U.S. Route 30 in Pennsylvania

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (December 2007)

U.S. Route 30
Lincoln Highway Maintained by PennDOT, DRPA
Length:	324 mi[citation needed] (521 km)
Formed:	1926 (1924 as PA 1; 1913 as the Lincoln Highway)
West end:	US 30 near Chester, WV
East end:	I-676/US 30 in Camden, NJ
Pennsylvania State Routes < PA 29 PA 31 > < US 1 PA 2 > Minor - Legislative
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: U.S. Route 30

In the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, U.S. Route 30 runs east-west across the southern part of the state, 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. In Pennsylvania, US 30 runs along or near the transcontinental Lincoln Highway, which ran from San Francisco, California to New York City before the U.S. Routes were designated. (However, the Lincoln Highway turned northeast at Philadelphia, using present U.S. Route 1 and its former alignments to cross the Delaware River into Trenton, New Jersey.)

[edit] Route description and history

The path of the Lincoln Highway was first laid out in September 1913; it was defined to run through Canton, Ohio, Beaver Falls, Pittsburgh, Greensburg, Ligonier, Bedford, Chambersburg, Gettysburg, York, Lancaster and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Camden, New Jersey.^[1] This bypassed Harrisburg to the south, and thus did not use the older main route across the state between Chambersburg and Lancaster. From Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, this incorporated a number of old turnpikes, some of which still collected tolls:^[2]

• Pittsburgh and Greensburg Turnpike, Pittsburgh to Greensburg
• Stoystown and Greensburg Turnpike, Greensburg to Stoystown
• Bedford and Stoystown Turnpike, Stoystown to Bedford
• Chambersburg and Bedford Turnpike, Bedford to Chambersburg
• Chambersburg and Gettysburg Turnpike, Chambersburg to Gettysburg
• York and Gettysburg Turnpike, Gettysburg to York
• Wrightsville Turnpike, York to Wrightsville
• Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge, Wrightsville to Columbia
• Lancaster and Columbia Turnpike, Columbia to Lancaster
• Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike, Lancaster to Philadelphia

This original 1913 path of the Lincoln Highway continued east from Philadelphia, crossing the Delaware River to Camden, New Jersey on the Market Street Ferry. The city of Philadelphia marked the route from the ferry landing west on Market Street through downtown and onto Lancaster Avenue to the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike in early 1914.^[3] By 1915^{[citation needed]} Camden was dropped from the route, allowing the highway to cross the Delaware on a bridge at Trenton (initially the Calhoun Street Bridge, later the Bridge Street Bridge).

In 1924, the entire Lincoln Highway in Pennsylvania was designated Pennsylvania Route 1.^[4] In late 1926 the route from West Virginia to Philadelphia (using the new route west of Pittsburgh) was assigned U.S. Route 30, while the rest of the Lincoln Highway and PA 1 became part of U.S. Route 1. The PA 1 designation was gone by 1929,^[5] but several branches from east to west - PA Route 101, PA Route 201, PA Route 301, PA Route 401, PA Route 501 and PA Route 601 - had been assigned by then. (PA Route 701 was assigned later as a branch of PA 101.)

[edit] Ohio to Pittsburgh: 1913-1927

As defined in 1913, the Lincoln Highway ran east-northeast from Canton, Ohio to Alliance and east via Salem, crossing into Pennsylvania just east of East Palestine. From there it continued southeasterly to Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, crossing the Beaver River there and heading south along its left bank to Rochester and the Ohio River's right bank to Pittsburgh.^[2]

By 1915, the highway had been realigned to the route it would follow until the end of 1927. It ran east from Canton, Ohio to Lisbon and then southeast to East Liverpool on the Ohio River. After crossing into Pennsylvania, it turned north away from the river at Smiths Ferry, taking an inland route to Beaver, where it rejoined the Ohio River. It crossed the Beaver River into Rochester, joining the 1913 alignment, and turned south with the Ohio to Pittsburgh.^[2]

This route entered Pennsylvania along PA Route 68. After crossing Little Beaver Creek, it turned south on Main Street, passing under the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad (PRR) into Glasgow. After passing through that community on Liberty Street, the highway turned north and passed under the railroad again at Smiths Ferry, merging with Smiths Ferry Road.^[2] This alignment through Glasgow carried the Lincoln Highway until ca. 1926, when the present PA 68 was built on the north side of the railroad.^[6]

The Lincoln Highway left the banks of the Ohio River on Smiths Ferry Road, which includes an old stone bridge over Upper Dry Run. It turned east on Tuscarawas Road through Ohioville, entering Beaver on Fourth Street and turning south on Buffalo Street to reach Third Street (PA Route 68).^[2] By 1929 this inland Glasgow-Beaver route was numbered PA Route 168, while the route along the river - never followed by the Lincoln Highway - was PA 68.^[5]

Where PA 68 - Third Street - crosses the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad from Beaver into Bridgewater, soon crossing the Beaver River on the ca. 1963^[6] Rochester-Bridgewater Bridge, the Lincoln Highway instead ran along Bridge Street, just to the north, and crossed the Old Rochester-Bridgewater Bridge into Rochester.^[2]

Continuing through Rochester to Pittsburgh, the Lincoln Highway left the Old Rochester-Bridgewater Bridge on Madison Street, turning onto Brighton Avenue, and then crossing the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway (PRR) on New York Avenue. After running alongside the Ohio River on Railroad Avenue, the highway crossed the railroad again in Freedom (about a block north of Third Street^[7]), running through Freedom on Third Avenue.^[2]

South of downtown Freedom, Third Avenue merges into PA Route 65, which runs along the old Lincoln Highway into Conway. There a section of old highway is First Avenue and State Street, rejoining PA 65 in Baden. Further into Baden, PA 65 splits again, and the old highway splits onto State Street, becoming Duss Avenue in Harmony Township. At the Ambridge limits, this becomes PA Route 989, but the old highway turned west at 14th Street and then south on Merchant Street.^[2]

Crossing Big Sewickley Creek from Ambridge, Beaver County into Leetsdale, Allegheny County, Merchant Street becomes Beaver Street, a brick road. Beaver Road and Beaver Street continues through Edgeworth, Sewickley, and Osborne, merging back into PA 65 at the border with Haysville. Sewickley officially changed the name of its piece to Lincoln Highway by an ordinance in January 1916, and Osborne, Edgeworth and Leetsdale soon followed suit, but that name is no longer used.^[2]

In Glenfield, the highway crossed the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway (PRR) twice, once near the present overpass and again west of Toms Run Road.^[8] The old road next to the Ohio River - Beaver Street - is still a yellow brick road, now used only by local traffic.^[2]

The old road leaves PA 65 again in Emsworth as Beaver Road, becoming Brighton Road in Ben Avon before re-merging with PA 65. It splits yet again, also in Ben Avon, onto Brighton Road, another yellow brick road. In Avalon it is California Avenue, and in Bellevue it is Lincoln Avenue, coincidentally named after Lincoln soon after the U.S. Civil War.^[9][2]

The highway crosses into Pittsburgh on a high concrete arch bridge over Jack's Run, built in 1924 to replace an earlier bridge built for a streetcar line, and returns to the California Avenue name.^[9] It crosses Woods Run on a similar 1928 bridge next to a newer bridge built for the Ohio River Boulevard (PA Route 65).^[10] Where California Avenue curves away from PA 65, the Lincoln Highway continued next to it on Chateau Street, turning east on Western Avenue and then south on Galveston Avenue onto the 1915 Manchester Bridge to the Point.^[2]

[edit] West Virginia to Pittsburgh: 1927-present

US 30 presently crosses from West Virginia into Pennsylvania near Chester, West Virginia. It is a surface road from West Virginia to the U.S. Route 22 junction southeast of Imperial. There it joins the US 22 freeway to form the Penn-Lincoln Parkway West, which is also Interstate 279 east of Interstate 79, into downtown Pittsburgh.

From Rochester to Pittsburgh, the pre-December 1927 Lincoln Highway generally parallels the ca. 1930 Ohio River Boulevard (PA Route 65). Outside Allegheny County, present PA 65 was PA Route 837 by 1929.^[5] However, during the time that the Lincoln Highway ran through Rochester, the Rochester-Pittsburgh segment was locally maintained. It was often foggy, and a July 1926 Lincoln Highway Association road report states that it was "paved city streets, mostly poor", in stark contrast to the good paving east of Pittsburgh. By 1924, reports recommended following an alternate on the other side of the river between Pittsburgh and Rochester.^[2]

The route west of Rochester had similar problems; it was a dirt road, despite being a state highway.^[11] By 1922 an official detour was recommended via Beaver Falls and East Palestine, Ohio, largely identical to the initial 1913 plan. Work began in the mid-1920s on a new route to the south, passing through West Virginia and bypassing the problematic sections on both sides of Rochester; the Lincoln Highway was moved to it December 2, 1927.^[2] This new route had already been numbered US 30 in late 1926.^[12]

The new Lincoln Highway bypassed the community of Imperial on a bypass built for it.^[6] Just southeast of Imperial, the highway turned east on Steubenville Pike, joining what was U.S. Route 22 before the present freeway was built ca. 1964.^[6] Steubenville Pike runs alnog the north side of the freeway, crossing to the south side and then merging with it just west of the PA Route 60 interchange.

At PA 60, US 22 and US 30 turn southeast, but the Lincoln Highway (and US 30 before the Penn-Lincoln Parkway West opened in 1953) continued east with PA 60. Through Crafton, the highway used Steuben Street, Noble Avenue, Dinsmore Avenue, and Crafton Boulevard,^{[citation needed]} now northbound PA 60. In Pittsburgh, the highway ran along Crafton Boulevard, Noblestown Road, and Main Street, as PA 60 still does. It turned onto Carson Street (now PA Route 837) at the West End Circle, crossing the 1927 Point Bridge into the Point.^[2]

[edit] Through Pittsburgh

US 30 currently passes through Pittsburgh on the Penn-Lincoln Parkway, crossing the Monongahela River on the Fort Pitt Bridge. This freeway was built from 1953 to 1960 as a bypass for both the Lincoln Highway and the William Penn Highway (U.S. Route 22). It now carries US 22 and US 30, as well as Interstate 279 west of downtown and Interstate 376 east of downtown.

From 1915 to late 1927, the Lincoln Highway crossed the Allegheny River on the Manchester Bridge to the Point, touching down at the foot of Penn Avenue after meeting the Point Bridge.^[13] It made its way through downtown to Bigelow Boulevard (now PA Route 380), possibly using Water Street, Liberty Avenue and Seventh Avenue.^[14] It continued to follow present PA 380 onto Craig Street and Baum Boulevard to East Liberty. The highway left East Liberty and Pittsburgh on Penn Avenue - the old Pittsburgh and Greensburg Turnpike, also part of PA 380, and further east part of PA Route 8. (PA 380 however bypasses the center of East Liberty.)^[2]

At a point beyond the Squirrel Hill Tunnel, at the southern end of PA route 8, US 30 leaves the Parkway, which continues as I-376/US 22 to Monroeville.

[edit] Pittsburgh to Philadelphia

Though much of this section of U.S. 30 (and the Lincoln Highway) has been supplanted by the Pennsylvania Turnpike (which is Interstate 76 between the Ohio border and the Valley Forge exit), it includes the infamous town of Breezewood, Pennsylvania, where Interstate 70 traffic must still use a short non-interstate section of U.S. 30 to go between the turnpike (which is I-70/76 to the west of Breezewood and to the east of New Stanton) and I-70 going to Maryland. Several large sections of U.S. 30 in this segment have been recently improved including the bypass of Lancaster, PA and the Coatesville Bypass. There is still however a large freeway gap between these two segments that is frequently congested. PennDOT is under study to improve this last remaining section. [1]

Popular places in Pennsylvania include Westmoreland Mall, Jennerstown Speedway, Idlewild and Soak Zone, Greengate Centre, and Gettysburg National Cemetery.

[edit] Through Philadelphia

[edit] Old sections to be cleaned up

[edit] New Jersey through Philadelphia

It has been suggested that this section be split into a new article entitled U.S. Route 1 in Pennsylvania. (Discuss)

• Byberry and Bensalem Turnpike, Oakford (Neshaminy Creek) to Philadelphia

It first crossed at the Calhoun Street Bridge, running along Trenton Avenue to Fallsington. In 1920 it was moved to the Bridge Street Bridge, passing through downtown Morrisville on its way to Fallsington.

Lincoln Highway in Bucks County in 1922. This is now looking west on Woolston Drive with a ramp to the U.S. Route 1 freeway ahead; the underpass under the Trenton Cutoff is to the left.

At Fallsington, the original road crossed the Pennsylvania Railroad's Trenton Cutoff on a bridge just east of the present bridge, built on a reverse curve to shorten the span. It used Trenton Road and Main Street from the bridge to the intersection with Woolston, where Main Street is now cut. In 1917, an underpass under the railroad was built to the west on Woolston Drive; this became the main route by 1924.^[2][15]

From Fallsington the route used what is presently known as Lincoln Highway (U.S. Route 1 Business), splitting onto Maple Avenue (Route 213) to pass through Langhorne. From there Old Lincoln Highway heads southwest; it no longer crosses SEPTA's R3 West Trenton line, but its replacement - the U.S. Route 1 freeway - crosses just to the east.

The present route of Lincoln Highway and US 1 Business was built in 1923,^[2] bypassing Langhorne to the south and avoiding two railroad crossings. This crosses under the US 1 freeway just south of the railroad, where the older route had crossed the railroad. It curves southwest to become Old Lincoln Highway and crosses Neshaminy Creek as a one-way southbound bridge, becoming two-way at Bristol Road. (This bridge itself was built in 1921 to replace a covered bridge just to the west.^[2]) After crossing Street Road it heads south and is gated at an 1805 stone bridge across Poquessing Creek at the Philadelphia city line, just after crossing Roosevelt Boulevard. The old alignment continues through the woods, closed to traffic, paralleling power lines to near Hornig Road, after which it was upgraded on the spot to become Roosevelt Boulevard.

Closer to downtown, the old alignment splits from Roosevelt Boulevard at Haldeman Avenue and then follows Bustleton Avenue. (A short piece of Old Bustleton Avenue southwest of Welsh Road was used, crossing Pennypack Creek east of the current bridge.^[2]) By 1914, Roosevelt Boulevard was completed to Rhawn Street, so the Lincoln Highway turned off Bustleton Avenue there to reach the Boulevard. It then turned south on Broad Street to downtown, turning west at Penn Square onto [Market Street to reach Lancaster Avenue and the Lancaster Turnpike. (Prior to the building of Roosevelt Boulevard, the main road followed Bustleton Avenue to Frankford Avenue to reach downtown.)

A 1920 extension took the Boulevard to Welsh Road, allowing traffic to turn off Bustleton Avenue there (that route is still Route 532), and a 192 extension took it to the intersection with Old Lincoln Highway just north of the Poquessing Creek bridge. North of there the present US 1 was completed in 1933 to the south end of the 1923 Langhorne bypass and in 1938 to Bellevue Avenue (Route 413) in downtown Langhorne.^[2]

A bypass was added around downtown Philadelphia (in addition to the downtown route) in 1924, using Hunting Park Avenue, Ridge Avenue and City Avenue.^[16][2] This alignment is now used by U.S. Route 1, except that Hunting Park and Ridge Avenues are now bypassed by the Roosevelt Expressway and Schuylkill Expressway.

[edit] Philadelphia to Lancaster

Main article: Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike

[edit] Lancaster to Pittsburgh

Just east of Lancaster, Route 30 branches off of PA 462 to bypass the cities of Lancaster and York. Just west of York, the other end of PA 462 meets with U.S. 30 on its way to Gettysburg. From 1997 to 2004 significant work was completed to the bypass around Lancaster. Several modifications to improve flow were also made in York. Unfortunately the route is still congested in York due to a series of traffic signals.

Route 30 after leaving York travels through New Oxford and Guldens before traversing the northwestern portion of the Gettysburg Battlefield. The route serves as the main east-west artery through the town. West of Gettysburg, U.S. 30 follows much of the path of the old Chambersburg Turnpike (from Gettysburg to Cashtown), a route used by much of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia during the Gettysburg Campaign. The highway crosses the South Mountain range through the Cashtown Gap, and, after crossing through Chambersburg and the scenic Cumberland Valley, climbs through the Allegheny Mountains.

Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.

[edit] Through Pittsburgh to Ohio and West Virginia

The Lincoln Highway came into the Pittsburgh area along the old Pittsburgh and Greensburg Turnpike (now U.S. Route 30) from Greensburg. The borough of White Oak had named their main street Lincoln Way in an attempt to convince the Lincoln Highway Association to use it,^[17] but instead the Highway continued along the old turnpike to North Versailles.

In North Versailles, the Lincoln Highway and old turnpike left current US 30 onto the road named Greensburg Pike, heading downhill into Turtle Creek. The original bridge over Turtle Creek and the Pennsylvania Railroad main line curved right and ran to Airbrake Avenue west of 11th Street; a 1925 replacement continued straight to meet Airbrake Avenue at Monroeville Avenue.^[18] The alignment continued west on Penn Avenue, turning south at Braddock Avenue. (The old turnpike left the Lincoln Highway there, cutting southwest to cross the railroad at McDonald Street, and then heading northwest along Penn Avenue Extension and Greensburg Pike.) After a short while on Braddock Avenue, the Lincoln Highway turned northwest on Electric Avenue, which becomes Ardmore Boulevard to Wilkinsburg. The George Westinghouse Bridge opened in 1932 as a bypass of the grades into and out of Turtle Creek, running from the Greensburg Pike in North Versailles to Ardmore Boulevard in Chalfant.

The Lincoln Highway joined the William Penn Highway and rejoined the Greensburg Turnpike at Penn Avenue in Wilkinsburg. After entering Pittsburgh and crossing the Pennsylvania Railroad main line, it turned west on Baum Boulevard, following present Route 380 onto Craig Street and Bigelow Boulevard to downtown.^[16]

The Boulevard of the Allies opened east from downtown Pittsburgh in 1923, and in 1924 it was designated as an alternate route.^[19] At least in 1930, this bypass ran along the Boulevard of the Allies, Forbes Avenue, Beeler Street, Wilkins Avenue and Dallas Avenue, rejoining the Lincoln Highway at Penn Avenue, west of Wilkinsburg.^[20]

Currently, U.S. 30 goes through Pittsburgh on "The Parkway" (I-376 and then I-279) along the same road as US 22.

[edit] Bannered routes

[edit] Chester County business loop

U.S. Route 30 Business
Location	Chester County, Pennsylvania
Commissioned	1963-present

U.S. Route 30 Business is a business route of U.S. Route 30 in Chester County, Pennsylvania. The route preserves the former alignment of US 30 between Sadsbury Township and East Whiteland Township. U.S. Route 30 follows a limited-access bypass between these two points.

U.S. Route 30 Business runs east from the west end of the US 30 bypass in Sadsbury Township on the Lincoln Highway, a short distance east of Pennsylvania Route 10. It heads east into Valley Township and into the city of Coatesville. In Coatesville, US 30 Business shares a brief concurrency with Pennsylvania Route 82. It runs through the heart of the city before crossing into Caln Township. Through Caln Township, between Coatesville and Downingtown, the route parallels the Amtrak Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line to the north. In Thorndale, US 30 Business intersects the eastern terminus of Pennsylvania Route 340.

US 30 Business continues into Downingtown, where it is known as Lancaster Avenue. In the center of Downingtown, the route features a brief concurrency with U.S. Route 322. The route then runs concurrent with U.S. Route 322 Truck, which provides a truck bypass of a low clearance underpass on US 322. The two routes intersect the southern termini of both Pennsylvania Route 282 and Pennsylvania Route 113 before splitting and the intersection with Quarry Road in East Caln Township, where US 322 Truck turns south. At that intersection, US 30 Business features an interchange with the US 30 bypass, with access to and from eastbound US 30 provided by Quarry Road.

The road then enters West Whiteland Township, where it resumes the name of Lincoln Highway. In Exton, it intersects Pennsylvania Route 100 near the Exton Square Mall. U.S. Route 30 then continues into East Whiteland Township, where it ends at an interchange with the eastern end of the US 30 bypass and the U.S. Route 202 expressway.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Lincoln Highway

• James Lin, The Lincoln Highway: Pennsylvania
• Lincoln Highway maps ca. 1926, New York to Pittsburgh