This article needs additional citations for verification .(August 2023) |
Route information | |
---|---|
Existed | 1916–present |
Major junctions | |
West end | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
East end | New York City, New York, U.S. |
Location | |
Country | United States |
States | Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York |
Highway system | |
The William Penn Highway was an auto trail that ran from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the west to New York City in the east. It served as the Pikes Peak Ocean to Ocean Highway west of Reading and as its branch to New York City.
The William Penn Highway Association of Pennsylvania was organized on March 27, 1916 to promote a road parallel to the Pennsylvania Railroad between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. [1] It was officially dedicated on November 2, 1916. [2] [3]
The William Penn Highway in Pennsylvania has largely been superseded by U.S. Route 22 (US 22). From Pittsburgh, the highway's original route followed modern-day Pennsylvania Route 380 (PA 380) and PA 8 to Wilkinsburg, then Penn Avenue and the William Penn Highway up to an alignment since absorbed by Interstate 376 (I-376). From here, the road weaves between I-376, still known as the Old William Penn Highway, bypassing the old Northern Pike to the north. From here to Armagh, the highway closely follows modern-day US 22, though this route bypasses town centers historically served by the William Penn.
At Armagh, a loop following the north bank of the Conemaugh River serviced Johnstown, and has since been replaced by PA 403 and William Penn Avenue, connecting back to the main highway at Mundy's Corner.
The highway then went to Ebensburg, where it branched off from both its predecessor and successor thoroughfares by traveling along Manor Drive to Loretto, then Syberton Road to PA 53 to Ashville, and PA 36 to Altoona. From here, the highway paralleled the Pennsylvania Railroad closely, turning north on US 220 Business and Old US 220 to Tyrone, then south to Water Street, where it meets today's course of US 22 again.
From Alexandria to Huntingdon, the old Northern Pike was bypassed by a route to the south, which US 22 has in turn bypassed in part. US 22 again bypasses the original route from Lewiston to Thompsontown. From Millerstown, the route services Liverpool via present-day PA 17 and US 11/15.
Through the highway's early history, it serviced Downtown Harrisburg directly. From the west, it entered the city by Front Street, and may have used Market Street through Downtown Harrisburg. The route crossed over the Pennsylvania Railroad using Mulberry Street using a connection with Fourth Street.
From Harrisburg to Allentown, the original highway serviced the cities of Lebanon and Reading directly. It left Harrisburg on Derry Street, which at the time Grayson Road over the Reading Railroad. After a brief stretch of modern US 322, the road passed through Hummelstown on Main Street, then crossed over the Reading again to follow Chocolate Avenue through Hershey.
Through Lebanon to Reading, the route is still serviced by US 422, with the exception of bypasses of Myerstown and Womesldorf. The route entered Reading on Penn Avenue and left on US 222 Business. With the exception of bypasses of Kutztown and Trexlertown, the route follows US 222 and PA 222 into Allentown. It exited Allentown on Hanover Avenue and entered Bethlehem on Broad Street.
From Bethlehem to the New Jersey border, the highway followed modern-day Linden Street and Easton Avenue in Bethlehem; William Penn Highway between Bethlehem and Easton; and Butler Street, 13th Street, and Northampton Street in Easton.
The road is today the following routes:
West of Newark, the whole alignment was designated as Route 24 in 1927.
Interstate 78 (I-78) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the Northeastern United States, running 144 miles (232 km) from I-81 northeast of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, through Allentown to western and northern New Jersey and terminating at the Holland Tunnel entrance to Lower Manhattan in New York City. Major metropolitan areas along its route include the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania, the Gateway Region in New Jersey, and the New York metropolitan area.
U.S. Route 22 is a west–east route and is one of the original United States highways of 1926, running from Cincinnati, Ohio, at US 27, US 42, US 127, and US 52 to Newark, New Jersey, at U.S. Route 1/9 in the Newark Airport Interchange.
U.S. Route 222 is a U.S. Highway that is a spur of US 22 in the states of Maryland and Pennsylvania. It runs for 95 miles (153 km) from US 1 in Conowingo, Maryland, north to Interstate 78 (I-78)/Pennsylvania Route 309 in Dorneyville, Pennsylvania. US 222 is almost entirely in Pennsylvania, and serves as the state's principal artery between the Lancaster and Reading areas and the Lehigh Valley.
Pennsylvania Route 100 is a 59.4-mile (95.6 km) long state highway in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania that runs from U.S. Route 202 near West Chester north to PA 309 in Pleasant Corners. The route runs between the western suburbs of Philadelphia and the Lehigh Valley region of the state, serving Chester, Montgomery, Berks, and Lehigh counties. PA 100 intersects several important highways, including US 30 in Exton, the Pennsylvania Turnpike (Interstate 76, near Lionville, US 422 near Pottstown, US 222 in Trexlertown, and I-78/US 22 in Fogelsville. Several sections of PA 100 are multi-lane divided highway with some interchanges, including between US 202 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Chester County between south of Pottstown and New Berlinville, and between Trexlertown and Fogelsville.
Pennsylvania Route 309 is a state highway that runs for 134 miles (216 km) through eastern Pennsylvania. The route runs from an interchange between PA 611 and Cheltenham Avenue on the border of Philadelphia and Cheltenham Township north to an intersection with PA 29 in Bowman Creek, a village in Monroe Township in Wyoming County. The highway connects Philadelphia and its northern suburbs to Allentown and the Lehigh Valley, and Hazleton and Wilkes-Barre in the Wyoming Valley.
U.S. Route 422 (US 422) is a 271-mile (436 km) long spur route of US 22 split into two segments in the U.S. states of Ohio and Pennsylvania. The western segment of US 422 runs from downtown Cleveland, Ohio, east to Ebensburg, Pennsylvania. The eastern segment, located entirely within Pennsylvania, runs from Hershey east to King of Prussia, near Philadelphia. US 422 Business serves as a business route into each of four towns along the way.
U.S. Route 30 (US 30) is a U.S. Highway that runs east–west across the southern part of Pennsylvania, passing through Pittsburgh and Philadelphia on its way from the West Virginia state line east to the Benjamin Franklin Bridge over the Delaware River into New Jersey.
Pennsylvania Route 222 is a 4.482 mi (7.213 km)-long state highway located in Allentown and its immediate suburbs in the Lehigh Valley region in eastern Pennsylvania.
Bethlehem Pike is a historic 42.21 mi (67.93 km) long road in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania that connects Philadelphia and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It began as a Native American path called the Minsi Trail which developed into a colonial highway called the King's Road in the 1760s. Most of the route later became part of U.S. Route 309, now Pennsylvania Route 309.
Pennsylvania Route 378 (PA 378) is a north-to-south road in Lehigh and Northampton counties in the Lehigh Valley region of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The southern terminus is at PA 309 in Center Valley. Its northern terminus is at U.S. Route 22 (US 22) in Bethlehem. The route heads north from PA 309 as a two-lane undivided road through Upper Saucon Township and Lower Saucon Township before crossing South Mountain into the city of Bethlehem. Here, PA 378 follows city streets through Bethlehem's South Side, intersecting the northern terminus of PA 412. The route crosses the Lehigh River and becomes a four-lane freeway that continues north to US 22. PA 378 is the only highway from US 22 to Center City Bethlehem, and a quick route for visitors traveling to the Wind Creek Bethlehem casino resort on the city's South Side.
Pennsylvania Route 73 (PA 73) is a 62.32-mile (100.29 km) long east–west state highway in southeastern Pennsylvania. It runs from PA 61 near Leesport southeast to the New Jersey state line on the Tacony–Palmyra Bridge over the Delaware River in Philadelphia, where the road continues south as New Jersey Route 73. The route passes through rural areas of Berks County, crossing U.S. Route 222 (US 222) in Maiden Creek before heading southeast through Oley and Boyertown. PA 73 continues into Montgomery County and intersects PA 100 in Gilbertsville and PA 29 in Schwenksville before it heads into the northwest suburbs of Philadelphia. The route passes through Skippack and intersects US 202 in Center Square, PA 309 in Springfield Township, and PA 611 near Jenkintown. PA 73 continues through Northeast Philadelphia on Cottman Avenue, crossing US 1 and US 13 before coming to an interchange with Interstate 95 (I-95) near the Tacony–Palmyra Bridge.
Pennsylvania Route 12 (PA 12) is a 9.566-mile-long (15.395 km) state highway located in Berks County in eastern Pennsylvania. The western terminus of the route is at U.S. Route 222 (US 222) and US 422 in Wyomissing. Its eastern terminus is PA 662 in the community of Pricetown in Ruscombmanor Township. In the Reading area, PA 12 is a four-lane freeway called the Warren Street Bypass that heads northeast through urban areas, coming to interchanges with multiple roads including PA 183, PA 61, and US 222 Business (US 222 Bus.). In Alsace Township, the route becomes a two-lane undivided road with at-grade intersections called Pricetown Road and continues northeast through rural areas, intersecting PA 73 before ending at PA 662.
U.S. Route 22 is an east–west U.S. highway that stretches from Cincinnati, Ohio, in the west, to Newark, New Jersey, in the east. In Pennsylvania, the route runs for 338.20 miles (544.28 km) between the West Virginia state line in Washington County, where it is a freeway through the western suburbs of Pittsburgh, east to the Pennsylvania-New Jersey state line in the Lehigh Valley at Easton in the east.
U.S. Route 222 Business is a 12.17-mile (19.59 km) business route of US 222 located in Reading, Pennsylvania. The southern terminus is at US 222 in Cumru Township. Its northern terminus is at US 222 in Ontelaunee Township. The route begins at the US 222 freeway and heads through the southwestern suburbs of Reading as Lancaster Avenue, intersecting Pennsylvania Route 724 in Shillington. US 222 Bus. continues into Reading on Lancaster Avenue and intersects the northern termini of PA 625 and PA 10 before reaching an interchange with the US 422 freeway. The business route crosses the Schuylkill River and becomes Bingaman Street. US 222 Bus. turns north on 5th Street and intersects US 422 Bus. in downtown Reading and the southern terminus of PA 61 to the north of downtown. The route interchanges with the PA 12 freeway and continues north through suburban Muhlenberg Township as 5th Street Highway. US 222 Bus. reaches Temple and continues northeast to its northern terminus as Allentown Pike. US 222 Bus. is the only auxiliary route of US 222 in Pennsylvania.
U.S. Route 422 Business is a 7.29-mile-long (11.73 km) business route of US 422 located in the Reading, Pennsylvania area. The route is one of four auxiliary routes of US 422 in Pennsylvania. Its western terminus is at an interchange with US 222 and US 422 in Wyomissing. Its eastern terminus is at an interchange with US 422 in Reiffton. US 422 Bus. heads east from US 222/US 422 along Penn Avenue, passing through Wyomissing and West Reading. The route has an interchange with the US 422 freeway before it crosses the Schuylkill River into Reading. US 422 Bus. passes through downtown Reading on the one-way pair of Franklin Street eastbound and Washington Street westbound, intersecting the southern terminus of Pennsylvania Route 183 and crossing US 222 Bus. The business route heads into the eastern part of the city southeast on Perkiomen Avenue before following the one-way pair of Perkiomen Avenue eastbound and Mineral Spring Road westbound into Mount Penn. US 422 Bus. continues along Perkiomen Avenue to St. Lawrence, where it intersects the western terminus of PA 562 and turns southeast. The route passes through Reiffton before it merges into eastbound US 422.
State Route 1002(SR 1002), locally known as Tilghman Street and Union Boulevard, is a major 13.8 mi (22.2 km) long east–west road in the Lehigh Valley area of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The majority of the roadway is the former alignment of U.S. Route 22, maintained by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation as a Quadrant Route, and is not signed except on small white segment markers.
Interstate 78 (I-78) is an east–west Interstate Highway stretching from Union Township, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, in the west to the Holland Tunnel and New York City in the east. In Pennsylvania, I-78 runs for about 78 miles (126 km) from the western terminus at I-81 in Union Township east to the New Jersey state line near Easton in Northampton County.
U.S. Route 11 (US 11) roughly parallels Interstate 81 (I-81) in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The route runs from the Maryland state line in Antrim Township, Franklin County, northeast to the New York state line in Great Bend Township, Susquehanna County. US 11 serves Harrisburg, Wilkes-Barre, and Scranton. Between Harrisburg and Scranton, US 11 follows the Susquehanna River, while I-81 follows a shorter route over the mountains further to the east.
At least eight special routes of U.S. Route 22 have existed and at least six have been deleted.
At least four special routes of U.S. Route 422 currently exist and at least three have been decommissioned.