Providing a connection for traffic heading from New York City and New Jersey to Scranton, this Interstate began in 1961.  In that year, construction began on the section between PA 435 and Interstate 81 and finished the following year.  Originally, it opened as a new segment of US 611.

Two years would pass before work would begin on another section, this time between Interstate 80 and Exit 3.  It was being built in conjunction with construction of that Interstate between Exit 242 and Exit 298.  When it opened in 1965, the remaining section between PA 940 and PA 435 remained a line on a map.

Construction started back up in 1967 on two sections:  PA 940 to PA 423 and PA 507 to the Dorantown Road overpass.  In 1968, construction commenced on the sections from PA 423 to PA 507 and Dorantown Road overpass to PA 307, which would mark 17 miles under construction.  This long section would open to traffic in 1970, and with it came the shift of US 611 onto the portion between Exit 8 and Exit 13.  The original section of that route still exists in Gouldsboro State Park between the Tobyhanna Army Depot and PA 507.  The Interstate 380 designation came into existence in 1973, as well as the section between PA 435 and Tigue Street upgraded to Interstate standards that year.

In 1974, construction began on the section from PA 307 to the Shutters Road underpass.  The following year, work was extended from Shutters Road to PA 435 south, which included the "Directional T" interchange with Interstate 84.  This section was opened to traffic in 1976.

The first exit numbers to appear on the 1975 Department of Transportation map showed I-380 with mileage based exit numbers, which reappeared in 2001.  The last time mileage based exit numbers were shown on I-380 was on the 1977 map.  What was interesting about the exits where that the numbering started both in Scranton and at Interstate 80, which meant that the highest numbered exit was for PA 435.

Since the inception of the Interstate 380 designation, it has been signed as an east-west highway.  With the mileage based system of numbering exits, Exit 1 would have been in Scranton instead at Interstate 80.  In May 2001, PennDOT switched the cardinal direction of the highway to a north-south orientation, so that the exit numbers will begin with the interchange at I-80 and to comply with Federal Highway Administration guidelines for spur highways branching off of east-west Interstates.

Links:
Exit Guide
Interstate 380 Ends
Interstate 380 Pictures
Interstate 81E (Decommissioned)
Interstate 81S (Decommissioned)
I-380 Interchange Browser - Tim Reichard
Interstate 380 - Andy Field/Alex Nitzman
Interstate 380 - Scott Oglesby
Interstate 380 Pictures - Steve Alpert
Interstate 380 Pictures - Andy Field/Alex Nitzman

INFORMATION