U.S. Route 30
U.S. Route 30 or U.S. Highway 30 (US 30) is an east–west main route in the system of the United States Numbered Highways, with the highway traveling across the northern tier of the country. With a length of 3,073 miles (4,946 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. Route system.
U.S. Route 30 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
US 30 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Length | 3,073 mi (4,946 km) | |||
| Existed | 1926–present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end |  US 101 in Astoria, OR | |||
| ||||
| East end | Virginia Avenue/Absecon Boulevard in Atlantic City, NJ | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| States | Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| ||||
US 20 and US 30 break the general U.S. Route 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). The two run concurrently and continue in the correct positioning near Caldwell, Idaho. This 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 United States (from New York City to San Francisco), became part of US 30; it is still known by that name in many areas.
Route description
| mi | km | |
|---|---|---|
| OR | 477.47[1] | 768.41 |
| ID | 415.55[2] | 668.77 |
| WY | 454.37[3] | 731.24 |
| NE | 451[4] | 726 |
| IA | 330.43[5] | 531.77 |
| IL | 151.32[6] | 243.53 |
| IN | 151.8[7] | 244.3 |
| OH | 245.39[8] | 394.92 |
| WV | 3.4[9] | 5.5 |
| PA | 333 | 536 |
| NJ | 58.26[10] | 93.76 |
| Total | 3073 | 4945 |
Oregon
The western terminus of US 30 is at an intersection with U.S. Route 101 at the southern end of the Astoria–Megler Bridge in downtown Astoria, Oregon, approximately 5 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 Interstate 505. From there it heads around the north side of downtown on Interstate 405 and Interstate 5 to reach Interstate 84 (I‑84). Most of the rest of the route is concurrent with I‑84, with only about 70 miles (110 km), under 1/5 of its remaining length, off the freeway, mainly on old alignments.
Idaho
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 Interstate 86 (I‑86), US 30 continues east with I‑86 almost to its end at Pocatello. US 30 cuts southeast through downtown Pocatello to Interstate 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
In Wyoming, US 30 heads southeast through Kemmerer to Granger, where it joins Interstate 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:
- 97 miles (156 km) from Walcott to Laramie
- 12 miles (19 km) through Cheyenne
- 2 miles (3.2 km) through Pine Bluffs to the Nebraska state line
Nebraska
Unlike the three states to the west, Nebraska keeps US 30 completely separate from its parallel Interstates (Interstate 80 [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 towards Columbus on a highway parallel to the Platte River. At Columbus, it turns east towards Schuyler and Fremont and crosses the Missouri River into Iowa east of Blair.
Iowa
US 30 crosses Iowa from west to east approximately 20 miles (32 km) north of Interstate 80. Between Missouri Valley and Denison, US 30 runs in a southwest-to-northeast direction. Several freeway bypasses have been built around the major cities on US 30 - Ames, Marshalltown, Tama, Cedar Rapids, Mt. Vernon and DeWitt. It crosses the Mississippi River into Illinois on the Gateway Bridge at Clinton.
U.S. Route 30S and U.S. Route 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
US 30 heads east in Illinois to Rock Falls, where it begins to parallel Interstate 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
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 Interstate 69 (I‑69) and Interstate 469. Between Interstate 65 (at Merrillville) and I‑69 (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 miles per hour (97 km/h).
Ohio
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 SR 11 was set in 2019 and federal funding set $18 million to construct the new freeway.[11] 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 it 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
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
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 Interstate 376/US 22, leaving at Wilkinsburg for its own alignment. From there it roughly parallels the Pennsylvania Turnpike (Interstate 76 [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 Interstate 676 as it crosses the Delaware River on the Benjamin Franklin Bridge.
New Jersey
US 30 splits from Interstate 676 just east of the Ben 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 1⁄2 mile (0.80 km) from the Atlantic Ocean.
History
US 30 was originally proposed to run from Salt Lake City, Utah to Atlantic City, New Jersey.[12] 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, U.S. Route 40 continued to San Francisco, California, although it ran farther north than the Lincoln Highway east of Wadsworth, Nevada and west of Sacramento, California.[13]
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 U.S. Route 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 U.S. Route 530 (US 530). (That number was then reused for the spur towards Salt Lake City.) The planned US 530 had ended at U.S. Route 91 at McCammon, Idaho, where the new US 30 turned north to Pocatello, meeting the planned US 20. (US 20 was truncated to Yellowstone but later extended along its own route to the Pacific Ocean.) What had been designated as U.S. Route 630 (US 630), from US 30 at Echo, Utah 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 U.S. Route 191 to US 30 at Burley.[13]
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 U.S. Route 30N running along the modern routing US 30, and U.S. Route 30S taking the route through Utah (planned as US 630). In the final plan (dated November 11, 1926), the route towards Salt Lake City became U.S. Route 530, ending at U.S. Route 40 at Kimball Junction, Utah.[13][14]
Around 1931, a split in Ohio was designated, from Delphos east to Mansfield. The original US 30 was assigned U.S. Route 30S (US 30S), and a straighter route became U.S. Route 30N (US 30N). US 30S was eliminated ca 1975, putting US 30 on former US 30N.
US 30 was rerouted ca 1931 to bypass Omaha, Nebraska and Council Bluffs, Iowa to the north. The former route, from Fremont, Nebraska to Missouri Valley, Iowa, was designated U.S. Route 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. 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. John's 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. Portland also had a U.S. 30 Business route along N.E. Sandy Boulevard, however the route was decommissioned in 2007.
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 Old Order Amish, 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."[15]
Major intersections
- 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 Amaqua–Beaver 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.svg.png.webp)
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 Township–Philadelphia 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
Special routes
US 30 has had multiple alternate routes during its existence, but all have been finally eliminated. Although several business loops of US 30 have been decommissioned as well, nearly a dozen remain. In addition to these business loops, there is also one bypass, one emergency route, and one business alternate truck route.
Related routes
- US 130 in New Jersey
US 230 (former) in Pennsylvania
US 330 (former) in Illinois
US 430 (former) in Illinois
US 530 (former) in Utah
US 630 (former) in Oregon- US 730 in Oregon and Washington
US 830 (former) in Washington
References
- Oregon Department of Transportation, TransGIS
Equations and Milepoint Range Information Archived March 11, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, accessed January 30, 2006 - "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.
- "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.
- Whidden, Jesse. "Nebraska Roads: US 30". nebraskaroads.com. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
- Iowa Department of Transportation, 2004 Geographic Information Systems Statewide and County Data Archived August 17, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- "2004 GIS Data". dot.state.il.us. Illinois Department of Transportation.
- "Indiana Highway Ends - US 30". Archived from the original on October 8, 2012. Retrieved October 9, 2014 – via Wayback Machine.
- "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.
- Approximated from Mapquest
- "Straight Line Diagrams - US 30" (PDF). state.nj.us. New Jersey Department of Transportation. 2005.
- 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.
- 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. Retrieved November 14, 2017 – via Wikisource.
- Weingroff, Richard F. (June 27, 2017). "From Names to Numbers: The Origins of the U.S. Numbered Highway System". Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
- American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, United States Numbered Highways, 1927
- Hiss, Tony (1990). The Experience of Place. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 173–174. ISBN 0-394-56849-4.
- 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
Routes in italics are no longer a part of the system. Highlighted routes are considered main routes of the system. |
 | | ||
‡This highway is no longer part of the system. | |||
| Browse numbered routes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
←  WYO 28 | WY | →  WYO 30 | ||