Pennsylvania Route 248

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PA Route 248
Length:	31.11 mi[1] (50.07 km)
Formed:	1966
West end:	US 209 near Weissport
Major junctions:	PA 33 in Lower Nazareth Twp. US 22 in Wilson
East end:	PA 611 in Easton
Counties:	Carbon, Northampton
Pennsylvania State Routes < PA 247 PA 249 > Minor - Legislative

Pennsylvania Route 248 (PA 248) is a 31.11 mi (50.1 km) long state highway in eastern portions of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The western terminus of the route is at U.S. Route 209 in Weissport. The eastern terminus is at Pennsylvania Route 611 in Easton.

The highway was originally signed as Pennsylvania Route 45 from 1927 to 1966.

Contents 1 Route description 1.1 Weissport to Bath 1.2 Bath to Easton 2 History 2.1 Lehigh Gap to Easton 2.2 Weissport to Lehigh Gap 3 Major intersections 4 References

[edit] Route description

[edit] Weissport to Bath

Communities[2][3]
Easton Weissport Parryville Bowmanstown Palmerton Bath Nazareth Wilson Weiders Crossing Palmer Heights

PA 248 begins at an intersection with U.S. Route 209 in Weissport, where it continues as Canal Street. The highway begins as a four-lane divided highway along the eastern banks of the Lehigh River running on a southern direction. In Parryville, PA 248 has a grade level exit signed as "Parryville" south of the Interstate 476 (Pennsylvania Turnpike) underpass. Southeast of the hamlet, PA 248 becomes a limited-access road and interchanges the eastern terminus of Pennsylvania Route 895 in Bowmanstown. After PA 895, PA 248 has a more eastward alignment, before the exit to the borough of Palmerton via Delaware Avenue. South of the Palmerton exit, the expressway ends in Lehigh Gap, where the Blue Mountain ridge is located. In the hamlet of Weiders Crossing, the route intersects the northern termini of Pennsylvania Route 873 and Pennsylvania Route 145 before proceeding on a southeast direction to become Lehigh Drive.

In Lehigh Township, PA 248 travels to the southeast and encounters the western terminus of Pennsylvania Route 946. In the village of Cherryville, the route meets Blue Mountain Drive, which provides access to Blue Mountain Ski Area. PA 248 enters Bath from the west as Main Street, then it has a fairly short concurrency with Pennsylvania Route 987 at the eastern terminus of Pennsylvania Route 329.

[edit] Bath to Easton

East of Bath, PA 248 is marked as the Bath Pike. In Upper Nazareth Township, the highway intersects Pennsylvania Route 946. In Nazareth, PA 248 is known as Easton Road and has a small overlap with Pennsylvania Route 191. Outside of Nazareth, Route 248 is called Nazareth Highway running to the southeast. The highway interchanges Pennsylvania Route 33 in Lower Nazareth Township and it is called Nazareth Road east of PA 33.

In Wilson, PA 248 interchanges U.S. Route 22 while turning east onto Northampton Street. Motorists can access US 22 eastbound via 25th Street. East of 15th Street, the route has entered the city of Easton. Northampton Street is the main commercial route in Easton with attractions like the State Theater. Route 248 makes a 90 degree-angle turn on to Union Street, then turns to the east to be named Bushkill Street. While named Bushkill Street, the route is parallel to U.S. Route 22 while terminating at an intersection with Pennsylvania Route 611.

[edit] History

[edit] Lehigh Gap to Easton

In the original 1927 numbering, the highway was designated as one of the two segments of Pennsylvania Route 45, the other segment is the current numbering of the route in North Central Pennsylvania. The route was designated from U.S. Route 309 (now PA 873) in Lehigh Gap to U.S. Route 22, at the intersection of Northampton Street and Walnut Avenue in Easton.^[4][5]

PA 248 was also designated onto a small portion of the William Penn Highway; from the intersection of Walnut and Northampton (PA 45) to the New Jersey state line at the Northampton Street Bridge, it was first designated onto the easternmost segment of Pennsylvania Route 3, between 1924 and 1930, then U.S. Route 22 from 1926 to 1955. From 1955 (when US 22 was moved north to the Lehigh Valley Thruway) to 1966, PA 45 took over the US 22 routing. In 1966, PA 248 was established from Lehigh Gap to Easton.^[6][7]

[edit] Weissport to Lehigh Gap

From 1926 to the late 1950s, PA 248 was designated as U.S. Route 309, from PA 45 in Lehigh Gap to U.S. Route 209 in Weissport. From the 1960s to the 1970s, Pennsylvania Route 29 succeeded US 309. Construction began on the expressway between Lehigh Gap and Parryville began in 1962 and ended by 1970. By 1970, the entire Weissport-Lehigh Gap segment was designated as PA 248.^[8][9][10]

[edit] Major intersections

County	Location	Mile[1]	Roads intersected	Notes
Carbon	Franklin Township	0.00	US 209 (Interchange Road/Bridge Street)	Pavement continues as "Canal Street" to Weissport and Walcksville.
	Parryville	1.40	I-476 (Pennsylvania Turnpike)	PA 248 passes under I-476.
	Bowmanstown	2.91	PA 895 (Lizard Creek Road)	Bowmanstown exit. Eastern terminus of PA 895. Westbound travelers must use Bank Street to connect to PA 895.
Northampton	Lehigh Township	6.85	PA 873 (Lehigh Gap Boulevard)	Slatington exit. End of expressway. Northern terminus of PA 873.
		6.99	PA 145 (Best Avenue)	To Allentown. Northern terminus of PA 145.
		8.83	PA 946 (Mountainview Drive)	Western terminus of PA 946.
	Bath	19.39	PA 987/329 (Main Street)	Western terminus of PA 248/PA 987 concurrency. Eastern terminus of PA 329. To Newburg Road.
		19.54	PA 987 (Chestnut Street/Monocacy Drive)	Eastern terminus of concurrency.
		19.59	PA 512 (Walnut Street/Bath Pike/Moorestown Road)
	Upper Nazareth Township	22.22	PA 946 (Daniels Road)
	Nazareth	23.95	PA 191 (Nazareth Pike)	Western terminus of concurrency.
		24.12	PA 191 (Broad Street)	Eastern terminus of concurrency.
	Lower Nazareth Township	25.69	PA 33 (Anthony McCauliffe Memorial Highway)	Interchange.
	Palmer Heights	30.87	US 22 (Lehigh Valley Thruway)	Interchange.
	Easton	31.11	PA 611 (Larry Holmes Drive/Delaware Drive)

[edit] References

v • d • e Transportation infrastructure of the Lehigh Valley East-west thru highways I-78 · US 22 · PA 248 View of Allentown Skyline looking northwest from the Albert E. Myers (8th Street) bridge. North-south thru highways Northeast extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike · PA 33 · PA 309 · PA 611 Allentown roads PA 145 · PA 222 · PA 987 · Cedar Crest Boulevard · Lehigh Street · Tilghman Street Bethlehem roads PA 378 · PA 412 · PA 512 · Bethlehem Pike Other roads US 222 · PA 29 · PA 100 · PA 143 · PA 191 · PA 329 · PA 863 · PA 873 · PA 946 Public transportation Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority  · Trans-Bridge Lines Airports Lehigh Valley International Airport · Queen City Airport Waterways and Rail Lehigh Canal · Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Canal · Norfolk Southern Railway