U.S. Route 22 in Pennsylvania

This article is about the section of U.S. Route 22 in Pennsylvania. For the entire route, see U.S. Route 22.

U.S. Route 22 marker

U.S. Route 22

Route information

Maintained by PennDOT & DRJTBC

Length:

337.60 mi^[1] (543.31 km)

Existed:

1926 – present

Major junctions

West end:

US 22 in Hanover Township

Toll PA 576 in Washington County
I-79 near Pittsburgh
US 30 in Wilkinsburg
I-76 / I-376 / Penna Turnpike in Monroeville
I-99 / US 220 in Duncansville
US 322 / US 522 in Lewistown
US 11 / US 15 near Duncannon
I-81 / US 322 in Harrisburg
I-78 from Fredericksburg to Kuhnsville

I-476 / Penna Turnpike NE Extension in South Whitehall Township

East end:

US 22 in Easton

Location

Counties:

Washington, Allegheny, Westmoreland, Indiana, Cambria, Blair, Huntingdon, Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, Dauphin, Lebanon, Berks, Lehigh, Northampton

Highway system

United States Numbered Highways

Pennsylvania State Route System

←

PA 21

PA 22

→

U.S. Route 22 (US 22) is an east–west route stretching from Cincinnati, Ohio in the west to Newark, New Jersey in the east. In Pennsylvania, the route runs for 337.60 miles (543.31 km) between the West Virginia state line at Washington County, where it is a limited-access expressway-grade route through the western suburbs of Pittsburgh, to the New Jersey state line at Easton.

Route description

US 22 carries multiple names as it progresses across the state, including the William Penn Highway and the Lehigh Valley Thruway. Several sections of the road are freeway, including the Lehigh Valley Thruway.

US Route 22 crosses into Pennsylvania from West Virginia as the William Penn Highway. It becomes concurrent with U.S. Route 30 and then also with I-376 west of Pittsburgh, and becomes the Penn Lincoln Parkway. It continues as such through Pittsburgh and beyond the end of the US 30 concurrency, and when I-376 reaches its eastern end at the Pennsylvania Turnpike, US 22 goes onto William Penn Highway again (with Murrysville as a control city). It is also known as the Admiral Peary Highway from Armagh to the Altoona area. From New Florence through most of Ebensburg, US 22 is an expressway with the remaining portion from Ebensburg to Cross Creek operating as a limited-access freeway. From Duncansville to Mount Union, US 22 is a two-lane road with occasional passing and truck-climbing lanes, and it passes through the business district of Huntingdon, where it is three lanes (one lane each way with a turning lane in the middle). It becomes concurrent with US 522 near Mount Union and remains a two-lane road. The US 522 concurrency continues until Lewistown. US 22 bypasses the downtown area of Lewistown as a four-lane limited access highway and becomes concurrent with US 322, continuing as a four-lane limited access highway along the Juniata and Susquehanna rivers until Harrisburg. In Harrisburg (with the US 322 concurrency ending at I-81), it continues as N Cameron Street, Arsenal Blvd., Herr St., Walnut St., Jonestown Rd., and Allentown Blvd. In Fredericksburg, US 22 becomes concurrent with I-78 for a 40-mile (64 km) stretch before splitting off on to the Lehigh Valley Thruway.

Lehigh Valley Thruway

US 22 eastbound at PA 145 interchange in Whitehall Township

The Lehigh Valley Thruway is a 24-mile-long (39 km) freeway portion of US 22 from the eastern end of the Interstate 78/US 22 concurrency in Kuhnsville, west of Allentown, to the state line in Easton. The highway travels just to the north of Allentown and Bethlehem and passes through Easton. Originally, I-78 would have continued with the U.S. 22 concurrency on the Lehigh Valley Thruway into New Jersey, with I-278 running south as a bypass, and I-178 and I-378 serving Allentown and Bethlehem respectively. Due to opposition in Phillipsburg, New Jersey on the building of a I-78/U.S. 22 highway through the town (the same opposition that later killed the Somerset Freeway for I-95 in 1982), PennDOT and NJDOT decided to reroute the I-78 highway onto the proposed I-278 bypass and allow U.S. 22 to remain on the limited-access highway, which, after going through a series of sharp, potentially dangerous curves in Easton and crossing the Delaware River into NJ, becomes an at-grade divided highway in Phillipsburg. Traffic on the Lehigh Valley Thruway is often heavy at rush hour, particularly near the PA 145 interchange. The series of sharp curves is locally known as "Cemetery Curve", and because of it, the speed limit is lowered to 45 mph at Route 248 and then lowered to 35 mph around the sharpest part of the curves. At the interchange with Bushkill Street, US 22 becomes an elevated highway until crossing into New Jersey. The speed limit drops once again to 25 mph while crossing the Easton-Phillipsburg Toll Bridge.

History

The William Penn Highway was organized as an alternative to the Lincoln Highway being parallel to the Pennsylvania Railroad west of Harrisburg. The route's New York Extension was adopted in 1916. The Pennsylvania Department of Highways assigned the Pennsylvania Route 3 designation to this road in 1924, and in 1926 it became part of U.S. Route 22 when the United States Highway System was formed,^[2] The road became problematic for motorists in Lebanon along the current U.S. Route 422; Reading via U.S. Routes 22 and 222; and Allentown on Hamilton Street (US 22).^[3] The highway continued through Allentown on Hanover Avenue and through Bethlehem on Broad Street, Linden Street, and Easton Avenue.

Pennsylvania Route 43 was aligned as a bypass, north of the Pennsylvania Dutch Country, that ran from U.S. Route 22, U.S. Route 11, and Pennsylvania Route 5 in Harrisburg to Pennsylvania Route 12 in Bethlehem.^[4] The route from Fogelsville to Allentown, now Main Street, Tilghman Street, Broadway, College Heights Boulevard, and Liberty Street, was designated LR 443 in 1925,^[5] and was soon incorporated into "Traffic Route 43."^[6] The New York Times was recommending use of this cutoff by early 1931.^[6] On June 8, 1931, the American Association of State Highway Officials came to a resolution for the traffic problem, by replacing the PA 43 corridor with US 22. The Pennsylvania Department of Highways moved the William Penn Highway name to match.^[2]^[3] The state truncated PA 43 to Susquehanna Street from Allentown to Bethlehem.^[4]^[7]^[8]^[9] Signs were changed to reflect the new designations on May 31, 1932, with the new route designations officially in place on June 1, 1932.^[10]

Tilghman Street was eventually connected directly from Cetronia to Allentown by a bridge over Cedar Creek; Tilghman Street (west of the Lehigh River) and Union Boulevard (east of the river) were joined in 1929 by a bridge. By 1936, US 22 had been moved from its Hamilton Street and Broad Street alignment to Tilghman Street and Union Boulevard through Allentown and Bethlehem. When the Lehigh Valley Thruway was completed in 1954, US 22 was moved onto it. With the completion of Interstate 78, US 22 was moved onto that highway from Fredericksburg to Kuhnsville.

Former alignment

Old U.S. Route 22 is the former PA 43, and the earlier version of the newer, more traveled U.S. Highway 22. It starts in the unincorporated community of Bethel, Pennsylvania of Berks County and ends in Cetronia, just outside the city of Allentown (Lehigh County) where it becomes Main Street and then Tilghman Street. This road, although no longer a major state highway, is well traveled by those who live in the vicinity. It passes through several communities including Shartlesville, Jalappa, West Hamburg, Edenburg, Krumsville, and New Smithville. It also passes through the boroughs of Strausstown, Hamburg and Lenhartsville. Old U.S. Route 22 crosses seven Pennsylvania highways including 501, 419, 183, 61, 143, 737, and 863. Through these different neighborhoods, this road is defined as Old Route 22, Hex Highway, and Shartlesville Road.

From Cetronia east, the old road is State Route 1002 in Lehigh County, comprising Tilghman Street and Union Boulevard in Allentown. In Northampton County, the 1940s highway is Union Boulevard, Linden Street, and Easton Avenue in Bethlehem; William Penn Highway between Bethlehem and Easton; and Butler Street, 13th Street, and Northampton Street in Easton.

Future

In 2011, it was announced that plans were being resurrected to widen US 22 from Allentown to Bethlehem. Part of the plan is to reconstruct the Lehigh River Bridge. The plan's cost is between $240 to $320 million.^[11] Details of the proposed construction can be found on www.22lv.com.

Major intersections

County	Location	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Washington	Hanover Township		US 22 west – Weirton	West Virginia border
	Hanover Township		PA 18 – Florence, Burgettstown
	Smith Township		Bavington
	Robinson Township		Toll PA 576 west (Southern Beltway) – Pittsburgh International Airport	Current eastern terminus of PA Toll 576 as of August 2015
Allegheny	North Fayette Township		PA 980 south – McDonald, Midway	Northern terminus of PA 980
			Noblestown	To Pennsylvania Motor Speedway
			US 30 west / PA 978 south – Imperial	Western terminus of US 30 concurrency, northern terminus of PA 978
			Hankey Farms
			Orange Belt (Oakdale)	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance, western terminus of Orange Belt concurrency
			Montour Church Road, Old Steubenville Pike, Bayer Road	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	Robinson Township		I-376 west (Airport Parkway) / Orange Belt – Pittsburgh International Airport	Western terminus of I-376 concurrency, exit 60A from I-376, eastern terminus of Orange Belt concurrency
		60B	PA 60 south – Crafton
		61	Ridge Road
		62	Yellow Belt (Campbells Run Road)	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	Collier Township	64A	I-79 – Washington, Erie
	Rosslyn Farms	64B	Rosslyn Farms	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	Carnegie		Buses only (West Busway)	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
	Carnegie	65	PA 50 – Carnegie, Heidelberg
	Green Tree	67	PA 121 – Green Tree, Mount Lebanon, Crafton
	Pittsburgh	68	Parkway Center Drive	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		69A	US 19 south (Banksville Road)	Western termini of US 19/US 19 Truck concurrencies; eastbound exit is via exit 69C
		69B	US 19 Truck south / PA 51 south – Uniontown	Westbound exit is via exit 69A
		69C	US 19 north / PA 51 north – West End	Eastern terminus of US 19 concurrency; eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		Fort Pitt Tunnel under Mount Washington
		69C	PA 837 to PA 51 – West End	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	Monongahela River	Fort Pitt Bridge
	Pittsburgh	70A	Boulevard of the Allies, Liberty Avenue – Consol Energy Center	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		70B	Fort Duquesne Boulevard – Convention Center, Strip District	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		70C	I-279 / US 19 Truck north – Fort Duquesne Bridge, North Shore	Eastern terminus of US 19 Truck concurrency
		70D	Stanwix Street	No eastbound exit
		71A	Grant Street
		71B	Second Avenue	Westbound exit only
		72A	Forbes Avenue – Oakland	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		72B	To I-579 (Crosstown Blvd) / PA 885 north (Boulevard of the Allies) / Liberty Bridge	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance, access to I-579 and Liberty Bridge is via Boulevard of the Allies
		73	PA 885 (Bates Street) – Oakland, Glenwood	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; signed as exits 73A (south) and 73B (north)
		74	Blue Belt – Squirrel Hill, Homestead
		Squirrel Hill Tunnel under Squirrel Hill
	Swissvale	77	Edgewood, Swissvale
	Wilkinsburg	78A	US 30 east – Forest Hills	Eastern terminus of US 30 concurrency; no westbound exit
	Wilkinsburg	78B	PA 8 north – Wilkinsburg	Southern terminus of PA 8
	Churchill	79A	Greensburg Pike	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		79B	PA 130 – Churchill
		80	US 22 Bus. east – Monroeville	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
	Penn Hills	81	PA 791 north / Yellow Belt – Penn Hills
	Monroeville	84A	PA 48 south / Orange Belt – Monroeville	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance, northern terminus of PA 48
		84B	Orange Belt – Plum	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
			US 22 Bus. west – Monroeville	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
			I-376 to I-76 / Penna Turnpike – Harrisburg, Ohio	Eastern terminus of I-376
		East end of freeway
			PA 286 east (Golden Mile Highway)	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance, westbound exit and eastbound entrance provided by at-grade intersection, western terminus of PA 286
Westmoreland	Salem Township		PA 66 – Delmont, Greensburg	Single-point urban interchange
	Salem Township		PA 819 – Slickville, Forbes Road, Greensburg
	New Alexandria		US 119 south – Greensburg	Western terminus of US 119 concurrency
	New Alexandria		PA 981 (Latrobe New Alexandria Road) – Latrobe, Saltsburg
	Blairsville		PA 982 south – Derry	Northern terminus of PA 982
Indiana	Blairsville		PA 217 – Blairsville, Derry	Interchange
	Burrell Township		US 119 north – Homer City, Indiana	Interchange, eastern terminus of US 119 concurrency, to Indiana University of Pennsylvania
	West Wheatfield Township		PA 259 – Brush Valley, Robinson, Bolivar	Interchange
	East Wheatfield Township		PA 56 – Brush Valley, Armagh	Interchange
	East Wheatfield Township		PA 403 – Dilltown, Johnstown	Interchange
Cambria	Jackson Township		PA 271 – Mundys Corner, Nanty Glo	Interchange
	Ebensburg		US 219 to US 422 – Johnstown, Carrolltown, Indiana	Interchange
			High Street	Interchange
		Western terminus of freeway
			Ebensburg, Loretto (Rowena Drive)
	Munster Township		PA 164 south – Munster, Portage	Northern terminus of PA 164
	Cresson Township		PA 53 – Cresson
	Cresson Township		William Penn Highway – Summit
Blair	Allegheny Township		Tunnelhill Road – Tunnelhill, Gallitzin
			I-99 / US 220 – Altoona, Bedford
			PA 764 north – Altoona	Western terminus of PA 764 concurrency
		Eastern terminus of freeway
			PA 764 south	Eastern terminus of PA 764 concurrency
	Hollidaysburg		PA 36 (Penn Street) – Altoona, Roaring Spring
	Catharine Township		PA 866 south (Juniata River Road)	Northern terminus of PA 866
Huntingdon	Morris Township		PA 453 north (Birmingham Pike) to PA 45 – Tyrone, State College	Southern terminus of PA 453
	Alexandria		PA 305 east (Bridge Street) – Alexandria	Western terminus of PA 305
	Huntingdon		PA 26 – Everett, Huntingdon, State College	Interchange
	Mill Creek		PA 829 south – Cassville	Northern terminus of PA 829
	Mill Creek		PA 655 north	Western terminus of PA 655 concurrency
	Brady Township		PA 655 south (Oriskany Road)	Eastern terminus of PA 655 concurrency
Mifflin	Wayne Township		PA 747 south (North Jefferson Street) – Mount Union	Northern terminus of PA 747
	Wayne Township		US 522 south (Croghan Pike)	Western terminus of US 522 concuurency
	Lewistown	Western terminus of freeway
			US 22 Bus. east	Western terminus of Business US 22
			US 322 west – State College	Western terminus of US 322 concurrency
			Electric Avenue
			US 522 north (Walnut Street) – Selinsgrove	Eastern terminus of US 522 concurrency
			East Charles Street	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
			US 22 Bus. west – Lewistown	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance, eastern terminus of Business US 22
Juniata	Fermanagh Township		Arch Rock Road
	Fermanagh Township		PA 35 – Mifflintown, McAlisterville	To Mifflintown Airport
	Walker Township		PA 75 south – Port Royal	Northern terminus of PA 75
	Delaware Township		PA 333 – East Salem, Thompsontown
	Delaware Township		Pfoutz Valley Road
Perry	Greenwood Township		To PA 17 – Millerstown
	Howe Township		PA 34 – Newport, Bloomfield
	Buffalo Township		Midway	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	Watts Township		Watts
	Watts Township		Amity Hall
Dauphin	Reed Township		US 11 / US 15 – Camp Hill, Selinsgrove
		Eastern terminus of freeway
			PA 849 west – Duncannon	Eastern terminus of PA 849, no access from PA 849 to US 22/322 westbound
		Western terminus of freeway
	Susquehanna River	Clarks Ferry Bridge
	Reed Township		PA 147 north – Halifax	Southern terminus of PA 147
	Reed Township		PA 325 east (Mountain Road)	Western terminus of PA 325
	Dauphin		PA 225 north – Halifax, Dauphin	Southern terminus of PA 225
	Middle Paxton Township		Dauphin Borough, Stony Creek	Westbound exit
			Heckton	Eastbound exit
			PA 443 – Fishing Creek, Rockville, Fort Hunter
	Susquehanna Township		PA 39 – Linglestown, Rockville
			I-81 south – Carlisle
			I-81 north / US 322 east to I-83 – Hershey, Hazleton, Allentown	Eastern terminus of US 322 concurrency
		East end of freeway
	Harrisburg		PA 230 east (Cameron Street) – Downtown Harrisburg, Capitol Complex, City Island	Western terminus of PA 230
	Lower Paxton Township		I-83 / US 322 to I-81 – Carlisle, Hazleton, Airport	Interchange
	West Hanover Township		PA 39 (Hershey Road) – Hershey
	East Hanover Township		PA 743 (Laudermilch Road) to I-81 – Grantville, Hershey
Lebanon	East Hanover Township		PA 934 to I-81 – Annville, Fort Indiantown Gap	Interchange
	Union Township		PA 72 – Lebanon, Lickdale	Cloverleaf interchange
	Bethel Township		PA 343 south (Pine Grove Street) – Lebanon	Western terminus of PA 343 concurrency
			PA 343 north (Pine Grove Road) to I-78 west	Eastern terminus of PA 343 concurrency
			Local Traffic	Old US 22 (Hex Highway)
		Western terminus of freeway
		8	I-78 west – Harrisburg	Western terminus of I-78 concurrency
Berks	Bethel Township	10	PA 645 – Frystown
	Bethel	13	PA 501 – Bethel
	Bethel Township	15	Grimes	No access across I-78/US 22, no tractor trailers
		16	Midway	To Conrad Weiser Homestead
		17	PA 419 – Rehrersburg
	Strausstown	19	PA 183 – Strausstown
	Upper Bern Township	23	Shartlesville
	Tilden Township	29	PA 61 – Reading, Pottsville	Signed as exits 29A (south) and 29B (north) on the westbound side
	Hamburg	30	Hamburg
	Greenwich Township	35	PA 143 – Lenhartsville
	Greenwich Township	40	PA 737 – Kutztown, Krumsville	To Kutztown University
Lehigh	Weisenberg Township	45	PA 863 – Lynnport, New Smithville
	Upper Macungie Township	49	PA 100 – Trexlertown, Fogelsville	Split into exits 49A (south) and 49B (north)
			I-78 east – New Jersey	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance, eastern terminus of I-78 concurrency, I-78 exit 51
			Cetronia, Kuhnsville	Access via SR 1002 (Tilghman Street), former routing of US 22 through Allentown
	South Whitehall Township		I-476 / Penna Turnpike NE Extension – Scranton, Philadelphia	Lehigh Valley interchange of the PA Turnpike's Northeast Extension
			PA 309 – Quakertown, Tamaqua	Cloverleaf interchange, To I-78 east, Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom, and Lehigh Carbon Community College
			Cedar Crest Boulevard	To Muhlenberg College and Cedar Crest College
			15th Street
	Whitehall Township		PA 145 (MacArthur Road/7th Street)	To Allentown Center City, Lehigh Valley Mall, and Whitehall Mall
	Whitehall Township		Fullerton Avenue
	Hanover Township		PA 987 north (Airport Road) – LVI Airport	Cloverleaf interchange, southern terminus of PA 987
	Bethlehem		PA 378 south – Bethlehem	Northern terminus of PA 378, to Lehigh University, Historic Bethlehem, Sands Casino Resort; Formerly I-378
Northampton	Bethlehem		Schoenersville Road
	Hanover Township		PA 512 north (Center Street)	Southern terminus of PA 512, to Moravian College
	Bethlehem Township		PA 191 north (Nazareth Pike)	Southern terminus of PA 191, to Northampton Community College
	Bethlehem Township		PA 33 to I-78 – Bethlehem, Stroudsburg
	Palmer Township		PA 248 (25th Street) – Wilson	To Palmer Heights and Easton
	Easton		13th Street
			PA 248 / PA 611 / 4th Street	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
			3rd Street – Easton	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance, to Lafayette College
			PA 611 – Easton	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
Delaware River		Easton-Phillipsburg Toll Bridge
Warren	Phillipsburg		US 22 east to I‑78 – Phillipsburg	New Jersey border
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

↑ DeLorme Street Atlas USA 2007 software, Driving Directions
1 2 "William Penn Highway: US 22 in Pennsylvania". Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
1 2 Butko, Brian A.; Kevin Joseph Patrick (1999). Diners of Pennsylvania. Stackpole Books. ISBN 0-8117-2878-1.
1 2 1930 state map, front side (PDF) (Map). Pennsylvania Department of Highways. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
↑ Public Law 191, passed April 8, 1925
1 2 Dickinson, Leon A. (February 1, 1931). "Highways Into the Deep South". New York Times. p. 136. Retrieved 2009-08-14. Here one meets and follows U.S. Route 22 through Bethlehem to Allentown; then along Route 43 direct to Harrisburg.
↑ Allentown Area Map (Map). Pennsylvania Department of Highways. 1929. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
↑ State Map, back side (PDF) (Map). Pennsylvania Department of Highways. 1930. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
↑ 1941 Lehigh County Map (PDF) (Map). Pennsylvania Department of Highways. Retrieved 2007-06-25.
↑ "U.S. Route 22 Through Reading Changed to 222". Reading Times. June 1, 1932. p. 14. Retrieved August 7, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ Express-Times File Photo. "Route 22 widening back in play as commission finds new funding sources, officials say". lehighvalleylive.com. Retrieved 2012-08-17.

External links

Route map: Bing / Google

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U.S. Route 22
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