It's all about the numbers -- the one applied to an interstate and the ones meaning dollars for the region.

After a costly, bipartisan effort that took 15 years, 85 miles of highway from the Monroeville exit at the Pennsylvania Turnpike to Interstate 80 in Mercer County are now called Interstate 376. While drivers won't give up names like the Parkway East, the Parkway West and the Beaver Valley Expressway, nearly gone are the signs with the old numbers that subdivided the stretch: I-279, U.S. Routes 22 and 30 and state Route 60.

To locals it's a distinction without a difference, but to developers it could be cash in the bank. Many industries look for ready interstate access when expanding or relocating to another state. While the previously numbered routes had all the look and feel of a four-lane highway, it's hard to convince an out-of-state business owner that, say, Rt. 22 would be up to the company's needs.

Now the I-376 designation, with nearly $40 million in assorted roadway upgrades, confirms that any company along the 85-mile corridor has a high-quality interstate just beyond the gate.

The conversion, which was formally unveiled Friday, was accomplished through the smart work of transportation planners and the appropriation efforts of Republican and Democratic office holders. With the development of a key highway corridor on the line, there was strength in those numbers.

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