I-79 highlighted in red | ||||||||||
Route information | ||||||||||
Maintained by WVDOH and PennDOT | ||||||||||
Length | 343.46 mi[1] (552.75 km) | |||||||||
Existed | 1958–present | |||||||||
NHS | Entire route | |||||||||
Major junctions | ||||||||||
South end | ![]() | |||||||||
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North end | ![]() ![]() | |||||||||
Location | ||||||||||
Country | United States | |||||||||
States | West Virginia, Pennsylvania | |||||||||
Counties | WV: Kanawha, Roane, Clay, Braxton, Gilmer, Lewis, Harrison, Marion, Monongalia PA: Greene, Washington, Allegheny, Butler, Lawrence, Mercer, Crawford, Erie | |||||||||
Highway system | ||||||||||
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Interstate 79 (I-79) is an Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States, designated from I-77 in Charleston, West Virginia, north to Pennsylvania Route 5 (PA 5) and PA 290 in Erie, Pennsylvania. It is a primary thoroughfare through western Pennsylvania and West Virginia and makes up part of an important corridor to Buffalo, New York, and the Canada–United States border. Major metropolitan areas connected by I-79 include Charleston and Morgantown in West Virginia and Greater Pittsburgh and Erie in Pennsylvania.
In West Virginia, I-79 is known as the Jennings Randolph Expressway, named for the West Virginia representative and senator. In the three most northern counties, it is signed as part of the High Tech Corridor. For most of its Pennsylvania stretch, it is known as the Raymond P. Shafer Highway, named for the 39th Pennsylvania governor.