U.S. Route 202 Business (Montgomeryville–Doylestown, Pennsylvania)

Business
U.S. Route 202 marker

U.S. Route 202 Business
Route information
Business route of US 202
Maintained by PennDOT
Length: 9.983 mi[1] (16.066 km)
Existed: 2015 – present
Major junctions
South end: US 202 near Montgomeryville
  PA 63 near Montgomeryville
PA 309 in Montgomeryville
PA 463 in Montgomeryville
PA 152 in Chalfont
PA 611 near Doylestown
North end: US 202 / PA 611 near Doylestown
Location
Counties: Montgomery, Bucks
Highway system

U.S. Route 202 Business (US 202 Bus.) is a 10-mile (16 km) business route of US 202 in Montgomery and Bucks counties in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, running between Montgomeryville and Doylestown. The route heads northeast from US 202 in Upper Gwynedd Township along five-lane Dekalb Pike through residential and commercial areas. In Montgomeryville, the route turns north to run concurrent with Pennsylvania Route 309 (PA 309) on five-lane Bethlehem Pike past several businesses. US 202 Bus. splits from PA 309 by turning northeast onto two-lane Doylestown Road. The route crosses into Bucks County and becomes Butler Avenue, passing through Chalfont and New Britain and curving east. West of Doylestown, the business route turns south to head concurrent with PA 611 on a four-lane freeway to reach its terminus at a cloverleaf interchange with US 202 in Doylestown Township.

The road between Montgomeryville and Doylestown was originally designated as US 122 in 1926, with PA 52 running concurrent for a short time in the late 1920s. US 202 replaced the US 122 designation in the 1930s. US 202 was moved to a freeway bypass of Doylestown in the 1970s, heading south from State Street on PA 611 before heading east on its own. In 2012, US 202 was moved to a newly-built parkway running between Montgomeryville and Doylestown, leaving the former alignment without a signed route designation. As a result of the realignment of US 202, several businesses along the former alignment saw declines in customers. The businesses lobbied for the former alignment to be designated as US 202 Bus.; the designation was approved by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials in 2015.

Route description

US 202 Bus. southbound past PA 309 in Montgomeryville

US 202 Bus. begins at an intersection with US 202 in Upper Gwynedd Township, Montgomery County, heading north on Dekalb Pike, a five-lane road with a center left-turn lane. The road passes between fields to the west and businesses to the east, coming to an intersection with PA 63. Upon crossing PA 63, the route enters Montgomery Township and continues past commercial development before curving northeast and becoming a four-lane undivided road that passes residential subdivisions. US 202 Bus. passes between the Montgomery Mall to the northwest and businesses to the southeast, reaching a junction with PA 309 (Bethlehem Pike) in the community of Montgomery Square. At this point, US 202 Bus. turns northwest to form a concurrency with PA 309 on four-lane divided Bethlehem Pike, passing between the mall to the west and shopping centers to the east. The two routes heads north past more businesses and become a five-lane road with a center left-turn lane past the North Wales Road intersection. PA 309/US 202 Bus. becomes a four-lane divided highway again and heads into the community of Montgomeryville. Here, the highway comes to the Five Points intersection, where PA 463 crosses and US 202 Bus. splits from PA 309 by heading northeast onto Doylestown Road. The route passes businesses as a two-lane divided road before gaining a center turn lane and heading through wooded residential areas, passing to the southeast of a golf course. The road loses the turn lane and continues past homes before heading into business areas and coming to an intersection with County Line Road.[2][3]

Upon crossing County Line Road, US 202 Bus. enters New Britain Township in Bucks County and becomes West Butler Avenue, heading past businesses before running through a mix of residential and commercial development. The road heads into the borough of Chalfont and passes through wooded areas of homes prior to reaching an intersection with PA 152. At this point, PA 152 joins US 202 Bus., with the road crossing the West Branch of Neshaminy Creek and heading into a business district. PA 152 splits to the north and US 202 Bus. becomes East Butler Avenue, passing residences before crossing Pine Run in a wooded area. The road passes businesses and intersects Bristol Road, at which point it enters the borough of New Britain and crosses SEPTA's Lansdale/Doylestown Line. The route follows West Butler Avenue past commercial development before running through wooded residential areas, becoming East Butler Avenue after crossing Tamenend Avenue. US 202 Bus. curves east and runs through more wooded areas of development, passing to the north of Delaware Valley University. The road enters Doylestown Township and becomes West State Street, curving northeast and widening to a four-lane divided highway. The route comes to an interchange with the Pennsylvania Route 611 freeway, at which point it heads south to follow that route on the Doylestown Bypass, a four-lane freeway that bypasses the borough of Doylestown to the west. The freeway curves southeast and passes over SEPTA's Lansdale/Doylestown Line before coming to a cloverleaf interchange with US 202, which heads northeast as a freeway and southwest as a two-lane parkway. At this point, US 202 Bus. ends and PA 611 continues south along the freeway.[2][4]

History

When routes were first legislated in Pennsylvania in 1911, what is now US 202 Bus. was part of Legislative Route 178, which ran between Norristown and Buckingham.[5] With the creation of the U.S. Highway System in 1926, the stretch of road between Montgomeryville and Doylestown became part of US 122, which was paved.[6][7] PA 52 was designated concurrent with US 122 in 1928.[8] By 1930, the concurrent PA 52 designation was removed from US 122.[9] In the 1930s, US 122 was replaced with US 202. In addition, the stretch concurrent with US 309 (now PA 309) was widened into a multilane road.[10]

In the 1970s, US 202 was rerouted to a freeway bypass of Doylestown instead of passing through the borough on State Street, heading south with PA 611 before heading east on its own.[11] On December 3, 2012, US 202 was realigned onto a newly constructed parkway between Montgomeryville and Doylestown. The US 202 parkway was built in order to reduce congestion on the former alignment between Montgomeryville and Doylestown.[12] The former alignment was designated as SR 2202 in Montgomery County and SR 4202 in Bucks County.[3][4] As a result of the removal of the US 202 designation from the former alignment, several businesses along the former route saw declines in customers. In 2014, several businesses along the former US 202 pushed for the state to designate the road as US 202 Bus. in order to help them gain customers.[13] The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Special Committee on U.S. Route Numbering approved the US 202 Bus. designation on May 13, 2015.[14]

Major intersections

CountyLocationmi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
MontgomeryUpper Gwynedd Township0.0000.000 US 202 (Dekalb Pike)Southern terminus
Upper Gwynedd–Montgomery
township line		0.2260.364 PA 63 (Welsh Road) to US 202 north
Montgomery Township1.4222.288 PA 309 south (Bethlehem Pike) – PhiladelphiaSouth end of PA 309 overlap
2.2993.700 PA 309 north (Bethlehem Pike) – Quakertown
PA 463 (Cowpath Road / Horsham Road) – Lansdale, Hatboro		North end of PA 309 overlap
BucksChalfont5.4178.718 PA 152 south (Limekiln Pike)South end of PA 152 overlap
5.5768.974 PA 152 north (Main Street)North end of PA 152 overlap
Doylestown Township9.11814.674South end of freeway
9.11814.674 PA 611 north – EastonSouth end of PA 611 overlap
9.98316.066 US 202 – Norristown, New Hope
PA 611 south – Philadelphia		Northern terminus, north end of PA 611 overlap
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Bureau of Maintenance and Operations (January 2015). Roadway Management System Straight Line Diagrams (Report) (2015 ed.). Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  2. 1 2 Google (June 3, 2015). "overview of U.S. Route 202 Business" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
  3. 1 2 Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Highway Map (PDF) (Map). PennDOT. 2015. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
  4. 1 2 Bucks County, Pennsylvania Highway Map (PDF) (Map). PennDOT. 2015. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  5. ↑ Map of Pennsylvania Showing State Highways (PDF) (Map). Pennsylvania Department of Highways. 1911. Retrieved January 27, 2011.
  6. ↑ Pennsylvania Highway Map (eastern side) (Map). Gulf Oil. 1926. Retrieved December 26, 2007.
  7. ↑ Bureau of Public Roads & American Association of State Highway Officials (November 11, 1926). United States System of Highways Adopted for Uniform Marking by the American Association of State Highway Officials (Map). 1:7,000,000. Washington, DC: U.S. Geological Survey. OCLC 32889555. Retrieved November 7, 2013 – via University of North Texas Libraries.
  8. ↑ Pennsylvania Highway Map (Philadelphia Metro) (Map). Gulf Oil. 1928. Retrieved November 8, 2007.
  9. ↑ Tourist Map of Pennsylvania (PDF) (Map). Pennsylvania Department of Highways. 1930. Retrieved January 27, 2011.
  10. ↑ Official Road Map of Pennsylvania (PDF) (Map). Pennsylvania Department of Highways. 1940. Retrieved June 24, 2010.
  11. ↑ Pennsylvania Official Transportation Map (PDF) (Map). Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. 1980. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Route 202's New Parkway Officially Opens". WCAU-TV. December 3, 2012. Retrieved December 3, 2012.
  13. ↑ Levenson, Edward (June 10, 2014). "Towns push for new road name: Business Route 202". The Intelligencer. Doylestown, PA. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
  14. ↑ Vitale, Marty (May 14, 2015). "Special Committee on U.S. Route Numbering Spring 2015 Report to the Standing Committee on Highways" (PDF) (Report). Cheyenne, WY: American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Retrieved June 2, 2015.
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