U.S. Route 11 in Pennsylvania

U.S. Route 11 roughly parallels Interstate 81 in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It serves Harrisburg and Scranton. Between those two cities, US 11 follows the Susquehanna River, while I-81 follows a shorter route over the mountains.

Route description

US 11 enters Pennsylvania parallel to Interstate 81 south of Greencastle in Antrim Township, Franklin County. The two routes head to the northeast, running parallel to each other as they pass through Chambersburg, where they intersect U.S. Route 30, Shippensburg, and Carlisle. Northeast of Carlisle in Middlesex, US 11 interchanges with the Pennsylvania Turnpike (Interstate 76), and then I-81 roughly 1 mile later. The stretch of US 11 between I-76 and I-81 is known as the "Miracle Mile" since it contains plenty of traveler services including restaurants, gas stations, lodging, truck stops, shops, etc. There is no direct interchange between the two interstates, so travelers must use this stretch, or travel through downtown Carlisle, to get from one interstate to the other.

US 11, now to the south of I-81, continues eastward into the western suburbs of Harrisburg as the Carlisle Pike. This road serves a major arterial route in eastern Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. Rumored to have originally been a Native American trail, it is now a significant center of urban sprawl serving much of Harrisburg's western suburbs. The road passes through Middlesex township, the small unincorporated village of New Kingstown, Silver Spring and Hampden township. Upon reaching Pennsylvania Route 581, US 11 splits from Carlisle Pike and runs concurrent with PA 581.

In Camp Hill, a close suburb of Harrisburg, US 11 stops paralleling I-81 and joins U.S. Route 15 northward through the western suburbs of Harrisburg, crossing I-81 in this area. As the road exits the Harrisburg area, US 11 and US 15 begin to parallel the Susquehanna River as both head northward. They intersect U.S. Route 22/U.S. Route 322 near Duncannon and U.S. Route 522 in Selinsgrove. The two routes remain overlapped to an intersection in Shamokin Dam, where US 15 branches off to the northwest, following the path of the Susquehanna's West Branch northward. US 11, in contrast, continues to parallel the main Susquehanna River, passing through municipalities such as Danville, Bloomsburg, and Berwick (where it crosses Interstate 80) prior to reaching Wilkes-Barre.

In Wilkes-Barre, US 11 breaks from the Susquehanna and begins to run parallel to I-81 once more. From Wilkes-Barre, the highway goes through nearby Scranton, becoming the North Scranton Expressway north of downtown. The North Scranton Expressway (officially the Congressman Joseph M. McDade Expressway) is a freeway north of downtown Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States, carries U.S. Route 11 and Pennsylvania Route 307 north from the Mulberry Street Bridge over the Lackawanna River near downtown north to Interstate 81, U.S. Route 6 and U.S. Route 6 Business. It carried unsigned State Route 3027 until State Routes 0011 and 0307 were moved off their former routes to match the signed US 6 and PA 307 alignments (forming State Route 6011 and State Route 6307). SR 3027 still runs along Mulberry Street from Jefferson Avenue, where US 11 and PA 307 turn southwest, southeast to Harrison Avenue (SR 6011).

In Clarks Summit, just north of Scranton, US 11 intersects U.S. Route 6. US 6 joins US 11 westward to Factoryville, where US 11 separates from US 6 and resumes its northerly trek through Susquehanna County to the New York-Pennsylvania border in Great Bend Township.

Major intersections