Schuylkill Expressway

Schuylkill Expressway
Schuylkill Expressway highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by PennDOT and DRPA
Length	25.2 mi[1] (40.6 km)
Existed	1951–present
Component highways	I-76 entire route US 1 between City Avenue and Roosevelt Expressway US 30 between Girard Avenue and Vine Street Expressway
NHS	Entire route
Major junctions
West end	I-76 / I-276 / Penna Turnpike in King of Prussia
Major intersections	US 202 / US 422 in King of Prussia I-476 in West Conshohocken US 1 in Bala Cynwyd US 13 / US 30 in Philadelphia I-676 / US 30 in Philadelphia PA 291 in Philadelphia PA 611 in Philadelphia I-95 in Philadelphia
East end	I-76 at the New Jersey state line in Philadelphia
Location
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
Counties	Montgomery, Philadelphia
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Future Pennsylvania State Route System Interstate US State Scenic Legislative
← PA 75 I-76 → PA 76

The Schuylkill Expressway /ˈskuːkəl/,^[2] locally known as "the Schuylkill", is a freeway through southern Montgomery County and Philadelphia. It is the easternmost segment of Interstate 76 (I-76) in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It extends from the Valley Forge interchange of the Pennsylvania Turnpike in King of Prussia, paralleling its namesake Schuylkill River for most of the route, southeast to the Walt Whitman Bridge over the Delaware River in South Philadelphia. It serves as the primary corridor into Philadelphia from points west. Maintenance and planning for most of the highway are administered through Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) District 6, with the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA) maintaining the approach to the Walt Whitman Bridge.

Constructed over a period of 10 years from 1949 to 1959, a large portion of the expressway predates the 1956 introduction of Interstate Highway System; many of these portions were not built to contemporary standards.^{[citation needed]} The rugged terrain, limited riverfront space covered by the route and narrow spans of bridges passing over the highway have largely stymied later attempts to upgrade or widen the highway. With the road being highly over capacity, it has become notorious for its chronic congestion.^{[citation needed]} An average of 163,000 vehicles use the road daily in Philadelphia County,^[3] and an average of 109,000 use the highway in Montgomery County,^[4] making it the busiest road in Pennsylvania.^[5] Its narrow lane and left shoulder configuration, left lane entrances and exits (nicknamed "merge or die"), common construction activity, and generally congested conditions have led to many accidents, critical injuries, and fatalities, leading to the highway's humorous nickname of the "Surekill Expressway" or, in further embellishment, the "Surekill Distressway" or the "Surekill Crawlway".^[6]