Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike

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Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike
Lancaster Avenue
Maintained by PennDOT
Length: 73.33 mi[1] (118.01 km)
Route to Columbia included (10.86 mi)
Formed: 1792 (first used 1795)
West end: PA 441 in Columbia
East end: 34th Street in Philadelphia
Counties: Lancaster, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, Philadelphia
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The Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike, first used in 1795, is the first long-distance, paved road built in the United States according to engineered plans and specifications.[2] It links Lancaster, Pennsylvania and Philadelphia at 34th Street, stretching for sixty-two miles. However, the western terminus was actually at the Susquehanna River in Columbia.[3] The route is designated PA 462 from the western terminus to US 30, where that route takes over for the majority of the route. The US 30 designation ends at Girard Avenue in the Parkside neighborhood of Philadelphia, where State Route 3012 takes it from there to Belmont Avenue. At Belmont Avenue, State Route 3005 gets the designation from Belmont Avenue until the terminus at 34th Street.[4]

It was the first turnpike of importance, and because the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania could not afford to pay for its construction, it was privately built by the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike Road Company.[5] It was designed by John Loudon MacAdam, from Scotland, and ground was broken for the project in 1792.[6], and stimulated economic recovery. By the 1840's, the use of railroads and canals dealt a serious blow to the companies who specialized in the manufacture of wagons and coaches. During the next fifty years, the road suffered from lack of use and maintenance, but later saw recovery with the invention of the automobile.

In 1876, the parallel Pennsylvania Railroad bought the turnpike from 52nd Street in Philadelphia west to Paoli for $20,000 to prevent competing streetcar companies from building along it. In 1913, the turnpike became part of the transcontinental Lincoln Highway, and tolls continued to be collected until 1917, when the State Highway Department bought it for $165,000.[7] In 1926 it was designated as part of U.S. Route 30 along with the rest of the original United States Numbered Highways.

[edit] Major intersections

County Location Mile[1] Roads intersected Notes
Lancaster Columbia 0.00 PA 441 (3rd Street) Western terminus of the former Turnpike. PA 462 continues west into Wrightsville on the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge.
Lancaster Township 7.73 PA 741 (Rorherstown/Millersville Road)
Lancaster 9.76 PA 23 (College Avenue) Western terminus of concurrency with PA 23.
10.48 PA 999 (Manor Street) Eastern terminus of PA 999. Connection to King Street only.[8]
10.74 US 222/PA 272 (Prince Street) Southbound one-way pair of US 222/PA 272.
10.86 PA 72 (Queen Street)
11.10 US 222/PA 272 (Lime Street) Northbound one-way pair of US 222/PA 272.
11.84 PA 23 (Broad Street) Eastern terminus of concurrency with PA 23.
12.74 PA 340 (Old Philadelphia Pike) Western terminus of PA 340.
East Lampeter Township 14.54 US 30 Eastern terminus of PA 462. Turnpike is designated US 30 east of this point.
Ronks 17.03 PA 896 (Eastbrook/Hartman Bridge Road)
Gap 25.92 PA 772 (Newport Road) Eastern terminus of PA 772.
26.32 PA 41 (Gap-Newport Pike) Northern terminus of PA 41.
26.66 PA 897 (White Horse Road) Southern terminus of PA 897.
Chester West Sadsbury Township 31.10 PA 10 (Octorara Trail)
31.50 US 30 (Downingtown-Coatesville Bypass) Western terminus of US 30 BUS. Turnpike is US 30 BUS east of here.
Coatesville 36.59 PA 82 (Strode Avenue)
37.00 PA 82 (1st Avenue)
Thorndale 41.24 PA 340 (Bondsville/Thorndale-Marshallton Road) Eastern terminus of PA 340. R5 Thorndale trains terminate here at the adjacent train station.
Downingtown 43.48 US 322 (Manor Avenue) Western terminus of concurrency with US 322.
43.66 US 322/PA 282 (Wallace/Brandywine Avenue) Eastern terminus of concurrency with US 322. Southern terminus of PA 282.
44.18 PA 113 (West Uwchlan Avenue) Southern terminus of PA 113.
East Caln Township 45.41 US 30 (Downingtown-Coatesville/Exton Bypass) Interchange.
Exton 47.98 PA 100 (Pottstown Pike)
West Whiteland Township 50.29 US 30/US 202 Eastern terminus of US 30 BUS. Turnpike is US 30 east of here.
Frazer 51.65 PA 352 (Sproul Road) Northern terminus of PA 352.
Malvern 53.21 PA 401 (Conestoga Road) Eastern terminus of PA 401.
53.62 PA 29 (Morehall Road) Southern terminus of PA 29.
Paoli 56.14 PA 252 (Bear Hill/Leopard Road)
Delaware Villanova 62.93 I-476 (Blue Route) Interchange.
63.26 PA 320 (Spring Mill/Sproul Road)
Montgomery/Philadelphia county line Wynnewood/Philadelphia city line 69.35 US 1 (City Avenue)
Philadelphia Philadelphia 71.56 US 30 (Girard Avenue) US 30 is the Turnpike west of here. Western terminus of SR 3012.
72.00 SR 3005 (Belmont Avenue/44th Street) Eastern terminus of SR 3012. Concurrent with SR 3005 until terminus. 44th Street is not a state highway, where Belmont Avenue is (SR 3005).[4]
73.04 US 13 (Powelton Avenue)
73.33 34th Street Eastern terminus of Turnpike and SR 3005.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b DeLorme Street Atlas 2007, Toggle Measure Tool. Retrieved on 2007-07-02.
  2. ^ The Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike Road. Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved on 2006-05-29.
  3. ^ Library of Congress. Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike [map]. (1796) Retrieved on 2007-07-02.
  4. ^ a b Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Philadelphia County [map]. (2005) Page 1. Retrieved on 2007-07-02.
  5. ^ Philadelphia & Lancaster Turnpike. Lifelong Learning Online. Retrieved on 2006-05-29.
  6. ^ Philadelphia & Lancaster Turnpike. Explore Pennsylvania History. Retrieved on 2006-05-29.
  7. ^ Butko, Brian. The Lincoln Highway: Pennsylvania Traveler's Guide, pages 50–51. ISBN 0-8117-2497-2. 
  8. ^ Eastern terminus of PA 999. Google. Retrieved on 2007-07-02.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Road transportation infrastructure of the metro Philadelphia area
Interstates
I-76 • I-176 • I-276 • I-476 • I-676 • I-95 (PA·DE) • I-295 • I-495
U.S. Routes
US 1 • US 13 (PA·DE) • US 30 (PA·NJ) • US 40 (NJ·DE) • US 130 • US 202 (PA·DE) • US 322 (PA·NJ) • US 422
Pennsylvania Routes
PA 3 • PA 23 • PA 29 • PA 32 • PA 63 • PA 73 • PA 100 • PA 113 • PA 132 • PA 152 • PA 232 • PA 252 • PA 263 • PA 291 • PA 309 • PA 313 • PA 320 • PA 332 • PA 352 • PA 363 • PA 401 • PA 413 • PA 420 • PA 452 • PA 463 • PA 532 • PA 611 • PA 663
New Jersey Routes
NJ 38 • NJ 41 • NJ 42 • NJ 44 • NJ 45 • NJ 47 • NJ 48 • NJ 49 • NJ 55 • NJ 70 • NJ 73 • NJ 90 • NJ 168 • NJ 413
Delaware Routes
DE 1 • DE 2 • DE 4 • DE 7 • DE 9 • DE 41 • DE 71 • DE 92 • DE 100 • DE 141 • DE 273 • DE 299 • DE 896
Named roads/streets
Bridges


  • Photographs

[1] Lancaster Avenue: Turn of the Millennium 2000-2007. Photographs along the Lancaster Turnpike in Philadelphia.