Editing Interstate 81 (section)

== History ==

I-81 roughly parallels the [[Great Indian Warpath]], an old Indian trail that connected New York to the [[Piedmont (United States)|Piedmont]] region of the southeastern United States via Virginia and West Virginia.<ref>{{cite book |last1 = Rice |first1 = Otis K. |last2 = Brown |first2 = Stephen W. |year = 1993 |url = https://archive.org/details/westvirginiahist00rice_0 |url-access = registration |title = West Virginia: A History |location = Lexington |publisher = [[University Press of Kentucky]] |page = [https://archive.org/details/westvirginiahist00rice_0/page/10 10] |isbn = 978-0-8131-1854-3 |access-date = February 2, 2018 }}</ref> A series of roads linking Virginia to Maryland through Martinsburg were present on maps as early as 1873.<ref>{{cite map |last = White |first = M. Wood |map-url = http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~28412~1120347:White-s-topographical,-county-&-dis?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No |title = White's Topographical, County & District Atlas of West Virginia |map = Counties of Morgan, Berkeley, Jefferson |scale = 1:310,000 |publisher = M.W. White. |year = 1873 |page = 22 |access-date = February 2, 2018 |oclc = 62726043 |via = David Rumsey Map Collection }}</ref> New York was originally served by [[New York State Route 2 (1924–1927)|New York State Route&nbsp;2]] (NY&nbsp;2), a road built in 1924;<ref>{{cite news |title = New York's Main Highways Designated by Numbers |work = [[The New York Times]] |date = December 21, 1924 |page = XX9 }}</ref> NY&nbsp;2 was replaced by [[U.S. Route 11|US&nbsp;11]] in 1927. A highway that largely followed the path of US&nbsp;11 was built and became known as the [[Penn-Can Highway]].<ref>{{cite news |url = http://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper4/Binghamton%20NY%20Press%20Grayscale/Binghamton%20NY%20Press%20Grayscale%201957.pdf/Binghamton%20NY%20Press%20Grayscale%201957%20-%200247.pdf |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220130215742/https://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper4/Binghamton%20NY%20Press%20Grayscale/Binghamton%20NY%20Press%20Grayscale%201957.pdf/Binghamton%20NY%20Press%20Grayscale%201957%20-%200247.pdf |url-status = dead |archive-date = January 30, 2022 |title = Penn-Can Road Vital to Broome, Majority at Hearing Says |date = January 9, 1957 |newspaper = [[The Binghamton Press]] |access-date = February 3, 2018 |page = 3 |via = Fulton County Historical Society }}</ref> On August 14, 1957, the highway was redesigned as I-81.<ref>{{cite map |url = http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Interstate_Highway_plan_August_14,_1957.jpg |title = Official Route Numbering for the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways |author = American Association of State Highway Officials |author-link = American Association of State Highway Officials |scale = Scale not given |location = Washington, DC |publisher = American Association of State Highway Officials |date = August 14, 1957 |via = [[Wikimedia Commons]] }}</ref> In New York, the first segments of what would become I-81 were begun in 1954.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title = Interstate 81: The History |publisher = New York State Department of Transportation }}{{full citation needed|date=February 2018}}</ref> In Maryland, the Interstate was begun with the Hagerstown Bypass in the mid-1950s.<ref>{{Maryland SRC report |year = 1958 |page = 82 |access-date = November 15, 2010 }}</ref> After several bouts of expansion, the freeway was completed from US&nbsp;40 (now [[Maryland Route 144]] [MD&nbsp;144]) to the Pennsylvania state line in 1958<ref>{{Maryland road map |year = 1958 |sections = }}{{full citation needed|date=February 2018}}</ref> and marked as I-81 in 1959.<ref>{{Maryland road map |year = 1959 |sections = }}{{full citation needed|date=February 2018}}</ref> Bidding on contracts in West Virginia opened in July 1958.<ref>{{Cite news |title = Bids Opened on Parts of Interstate 81 |date = July 29, 1958 |work = [[Charleston Daily Mail]] }}{{page needed|date=February 2018}}</ref> In Virginia, the first Interstate hearing was held in February 1957. At the end of 1957, construction began on a {{convert|1|mi|km|spell=in|adj=on}} stretch near [[Buchanan, Virginia]]. A {{convert|4|mi|km|spell=in|adj=on}} section of the Interstate opened in 1959. A stretch in [[Harrisonburg, Virginia|Harrisonburg]] was opened as well. By late 1963, {{Convert|85|mi|km}} in Virginia were open.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |url = http://www.virginiadot.org/projects/constSTAN-I81-history.asp |title = I-81 History |publisher = Virginia Department of Transportation |access-date = January 29, 2018 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071113221553/http://www.virginiadot.org/projects/constSTAN-I81-history.asp |archive-date = November 13, 2007 |url-status = dead |df = mdy-all }}</ref>

The first statewide segment to be completed was that of West Virginia, which was finished in 1966. The section opened on October 19, 1966.<ref>{{Cite news |title = Interstate Hwy 81 Opens Soon |date = October 6, 1966 |work = Morgantown Dominion News }}{{page needed|date=February 2018}}</ref> In western Maryland, various parts of I-81 were built in the early 1960s, and the remainder of the highway south to the Potomac River was under construction by 1965<ref>{{NBI |structurenumber = 100000210078011 |datakey = 275455 |access-date = February 3, 2018 }}</ref> and opened in 1966.<ref name=":3">{{cite web |url = https://highways.dot.gov/highway-history/interstate-system/50th-anniversary |title = Previous Interstate Facts of the Day |work = Eisenhower Interstate Highway System Home Page |at = See June 8, 2010 |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20060426084506/http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/interstate/previousfacts.cfm|archive-date =April 26, 2006|url-status =live|access-date = February 3, 2018 }}</ref> Since then, I-81 in Maryland has remained largely unchanged. In Tennessee by 1965, {{Convert|336|mi|km|abbr=values}} of the {{Convert|997|mi|km}} of Interstate Highways were completed. Construction was expected to be finished in 1969,<ref>{{Cite news |title = Where Do We Stand On The Interstate? |date = May 2, 1965 |work = Kingsport Times-News }}{{page needed|date=February 2018}}</ref> but a large portion of the work would not be completed until 1974, and most of the road was open by December 1974.<ref>{{Cite news |title = East Tennessee's Christmas Present |date = December 10, 1974 |work = [[Kingsport Times]] }}{{page needed|date=February 2018}}</ref> The final major segment of the Interstate in the north to be built was a {{convert|17|mi|km|adj=on}} section in New York, opened in October 1968.<ref>{{Cite news |title = Final Links of Interstate 81 to Be Opened with Friday Rites |date = October 14, 1968 |work = [[Syracuse Post Standard]] }}{{page needed|date=February 2018}}</ref> That same year, work in Pennsylvania was completed.<ref>{{Cite news |title = Interstate Highway Construction |date = October 22, 1968 |work = Somerset Daily News }}{{page needed|date=February 2018}}</ref> The road would not be completely built in Tennessee until August 1975.<ref>{{Cite news |title = Interstate 81 Four-Lane Opens |date = August 28, 1975 |work = Kingsport News }}{{page needed|date=February 2018}}</ref> Construction on parts in Virginia dragged on until it was finished in July 1987.<ref name=":1" /> The segment in New York cost $270&nbsp;million (equivalent to ${{Formatprice|{{inflation|US-GDP|270000000|1987}}}} in {{Inflation/year|index=US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|index=US-GDP}}) to build.<ref name=":0" />