Utah I-70 begins at an
interchange with
I-15 near
Cove Fort. Heading east, I-70 crosses between the Tushar and
Pahvant ranges via
Clear Creek Canyon and descends into the
Sevier Valley, where I-70 serves
Richfield, one of two towns of more than a few hundred people along I-70's path in Utah. The second town with more than a few hundred people served by I-70 is
Salina. Upon leaving the valley near Salina, I-70 crosses the Salina Summit and then crosses a large geologic formation called the
San Rafael Swell. in Utah. Prior to the construction of I-70, the swell was inaccessible via paved roads and relatively undiscovered. Once this section was opened to traffic in 1970, it became the longest stretch of Interstate Highway with no services and the first highway in the U.S. built over a completely new route since the
Alaska Highway. It also became the longest piece of Interstate Highway to be opened at one time.
Missouri After crossing the
Intercity Viaduct, I-70 enters Missouri. It encounters a loop of freeways, called the
Downtown Loop, which contains I-70 as well as
I-35,
I-670,
US 24,
US 40,
US 71, and
US 169. In the southern part of this loop, I-670 cuts directly through the downtown while I-70 bypasses the taller buildings a few blocks north near the
Missouri River. Westbound I-670 is also designated Alternate I-70. Most of the Interstates in this loop are in their second mile, so all exits (no matter which Interstate the road carries) are numbered 2 and suffixed with every letter of the alphabet except for I, O, and Z, leading to the loop's nickname, the Alphabet Loop. The section of I-70 in
Downtown Kansas City is approximately the southern city limits of "City of Kansas" when it was incorporated in 1853. The first two auto bridges in Missouri mark the city's original boundaries with the
Buck O'Neil Bridge (US 169) being the west boundary while the
Heart of America Bridge (
Route 9) is the east boundary. Another intersection of note is the second traverse of
I-435. This is primarily notable because it immediately precedes the
Truman Sports Complex (home of both
Arrowhead and
Kauffman stadiums) and also because the entrance ramps from I-435 northbound onto I-70 eastbound also serve as the exit ramps from I-70 into the Truman Sports Complex parking lots. This section of the Interstate is marked as the "
George Brett Super Highway", named after the
Kansas City Royals third-base player who played the entirety of his career (1973–1993) at Kauffman Stadium. The last Interstate intersection in the immediate Kansas City metro area is with
I-470 in
Independence. After passing Kansas City, I-70 traverses the length of Missouri, west to east. It passes through the largest city between Kansas City and St. Louis,
Columbia, which is about halfway between the two major cities and the home of the
University of Missouri. The terrain is rolling with some hills and bluffs near rivers. I-70 also crosses the Missouri River twice (as did the original US 40)—at
Rocheport, about west of Columbia, and at
St. Charles, about northwest of St. Louis. Most of the highway on this stretch is four lanes. Various proposals have been made to widen it (at an estimated cost of $3.5 billion) including turning it into a toll road. I-70 eventually gets into
Greater St. Louis, and US 40 splits to the south, along with
US 61, which does not have a
concurrency with I-70. In late 2009, the intersecting road was upgraded to
Interstate standards along with the completion of the overhaul of
I-64. After this interchange, I-70 intersects two auxiliary routes,
I-270 and
I-170. After passing several
bedroom communities in north
St. Louis County, I-70 enters the city limits of St. Louis. It turns east to cross the
Mississippi River on the
Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge, connecting with an extension of
I-44, which takes the former I-70 route through
Downtown St. Louis to meet
I-55 at its connection to the
Poplar Street Bridge. The
1985 World Series between the
Kansas City Royals and
St. Louis Cardinals was nicknamed the "I-70 Series" because St. Louis and Kansas City are the two endpoints of I-70 in
Missouri, and the highway passes within sight of both the Royals'
Kauffman Stadium and, at the time, the Cardinals'
Busch Stadium.
Illinois After crossing the
Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge, I-70 merges with I-55, while I-64 splits off I-55. When the routes intersect I-270, I-55 stays on its own pavement using the mileposts from the Poplar Street Bridge, while I-70 heads east on I-270's pavement using I-270's mileposts. Because of this arrangement, when I-55/I-70 intersects I-270 from the southeast, the exit number is 20 and, in the opposite direction, it is exit 15. I-70 was rerouted from the Poplar Street Bridge to the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge north of Downtown St. Louis, which opened in February 2014. I-70 passes through numerous
county seats in Illinois, among them
Vandalia, the state capital from 1818 to 1839. It
runs concurrently with
I-57 around
Effingham and then proceeds east toward Indiana.
Indiana , east of
Downtown Indianapolis, Indiana I-70 enters Indiana just to the west of
Terre Haute and then crosses the
Wabash River before skirting the city's south side. After passing through miles of gently rolling terrain in rural west-central Indiana, the freeway approaches the major
Indianapolis metropolitan area. The main entrance to
Indianapolis International Airport was relocated to I-70's exit 68 on November 11, 2008. Upon nearing the
central business district of Indiana's capital city, the visages of
Lucas Oil Stadium and the
JW Marriott Indianapolis hotel, with the city's skyline as their backdrop, now dominate the view to the north from the freeway. After passing just to the south of the world headquarters for
Eli Lilly and Company, I-70 and
I-65 have a brief
concurrency through the eastern side of
Downtown Indianapolis. The junction points of these two major routes are known locally as the "South Split" and "North Split", respectively. After passing through much of the near northeast side of
Indianapolis, I-70 again encounters the I-465 beltway, which carries a multitude of unsigned U.S. Highways and Indiana state roads. I-70 continues on nearly due east from this point, first traveling through suburban
Indianapolis and then transitioning into rural east central Indiana, where it passes just to the south of
New Castle. Upon reaching the
Richmond area,
US 35 joins I-70 just before both routes leave Indiana together and enter Ohio.
Ohio I-70 enters
Ohio just east of the interchange with US 40 at
Richmond, Indiana. Immediately to the east of this border, travelers notice a unique teal-blue arch that spans the width of the freeway, with a "Welcome to Ohio" greeting sign above the eastbound lanes. A sign thanking travelers for visiting Ohio is mounted on the other side of the arch for westbound travelers. Continuing eastbound, I-70 intersects
I-75 north of
Dayton, followed by
I-675 on the east side of Dayton.
Springfield is the next city, the site of
Buck Creek State Park. I-70 then encounters
Columbus. Columbus is bounded by
I-270 and is roughly centered on the intersection of I-70 and
I-71, which share the same asphalt through a notoriously congested stretch locally known as the "South Innerbelt" or, more commonly, "The Split". This stretch has I-71 concurrent with I-70, where I-71 enters and exits from opposite sides of I-70, causing traffic getting on I-70 from I-71 northbound to have to cross four lanes of I-70 traffic to continue on I-71. A similar issue is present for southbound I-71 traffic as well. The Split is being reconstructed ($1.4 billion) and is scheduled to be completed by mid-2026.
I-670 connects
John Glenn Columbus International Airport with I-270, I-71, and I-70. East of Columbus, I-70 passes through
Zanesville and on to
Cambridge, where it intersects
I-77. Continuing on toward
West Virginia, I-70 intersects
I-470 just east of
St. Clairsville. I-470 is primarily used for through traffic and to avoid The Winter Festival of Lights traffic during the
Christmas season from
Oglebay Park. In March 1995, a hole (from a former coal mine) opened up on the eastbound side of I-70 in
Guernsey County near
Old Washington and caused traffic to be rerouted onto US 40 between Old Washington and Cambridge for several months.
West Virginia (
Fort Henry Bridge) at Wheeling, West Virginia The portion of I-70 in West Virginia crosses the
Ohio River at
Wheeling and runs through the
Wheeling Tunnel. I-70 has only one throughlane in each direction at the tunnel. A major interchange was planned but never completed on the east side of the Wheeling Tunnel. Upon merging with I-470, I-70 goes uphill toward Dallas Pike. This part of the road is called "Two Mile Hill", which is known locally for the many accidents at the bottom of the hill. I-70 has brought major development in
Ohio County, the only county the route passes through in West Virginia.. On the north side of the highway, a former strip mine was developed into a retail area called
The Highlands. This stretch of I-70 is the shortest that I-70 is in any state, traveling only from the Ohio River to the Pennsylvania border.
Pennsylvania I-70 was initially envisioned to go through
Downtown Pittsburgh but now goes south of it. Its originally planned route was later incorporated into
I-376, as well as parts of I-76 and
I-79. I-70 also overlaps I-79 near the Pittsburgh suburb of
Washington for . The of I-70 between
Washington and
New Stanton is a
substandard section of the highway. This section of I-70 used to be
Pennsylvania Route 71 (PA 71). It is characterized by sharp curves, limited sight distance, narrow shoulders, and lack of merge lanes at interchanges. Traffic on cloverleaf ramps must weave in the right throughlane of traffic due to the lack of a third lane for entering and exiting traffic. Other on- and offramps effectively function as
right-in/right-out interchanges, forcing vehicles to weave in and out of the exit lane. The speed limit on this stretch is . Between New Stanton and
Breezewood, I-70 runs
concurrent with
I-76 on the
Pennsylvania Turnpike. This is one of only two tolled sections of I-70, the other being on the
Kansas Turnpike between Topeka and Kansas City. At Breezewood, I-70 leaves the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and travels over part of
an old turnpike alignment to a
trumpet interchange. Here, I-70 travels west for a few blocks on
US 30 past several
traffic-lights, before heading south on its own alignment. This stretch of I-70 is one of the few
gaps on the Interstate Highway System. I-70 continues on almost due south from Breezewood to the Maryland state line. This section is posted at and is heavily patrolled. After the border, it meets
I-68's eastern end and turns east toward Baltimore and
Washington DC.
Maryland In
Maryland, I-70 runs from the
Pennsylvania state line near
Hancock east across the central portion of the state toward
Baltimore, following the route of the
National Road, now known as
US 40. It is a major east–west highway in the state, serving the cities of
Hagerstown and
Frederick and bypassing
Ellicott City. East of Frederick, the route was originally designated
Interstate 70N (
I-70N). The highway serves
Washington DC, via
I-270, which was once designated
Interstate 70S (
I-70S). I-70 indirectly serves a branch of the
Washington Metro at
Shady Grove station via
I-370, which only connects to I-270. I-70 was planned to end at
I-95 in Baltimore, but, due to local opposition, it was only built to
MD 122. The section east of
I-695 is now
MD 570. ==History==