First Steps Taken to Add Lanes to Pennsylvania's I-81

(Philip Kightlinger - Transport Topics) Pennsylvania will widen portions of I-81, a major north-south truck route for the East Coast.

Pennsylvania plans to add travel lanes to 77 miles of Interstate 81, the second-most heavily traveled Interstate on the East Coast.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation authorized $2 million May 24 for a two-year feasibility study, the first step toward widening I-81 to six lanes from the current four.

State Sen. Terry Punt, who has championed the expansion, said Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia are either studying or planning to widen their respective portions of I-81, and for Pennsylvania to leave its section four lanes would create a bottleneck at the Mason-Dixon line, the Public Opinion newspaper of Chambersburg, Pa., reported.

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