[16]

Major intersections edit

Oregon
  US 101 in Astoria
  I-405 in Portland. The highways travel concurrently through the city.
   I-5 / I-405 in Portland. I-5/US 30 travel concurrently through the city.
   I-5 / I-84 in Portland. I-84/US 30 travel concurrently to Cascade Locks.
  I-205 in Portland
  I-205 in Portland
  I-205 in Portland
  I-84 in Cascade Locks. The highways travel concurrently to Hood River.
  I-84 in Hood River. The highways travel concurrently to Mosier.
  I-84 in The Dalles
  US 197 in The Dalles. The highways travel concurrently through the city.
   I-84 / US 197 in The Dalles. I-84/US 30 travel concurrently to Pendleton.
  US 97 east-northeast of The Dalles
  US 730 east of Boardman
  I-82 southwest of Hermiston
  US 395 in Stanfield. The highways travel concurrently to Pendleton.
  I-84 in Gopher Flats. The highways travel concurrently to La Grande.
  I-84 southeast of La Grande. The highways travel concurrently to North Powder.
  I-84 in Baker City. The highways travel concurrently to south of Fruitland, Idaho.
Idaho
   I-84 / US 95 south of Fruitland. US 30/US 95 travel concurrently to Palisades Corner.
  I-84 south of New Plymouth. The highways travel concurrently to west-northwest of Bliss.
   US 20 / US 26 north of Caldwell. The highways travel concurrently to Caldwell.
  I-184 in Boise.
   US 20 / US 26 in Boise. US 20/US 30 travel concurrently to Mountain Home. US 26/US 30 travel concurrently to west-northwest of Bliss.
  US 93 east of Filer. The highways travel concurrently to Twin Falls.
  I-84 in Heyburn. The highways travel concurrently to northeast of Declo.
   I-84 / I-86 northeast of Declo. I-86/US 30 travel concurrently to west of Chubbuck.
  US 91 in Pocatello. The highways travel concurrently to northwest of McCammon.
  I-15 in Pocatello. The highways travel concurrently to northwest of McCammon.
  US 89 in Montpelier. The highways travel concurrently through the city.
Wyoming
  US 189 in Kemmerer
  I-80 in Little America. The highways travel concurrently to south-southeast of Walcott.
  US 191 in Purple Sage. The highways travel concurrently to Rock Springs.
  US 287 east of Rawlins. The highways travel concurrently to Laramie.
  I-80 southeast of Laramie. The highways travel concurrently to southwest of Cheyenne.
   I-25 / US 87 in Cheyenne
   I-180 / US 85 in Cheyenne
  I-80 east-northeast of Cheyenne. The highways travel concurrently to Pine Bluffs.
Nebraska
  US 385 in Sidney. The highways travel concurrently to Chappell.
  US 138 north of Big Springs
  US 26 west-southwest of Ogallala. The highways travel concurrently to Ogallala.
  US 83 in North Platte
  US 283 in Lexington
  US 281 in Grand Island
  US 81 south of Columbus. The highways travel concurrently to Columbus.
   US 77 / US 275 north of Fremont. US 30/US 275 travel concurrently to east-northeast of Fremont.
  US 75 in Blair. The highways travel concurrently through the city.
Iowa
  I-29 in Missouri Valley
  US 59 in Denison. The highways travel concurrently through the city.
  US 71 in Carroll
  US 169 on the AmaquaBeaver township line. The highways travel concurrently to Ogden.
  US 69 in Ames
  I-35 southeast of Ames
  US 65 in Colo
  US 63 in Toledo
  US 218 in Fremont Township. The highways travel concurrently to Cedar Rapids.
  US 151 in Cedar Rapids. The highways travel concurrently to Bertram Township.
   I-380 / US 218 in Cedar Rapids
  US 61 in De Witt. The highways travel concurrently to southwest of De Witt.
  US 67 in Clinton. The highways travel concurrently through the city.
Illinois
 
 
 
 
I-88 Toll / IL 110 (CKC) southeast of Rock Falls
  US 52 north of Amboy
   I-39 / US 51 southwest of Lee
  US 34 in Oswego. The highways travel concurrently to Montgomery.
  I-55 in Joliet
  US 6 in Joliet. The highways travel concurrently through the city.
  I-80 in New Lenox
  US 45 in Frankfort
  I-57 in Matteson
Indiana
  US 41 in Schererville
  I-65 in Merrillville
  US 421 in Wanatah
  US 35 in Davis Township
  US 31 east of Plymouth
  US 33 in Fort Wayne. The highways travel concurrently through the city.
   I-69 / US 33 in Fort Wayne. I-69/US 30 travel concurrently through the city.
  US 27 in Fort Wayne
  I-469 north-northeast of Fort Wayne. The highways travel concurrently to New Haven.
  US 24 northeast of New Haven. The highways travel concurrently to New Haven.
Ohio
  US 224 in Pleasant Township. The highways travel concurrently to Van Wert.
   US 127 / US 224 north of Van Wert
  US 68 in Madison Township
  US 23 in Salem Township. The highways travel concurrently to Crane Township.
  US 42 in Madison Township
  I-71 in Mifflin Township
  US 250 in Plain Township. The highways travel concurrently to Wooster Township.
  US 62 in Massillon. The highways travel concurrently to Canton.
   I-77 / US 62 in Canton
  SR 11 from West Point to West Virginia state line
West Virginia
  WV 2 in Chester
Pennsylvania
  US 22 in North Fayette Township. The highways travel concurrently to Wilkinsburg.
  I-376 in Robinson Township. The highways travel concurrently to Wilkinsburg.
  I-79 southwest of Pennsbury Village
  US 19 in Pittsburgh. The highways travel concurrently approximately 1 mile (1.6 km).
  I-279 in Pittsburgh
 
 
I-76 Toll in North Huntingdon Township (Pennsylvania Turnpike)
  US 119 in Southwest Greensburg
  US 219 in Jenner Township
   Future I-99 / US 220 in Bedford Township
  I-70 in Breezewood. The highways travel concurrently through the town.
  US 522 in Todd Township
  US 11 in Chambersburg
  I-81 in Chambersburg, PA
  US 15 in Straban Township
  I-83 in Manchester Township
  US 222 in Manheim Township. The highways travel concurrently through the township.
  US 322 in Caln Township
  US 202 in West Whiteland Township
  I-476 in Radnor Township
  US 1 on the Lower Merion TownshipPhiladelphia line
  I-76 in Philadelphia. The highways travel concurrently through the city.
   I-76 / I-676 in Philadelphia. I-676/US 30 travel concurrently to Camden, New Jersey.
  I-95 in Philadelphia
New Jersey
  US 130 in Pennsauken Township. The highways travel concurrently to Collingswood.
  I-295 in Barrington
  US 206 in Hammonton
  US 9 in Absecon
Virginia Avenue/Absecon Boulevard/Adriatic Avenue in Atlantic City

[17]

Special routes edit

Related routes edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Oregon Department of Transportation, TransGIS
    Equations and Milepoint Range Information Archived March 11, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, accessed January 30, 2006
  2. ^ "Milepost Log - State Highway System". itd.idaho.gov. Idaho Transportation Department. May 4, 2004. Archived from the original on March 22, 2006. Retrieved May 2, 2020 – via Wayback Machine.
  3. ^ "Reference Marker Book". dot.state.wy.us. Wyoming Department of Transportation. November 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 11, 2007 – via Wayback Machine.
  4. ^ Whidden, Jesse. "Nebraska Roads: US 30". nebraskaroads.com. Archived from the original on July 5, 2020. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  5. ^ Iowa Department of Transportation, 2004 Geographic Information Systems Statewide and County Data Archived August 17, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ "2004 GIS Data". dot.state.il.us. Illinois Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on August 10, 2007. Retrieved January 30, 2006.
  7. ^ "Indiana Highway Ends - US 30". Archived from the original on October 8, 2012. Retrieved October 9, 2014 – via Wayback Machine.
  8. ^ "Straight Line Diagrams". dot.state.oh.us. Ohio Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on February 19, 2003. Retrieved January 1, 2005 – via Wayback Machine.
  9. ^ Approximated from Mapquest
  10. ^ "Straight Line Diagrams - US 30" (PDF). state.nj.us. New Jersey Department of Transportation. 2005. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 22, 2006. Retrieved January 29, 2006.
  11. ^ Johnston, Louis; Williamson, Samuel H. (2023). "What Was the U.S. GDP Then?". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved November 30, 2023. United States Gross Domestic Product deflator figures follow the Measuring Worth series.
  12. ^ Wang, Robert. "State advances funding for engineering, design work on U.S. 30 in Stark County". The Repository. Archived from the original on October 28, 2019. Retrieved March 11, 2020.
  13. ^ Joint Board on Interstate Highways (1925). "Appendix VI: Descriptions of the Interstate Routes Selected, with Numbers Assigned". Report of Joint Board on Interstate Highways, October 30, 1925, Approved by the Secretary of Agriculture, November 18, 1925 (Report). Washington, DC: United States Department of Agriculture. p. 52. OCLC 733875457, 55123355, 71026428. Archived from the original on November 14, 2017. Retrieved November 14, 2017 – via Wikisource.
  14. ^ a b c Weingroff, Richard F. (June 27, 2017). "From Names to Numbers: The Origins of the U.S. Numbered Highway System". Federal Highway Administration. Archived from the original on September 1, 2019. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  15. ^ American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, United States Numbered Highways, 1927
  16. ^ Hiss, Tony (1990). The Experience of Place. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 173–174. ISBN 0-394-56849-4.
  17. ^ Rand McNally (2013). The Road Atlas (Walmart ed.). Chicago: Rand McNally. pp. 31, 32, 34, 36–39, 62–63, 66–67, 78–79, 84–89, 112, 116. ISBN 978-0-528-00626-5.

External links edit

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