Interstate 676 (Pennsylvania)

Interstate 676
I-676 highlighted in red
Route information
Auxiliary route of I‑76 (east)
Maintained by PennDOT, DRPA, and NJDOT
Length:	6.90 mi (11.10 km)
Existed:	1964 – present
History:	Completed in 1991
Major junctions
West end:	I-76 / US 30 in Philadelphia, PA
	PA 611 in Philadelphia, PA I-95 in Philadelphia, PA US 30 in Camden, NJ
South end:	I-76 in Gloucester City, NJ
Location
States:	Pennsylvania, New Jersey
Counties:	PA: Philadelphia NJ: Camden
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Pennsylvania State Route System Interstate US State Scenic Byways Legislative New Jersey State Highway Routes Interstate US State Scenic Byways ← PA 672 PA PA 680 → ← Route 495 NJ I-695 →

New Jersey State Highway Routes

Interstate 676 (abbreviated I-676) is an Interstate Highway that serves as a major thoroughfare through Center City Philadelphia, where it is known as the Vine Street Expressway, and Camden, New Jersey, where it is known as the northern segment of the North–South Freeway, as well as the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Highway. Its western terminus is at I-76 in Philadelphia near the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Fairmount Park. From there it heads east and is then routed on surface streets near Franklin Square and Independence Mall, home of the Liberty Bell, before crossing the Ben Franklin Bridge. On the New Jersey side of the bridge, the highway heads south to its southern terminus at I-76 in Gloucester City near the Walt Whitman Bridge. Between the western terminus and downtown Camden, I-676 is concurrent with U.S. Route 30 (US 30).

After World War II, freeway approaches were planned for both sides of the Ben Franklin Bridge, which was completed in 1926 and served as a part of US 30. In Pennsylvania, the Vine Street Expressway was planned to run along the northern edge of Center City Philadelphia to the Schuylkill River, while in New Jersey, the North-South Freeway was to head south along the Route 42 corridor. When the Interstate Highway System was created in the 1950s, this stretch of highway was a part of I-80S, with Interstate 680 continuing on the Schuylkill Expressway to the Walt Whitman Bridge. In 1964, the designations became I-76 and I-676, respectively, and in 1972 the two routes were switched onto their current alignments. I-676 in New Jersey was completed between I-76 and Morgan Boulevard by 1960 and north of there to downtown Camden by the 1980s. The Vine Street Expressway was opened from the Schuylkill Expressway to 18th Street by 1960 and east of there to I-95 on January 10, 1991 after several obstacles to construction. However, there are grade-level intersections in the connections between the Vine Street Expressway and the Ben Franklin Bridge.