The Bayfront Connector is a 5.34 miles (8.6 km), four-lane expressway

Limited-access road

A limited-access road known by various terms worldwide, including limited-access highway, dual-carriageway and expressway, is a highway or arterial road for high-speed traffic which has many or most characteristics of a controlled-access highway , including limited or no access to adjacent...

 that connects Interstate 90

Interstate 90

Interstate 90 is the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It is the northernmost coast-to-coast interstate, and parallels US 20 for the most part. Its western terminus is in Seattle, at Edgar Martinez Drive S. near Safeco Field and CenturyLink Field, and its eastern terminus is in...

 to downtown Erie, Pennsylvania

Erie, Pennsylvania

Erie is a city located in northwestern Pennsylvania in the United States. Named for the lake and the Native American tribe that resided along its southern shore, Erie is the state's fourth-largest city , with a population of 102,000...

.

Route description

At the intersection of East 12th Street, the Bayfront Parkway becomes the Bayfront Connector and picks up the concurrency

Concurrency (road)

A concurrency, overlap, or coincidence in a road network is an instance of one physical road bearing two or more different highway, motorway, or other route numbers...

 with Pennsylvania Route 290

Pennsylvania Route 290

Pennsylvania Route 290 is a long state highway located in the city of Erie, Pennsylvania. The western terminus of the route is at Interstate 79 and Pennsylvania Route 5 in the neighborhood of Dock Junction...

. After it bridges the railroad tracks owned by CSX

CSX Transportation

CSX Transportation operates a Class I railroad in the United States known as the CSX Railroad. It is the main subsidiary of the CSX Corporation. The company is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and owns approximately 21,000 route miles...

, the Connector parallels the tracks for Norfolk Southern

Norfolk Southern Railway

The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I railroad in the United States, owned by the Norfolk Southern Corporation. With headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, the company operates 21,500 route miles in 22 eastern states, the District of Columbia and the province of Ontario, Canada...

. The Connector intersects East 38th Street at angle, prohibiting turns onto 38th Street. After the intersection of Shannon Road, the Bayfront Connector stops paralleling railroad tracks and crosses Fourmile Creek

Fourmile Creek

Fourmile Creek is an long tributary of Lake Erie in Erie County, Pennsylvania in the United States. It has a drainage basin of and is a part of the Lake Erie Watershed.- Course :...

 over the Wintergreen Gorge Bridge

Wintergreen Gorge Bridge

The Wintergreen Gorge Bridge is a , steel, plate girder bridge that carries Pennsylvania Route 290 and the Bayfront Connector over Fourmile Creek and the Wintergreen Gorge in Harborcreek Township, Erie County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania...

. The concurrency for Pennsylvania Route 430

Pennsylvania Route 430

Pennsylvania Route 430 is an long state highway located in Erie county in Pennsylvania. The western terminus is at US 20 in Wesleyville. The eastern terminus is the New York state line near Findley Lake, NY- History :...

 begins at the intersection with Station Road. The entrance to Penn State Erie

Penn State Erie, The Behrend College

Penn State Erie, The Behrend College is a state-related public university institution and a Commonwealth campus of Pennsylvania State University located in Erie, Pennsylvania....

 is on the Connector at the intersection for Hannon Road and Knowledge Parkway. The Bayfront Connector terminates, along with PA 290, at the I-90 interchange, while PA 430 continues as Station Road.

History

Starting in 1962, a number of studies were done to address the traffic congestion

Traffic congestion

Traffic congestion is a condition on road networks that occurs as use increases, and is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. The most common example is the physical use of roads by vehicles. When traffic demand is great enough that the interaction...

 problems on the east side of the city of Erie and the adjacent communities of Harborcreek Township, Lawrence Park

Lawrence Park, Pennsylvania

Lawrence Park Township is the only first class township in Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,048 at the 2000 Census, at which time it was also a census-designated place. The 2010 census counted a population of 3,982, for a decline of 1.6% during the decade.The township...

 and Wesleyville

Wesleyville, Pennsylvania

Wesleyville is a borough in Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,617 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Erie Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Wesleyville is located at ....

. The proposed highway was called the "East Side Access Highway". On March 3, 1997, the Federal Highway Administration

Federal Highway Administration

The Federal Highway Administration is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two "programs," the Federal-aid Highway Program and the Federal Lands Highway Program...

 (FHWA) issued a Record of Decision

Record of Decision

A Record of Decision in the United States is the formal decision document which is recorded for the public.- Federal Register :The ROD is announced in a Notice of Availability in the Federal Register and is printed and made available to the public on the CRMP website.-USEPA :In the USEPA, the...

 authorizing the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation oversees transportation issues in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The administrator of PennDOT is the Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation, currently Barry Schoch Presently, PennDOT supports over of state roads and highways, about 25,000...

 (PennDOT) to "proceed to final design, right-of-way acquisition and construction".

The construction of the Connector was broken up into different segments. The first segment, between Interstate 90 and McClelland Avenue, opened on November 21, 2003. The segment between McClelland Avenue and Broad Street was opened on November 4, 2004. The last section of the Bayfront Connector, from Broad Street to East 12th Street was opened on June 17, 2005 and was officially dedicated on June 24. Construction of the Bayfront Connector cost $180 million.

Major intersections

External links

• The Erie East Side Access Highway (PennDOT
  Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
  The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation oversees transportation issues in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The administrator of PennDOT is the Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation, currently Barry Schoch Presently, PennDOT supports over of state roads and highways, about 25,000...
  
  /FHWA
  Federal Highway Administration
  The Federal Highway Administration is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two "programs," the Federal-aid Highway Program and the Federal Lands Highway Program...
  
  ), archived by Internet Archive
  Internet Archive
  The Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...