Pennsylvania Route 309

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It has been suggested that U.S. Route 309 be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

PA Route 309

Length:

132 mi^[1] (212 km)

Formed:

1968

South end:

PA 611 in East Oak Lane

Major
junctions:

I-276/Tpk at Ft. Washington

US 202 in Montgomeryville

I-78 near Allentown

US 222 in Allentown

US 22 in Allentown

US 209 in Tamaqua

I-81 near McAdoo

I-80 in Butler Township

I-81 near Wilkes Barre

US 11 in Kingston

North end:

PA 29 near Noxen Township

Counties:

Philadelphia, Montgomery, Bucks, Lehigh, Schuylkill, Carbon, Luzerne, Wyoming

Pennsylvania State Routes
< PA 308		PA 310 >
Legislative

Pennsylvania Route 309 is a highway which runs for 132 miles (212 km) through Pennsylvania, in the United States.

The highway runs from the East Oak Lane section of Philadelphia to Bowman Creek, a village in Noxen Township, Wyoming County. Route 309 is a principal route that runs from the Philadelphia area in the south, through the Lehigh Valley to the Poconos in the north, though many prefer the use of the Pennsylvania Turnpike for this purpose.

1 Route description
2 Major intersections
3 History
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Route description

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[edit] Wyoming Valley to Wyoming County

After 16 years of construction, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDot) completed a seven-mile expansion of PA 309 in 1992, named the Cross Valley Expressway, which begins at Exit 170B off Interstate 81 in Wilkes-Barre and ends in Trucksville, with six highway exits in between which include outlets to portions of W-B and surrounding suburban towns. A bridge over the Susquehanna River connects three city exits with three suburban exits. In Trucksville, the expressway ends yet Route 309 itself still continues into Shavertown and Dallas all the way into Noxen Township where it ends.

[edit] Wyoming Valley to Allentown

Proceeding south from Interstate 81 just south of Wilkes-Barre, Route 309 climbs Penobscot Mountain on a divided highway (a portion cantilever) to Mountaintop and through the city of Hazleton. After paralleling 81 for about 26 miles, there is a connector highway to the Interstate just south of McAdoo. 309 continues through Tamaqua to South Tamaqua, where it turns southeast over Blue Mountain toward Allentown.

A portion extending south from South Tamaqua is multiplexed with Pennsylvania Route 443. It then crosses Pennsylvania 895 in the village of Snyders before crossing the Blue Mountain. The road then enters New Tripoli, and turns briefly eastward at a Y intersection with Pennsylvania 143 that serves as the latter's terminus. Along this portion, it also serves as the northern terminus of Pennsylvania 100. As it approaches Schnecksville, it again turns southward to meet with the southern terminus of Pennsylvania 873. This portion is known for its heavy rush hour delays, as the population grows and the highway stays double-laned. Soon, it crosses under the Pennsylvania Turnpike Northeast Extension and becomes a freeway during which it meets US Route 22, Tilghman Street, and the beginning of its [Interstate 78]] duplex.

[edit] Allentown to Philadelphia

PA 309 roughly parallels the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike for most of its length. Between Philadelphia and Allentown, the road is a four-lane highway which alternates several times between a high-volume arterial road and a limited-access freeway. Most of the road is flanked by large suburban commercial sprawl, particularly in the areas around Montgomeryville and Quakertown. The limited-access portion between Philadelphia and Montgomeryville is called the Fort Washington Expressway. Immediately before reaching the Philadelphia City line, 309 again becomes an arterial road, emptying onto Ogontz Avenue and then following Cheltenham Avenue until its terminus at Broad Street (Pennsylvania Route 611).

For the most part PA-309 avoids going through towns with the exception of Coopersburg, where it is reduced to a narrower four-lane road with no turn lanes or shoulders. The portion between Wescosville and Lanark in Lehigh County is multiplexed with Interstate 78 and three lanes in each direction, and there is a brief multiplex with US Route 202 in Montgomeryville.

One of the Lehigh Valley's newest and largest high-end malls, The Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley, is located off of PA-309, in Upper Saucon Township.

[edit] Major intersections

This section contains a table that is missing mileposts for one or more junctions. You can help by adding the missing mileposts.

County	Location	Mile	Road(s)	Notes
Philadelphia	East Oak Lane	0.0	PA 611
Montgomery	Cheltenham		PA 152	Interchange. Southern terminus of PA 152.
	Springfield		PA 73	Interchange.
	Fort Washington		I-276/PA Tpk	Exit 339 (I-276/PA Turnpike). Partial cloverleaf interchange.
	Upper Gwynedd Township		PA 63
	Montgomeryville		US 202	Southern terminus of duplex.
	Montgomeryville		US 202 PA 463	Northern terminus of US 202/PA 309 duplex.
Bucks	Souderton		PA 113	Interchange.
	West Rockhill Township		PA 152	Interchange.
	Sellersville		PA 563	Interchange.
	Quakertown		PA 313 PA 663	Western terminus of PA 313. Northern terminus of PA 663.
Lehigh	Center Valley		PA 378	Southern terminus of PA 378.
	Summit Lawn		I-78 PA 145	Exit 60 (I-78/PA 309). Eastern terminus of I-78/PA 309 duplex. Southern terminus of PA 145.
	Allentown		PA 29	Exit 55 (I-78/PA 309). Northern terminus of the southern segment of PA 29.
			US 222 PA 222	Exit 54 (I-78/PA 309). Northern terminus of US 222. Southern terminus of PA 222.
			I-78	Exit 51 (I-78/PA 309). Western terminus of duplex.
			US 22	Cloverleaf interchange.
	South Whitehall Township		I-476/PA Tpk	PA 309 passes under I-476/PA Turnpike.
	Schnecksville		PA 873	Southern terminus of PA 873.
	Heidelberg Township		PA 100	Northern terminus of PA 100.
	New Tripoli		PA 143	Northern terminus of PA 143.
Schuylkill	West Penn Township		PA 895
			PA 443	Eastern terminus of duplex.
			PA 443	Western terminus of duplex.
	Tamaqua		US 209
	Hometown		PA 54
	McAdoo		I-81	Exit 138 (I-81).
Carbon	No junctions
Luzerne	Hazleton		PA 424
			PA 93
			PA 924	Northern terminus of PA 924.
			PA 940	Western terminus of PA 940.
	Butler Township		I-80	Exit 262 (I-80).
	Mountain Top		PA 437	Northern terminus of PA 437.
	Wilkes-Barre		I-81	Exit 165 (I-81/PA 309). Southern terminus of duplex.
			I-81 PA 115	Exit 170 (I-81/PA 309). Northern terminus of duplex. Northern terminus of PA 115.
			PA 315	Exit 1 (PA 309).
	Kingston		US 11	Exit 5 (PA 309).
	Dallas		PA 415	Southern terminus of PA 415.
Wyoming	Noxen Township		PA 29

Legend
Crossing, no access	Concurrency termini	Decommissioned	Unconstructed	Closed

[edit] History

Starting out as a Native American path now referred to as the "Minsi Trail", this route became Bethlehem Pike which was signed as U.S. Route 309 in 1926. In 1968, U.S. Route 309 was decommissioned and was replaced by PA Route 309.