Capital Beltway (Harrisburg)

Capital Beltway
Harrisburg Expressway
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap Capital Beltway highlighted in three colors: red (I-81), green (I-83), and blue (PA 581)
Route information
Maintained by PennDOT
Length	27.6 mi[1] (44.4 km) PA 581: 7.36 mi (11.84 km)[2]
Existed	1997–present
Component highways	I-83 from Lemoyne to Colonial Park I-81 from Colonial Park to west of Enola PA 581 from west of Enola to Lemoyne US 11 from Hampden Township to Camp Hill US 322 from Susquehanna Township to Swatara Township
Major junctions
Beltway around Harrisburg
	I-83 in Lemoyne I-283 / US 322 in Lawnton I-81 in Colonial Park I-81 west of Enola
Location
Counties	Cumberland, Dauphin
Highway system
Pennsylvania State Route System Interstate US State Scenic Byways Legislative ← PA 580 PA 581 → PA 582

The Capital Beltway is a beltway surrounding Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in the United States. It is co-designated as Interstate 81 (I-81), I-83, U.S. Route 11 (US 11), US 322, and Pennsylvania Route 581 (PA 581) at various locations along the route. The beltway is primarily located in the suburbs of Harrisburg; however, part of its southern leg passes along the southern edge of downtown. The southwestern section of the highway is named the Harrisburg Expressway. All of the beltway was complete by 1995; however, it was not designated as the Capital Beltway until 1997.

Route description[]

The Capital Beltway begins at the interchange of the eastern terminus of PA 581 at I-83 2 miles (3.2 km) west of the city of Harrisburg in the borough of Lemoyne. This junction is colloquially known as the "York split".^[3] From the split, the beltway crosses the Susquehanna River on the John Harris Bridge, connecting Harrisburg to its west shore (a colloquialism of the western bank of the Susquehanna across from Harrisburg) suburbs of the city.

Continuing on I-83, the beltway parallels Paxton Street (formerly US 322), passing the Harrisburg Mall as the road approaches the . At the junction, the Capital Beltway continues on I-83 as it turns north, while beginning a concurrency with US 322. Continuing for three miles (5 km), I-83 ends at I-81 at an interchange locally known as the "81/83 split".^[4][5] US 322 and the Capital Beltway continue on I-81 south.

On I-81, US 322 exits off I-81 at exit 67B, heading in a northerly direction to State College, beginning a concurrency with US 22 west. Exit 67A is for US 22 east, Cameron Street, which is where the Farm Show Arena Complex is located (a half mile south of the beltway). The Capital Beltway crosses the Susquehanna the second time on the George N. Wade Memorial Bridge. The beltway makes a southerly turn just beyond the bridge, near the western end of the Susquehanna Water Gap of Blue Mountain.

Continuing on I-81 until exit 59, the Capital Beltway exits onto PA 581, also known as the Harrisburg Expressway. US 11 begins a concurrency with PA 581 starting at exit 3, and then exits off and starts a concurrency with US 15 in the borough of Camp Hill, at the Camp Hill Shopping Center (formerly Camp Hill Mall). The beltway continues for two miles (3 km) until it completes the loop by reaching I-83 at the York split.

History[]

PA 581 eastbound approaching the Creekview Road exit in Hampden Township

The I-81 and I-83 sections of the beltway were both fully completed by the 1970s. An expressway connecting I-81 to I-83 had been planned, and the portion of the highway from the York split to US 11 and US 15 in Camp Hill was completed in 1992. It became known as the Harrisburg Expressway, and it was given the PA 581 designation. The section from Camp Hill to I-81 remained incomplete until 1995 when construction began on the segment. It was finally completed and opened for public use in 1997. The PA 581 designation was extended northwestward to the interchange with I-81 when it opened. The Capital Beltway designation was assigned to its current alignment at this time. Engineering for the project was provided by and McCormick Taylor of Camp Hill.^{[citation needed]}

On May 9, 2013, a tanker crashed and caught fire at the interchange between I-81 and US 22/US 322 in Harrisburg. The fire damaged the bridges carrying westbound US 22/US 322 and a ramp over I-81. At least one of those bridges, carrying US 22 eastbound over I-81 and several ramps, and possibly another, the ramp carrying traffic from I-81 northbound to US 22/US 322 westbound, will have to be demolished and replaced. The fire resulted in about ten miles of I-81, from the PA 581 interchange to the I-83 interchange, being closed in both directions, with traffic being diverted along the southern portion of the Capital Beltway.^[6][7]

Exit list[]

Mileposts follow individual component highways.

County	Location	mi[2]	km	Old exit	New exit	Destinations	Notes
Cumberland	Lemoyne	41.41	66.64			I-83 south (VFW Memorial Highway) to I-76 / Penna Turnpike – York, Baltimore	PA 581 exit 6A; east end of concurrency with PA 581; west end of concurrency with I-83
		41.438	66.688	22	41B	Lemoyne	Inner loop exit and outer loop entrance
Dauphin	Harrisburg	42.006– 42.636	67.602– 68.616	John Harris Bridge over the Susquehanna River
		42.671	68.672	23	43	2nd Street – Capitol	Semi-directional T interchange
		43.149	69.442	24	44A	PA 230 to 13th Street
		43.450	69.926	25	44B	17th Street	Inner loop exit and entrance
		43.653	70.253			19th Street	Outer loop exit and entrance
		44.658– 45.512	71.870– 73.244	26	45	Paxton Street / Bass Pro Drive	Bass Pro Drive not signed on outer loop
	Swatara Township	45.927	73.912	27	46A	I-283 south to I-76 / Penna Turnpike – Harrisburg International Airport, Lancaster	I-283 exits 3A-B; Eisenhower Interchange
		46.852	75.401	28	46B	US 322 east / Paxton Street / Derry Street – Hershey	Signed as exit 47 on inner loop; south end of concurrency with US 322; outer loop signed as US 322 only
	Lower Paxton Township	47.940	77.152	29	48	Union Deposit Road
		49.220	79.212	30	50	US 22 (Jonestown Road) – Colonial Park, Progress
		50.21 69.70	80.81 112.17		51B	I-81 north to I-78 – Hazleton, Allentown	No exit number on inner loop; I-81 exit 70; north end of concurrency with I-83; east end of concurrency with I-81
	Susquehanna Township	68.70	110.56	24	69	Progress Avenue	Serves Widener University
		67.13	108.04	23W	67B	US 22 / US 322 west – Lewistown, State College	West end of concurrency with US 322; left exit on inner loop
				23E	67A	US 22 east to PA 230 (Cameron Street)	Serves Harrisburg Area Community College; left exit on outer loop
		65.97	106.17	22	66	Front Street – Downtown Harrisburg	Serves Amtrak Terminal
Dauphin–Cumberland county line	Susquehanna–Hampden township line			George N. Wade Memorial Bridge over the Susquehanna River
		64.78	104.25	21	65	US 11 / US 15 – Enola, Marysville	Serves Central Pennsylvania College; split into exits 65A (south) and 65B (north)
Cumberland	Hampden Township	60.85	97.93	20	61	PA 944 (Wertzville Road)
		59.13 0.00	95.16 0.00		1B	I-81 south – Carlisle PA 581 begins	No exit number on outer loop; I-81 exit 59; west end of concurrency with I-81; north end of concurrency with PA 581; inner loop follows exit 1A
		1.00	1.61		2	Creekview Road
		2.10	3.38		3	US 11 south (Carlisle Pike)	West end of concurrency with US 11
	Camp Hill	4.09	6.58		4	PA 641 – Mechanicsburg	Inner loop exit and outer loop entrance; exit includes direct ramp onto Central Boulevard north to PA 581 west/ US 11
		5.07	8.16		5A-B	US 11 north / US 15 – Camp Hill, Gettysburg	Partial cloverleaf interchange; east end of concurrency with US 11; split into exits 5A (north) and 5B (south)
	Lemoyne	7.36	11.84		6B-C	I-83 south (VFW Memorial Highway) to I-76 / Penna Turnpike – Lemoyne, York, Baltimore PA 581 ends	I-83 exit 41A; east end of concurrency with PA 581; west end of concurrency with I-83; split into exits 6B (I-83 south) and 6C (Lemoyne)
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access       Route transition

See also[]

•  U.S. Roads portal
•  Pennsylvania portal
• Capital Beltway, in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area

References[]

Route map: