Pennsylvania Route 73

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PA Route 73 Maintained by PennDOT Length: 62.51 mi[1] (100.60 km) Formed: 1928[2][3] West end: PA 61 in Leesport Major junctions: US 222 in Maiden Creek PA 100 in Boyertown US 202 in Blue Bell PA 309 in Springfield US 1 in Philadelphia East end: NJ 73 in Philadelphia Counties: Berks, Montgomery, Philadelphia Pennsylvania State Routes < PA 72 PA 74 > Minor - Legislative Wikimedia Commons has media related to: PA Route 73

Communities[4] Leesport Boyertown Gilbertsville Schwenksville Skippack Blue Bell Philadelphia

Pennsylvania Route 73 (PA 73) is a 62.51 miles (100.60 km) long east-west state highway in southeastern Pennsylvania. It runs from Pennsylvania Route 61 in Leesport to the New Jersey state line on the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge in Philadelphia, where it continues as New Jersey Route 73.

Predating the Interstate and U.S. Highway Systems, the Skippack Pike, a modern section of the route, served as the primary connector between Philadelphia and the northwest suburbs.

Contents 1 Route description 1.1 Berks County 1.2 Montgomery County 1.3 Philadelphia 2 History 3 Major intersections 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Route description

[edit] Berks County

PA 73 begins at an intersection with Pennsylvania Route 61 in Leesport, north of Reading. It runs east along the shore of Lake Ontelaunee, intersecting U.S. Route 222 in Maiden Creek. Southeast of Maiden Creek, the route runs southeast, traversing a small mountainous region of the county. PA 73 intersects with Pennsylvania Route 12 near Pricetown and Pennsylvania Route 662 in Oley. It enters Boyertown as Philadelphia Avenue, meeting the eastern terminus of Pennsylvania Route 562 in the middle of town, and entering Montgomery County at the Boyertown-Gilbertsville border.^[5][6][7]

[edit] Montgomery County

On the county border, PA 73 interchanges with Pennsylvania Route 100, then continues southeast through Gilbertsville. In contrast to the mountainous Berks County terrain of 73, the elevation in Montgomery is much less, ranging from 100 feet (30 m) to 350 feet (106 m) above sea level. It then heads east as Big Road, where Pennsylvania Route 663 briefly joins the route from the south before leaving again on its own alignment. PA 73 continues southeast through Frederick and Zieglerville, where it joins with Pennsylvania Route 29 to head south on Gravel Pike, paralleling the Perkiomen Creek and Perkiomen Trail. The road turns into Main Street through central Schwenksville. PA 73 leaves for its own alignment, known as Skippack Pike, south of Schwenksville, crossing the Skippack Creek before heading southeast once again, entering the outer suburbs of Philadelphia.^[8]

The route continues past Graterford Prison^[9], entering central Skippack, where it meets Pennsylvania Route 113. It briefly crosses Evansburg State Park, intersecting Bustard Road which provides access to Interstate 476 before heading through Worcester Township, where it intersects Pennsylvania Route 363. It passes under Interstate 476 without a direct interchange before entering Blue Bell, where it intersects with U.S. Route 202. It continues southeast through Blue Bell, passing Fort Washington State Park before crossing the Wissahickon Creek, and turning south onto Bethlehem Pike for a brief distance before again turning east onto Church Road.^[10]

PA 73 continues east through the densely populated northern Philadelphia suburbs, interchanging with the Fort Washington Expressway in Springfield, and with Pennsylvania Route 152 in Glenside. It briefly turns northwest onto Washington Lane before heading southeast again onto Township Line Road, which forms the boundary between Cheltenham and Abington townships. It intersects with Pennsylvania Route 611 before entering the city of Philadelphia.^[11][12]

[edit] Philadelphia

The road continues as Cottman Avenue through Northeast Philadelphia, meeting Pennsylvania Route 232 at an intersection locally known as the Five Points.^[13] Passing through the Lawncrest and Rhawnhurst neighborhoods, it intersects Roosevelt Boulevard (US 1) at a massive interchange near Pennypack Park with PA 73 intersecting the outer six lanes of the Boulevard while the inner six pass under Cottman. It continues through the Mayfair neighborhood, meeting U.S. Route 13 on Frankford Avenue. It then briefly operates as a one-way pair along Torresdale and Princeton Avenues and State Road and Cottman Avenue, before interchanging with Interstate 95 and turning southwest onto New State Road. This road turns into a traffic circle at the foot of the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge; PA 73 traverses the circle and crosses the bridge into New Jersey, where it continues as New Jersey Route 73.^[14][15]

[edit] History

The Skippack Pike, a portion of PA 73 between Skippack and Bethlehem Pike in Whitemarsh, dates back to 1713, when settlers in Skippack petitioned Philadelphia officials for a road to their community for purposes of hauling grain to the mill in Whitemarsh. During the American Revolutionary War, the road played a large role in the Battle of Germantown and the Battle of White Marsh.^[16][17]. This section is officially marked as the POW - MIA Memorial Highway, but is almost always referred to as "73" or "Skippack Pike".

When the state began maintenance over roads via the Sproul Road Bill (signed May 31, 1911), the system did not include the direct Reading–Philadelphia routes that PA 73 and U.S. Route 422 are today. PA 73 was adopted as Legislative Route 197, the main route that connected Philadelphia and its northwest suburbs.^{[18][19] [20]}

In the original 1928 routing, PA 73 deviated from its current route west of Oley to follow what is now Friedensburg Road to Reading and continuing south along the current Pennsylvania Route 625 routing to end at Pennsylvania Route 23 near Blue Ball. The highway entered the city of Reading from the south as the New Holland Road, Lancaster Avenue and Bingaman Street into downtown Reading, concurrent with U.S. Routes 122 and 222. North of the Schuylkill River crossing, PA 73 turned east to overlap U.S. Route 422 along Perkiomen Avenue. East of the city in Mount Penn, PA 73 followed Friedensburg Road to Oley. The portion of the route from Oley to Leesport was designated as Pennsylvania Route 383.^[21][22]

Before the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge was built in 1929, the highway terminated at Roosevelt Boulevard (U.S. Route 1) in Northeast Philadelphia. By 1940, the eastern terminus was moved to its current location at the New Jersey state line. It followed Cottman Avenue, Frankford Avenue, and Levick Street into the bridge. In the 1940s, the highway followed a slightly different alignment through Pikeville. From west to east, the highway followed Main Street, Bertolet Mill Road, and Hoch Road around the hamlet. By 1966, the western terminus was moved to its current location in Leesport.^{[23][24][25][26]}

[edit] Major intersections

County	Location	Mile[1]	Roads intersected	Notes
Berks	Ontelaunee Township	0.00	PA 61 (Pottsville Pike)
	Maidencreek Township	2.74	US 222 (Allentown Pike)
	Ruscombmanor Township	6.63	PA 12 (Pricetown Road)
	Oley Township	8.84	PA 662 (Memorial Highway)	Western terminus of concurrency.
		10.51	PA 662 (Memorial Highway)	Eastern terminus of concurrency.
	Boyertown	20.21	PA 562 (Reading Avenue)	Eastern terminus of PA 562.
Montgomery	Douglass Township	21.17	PA 100	Interchange.
	New Hanover Township	24.30	PA 663 (North Charlotte Street)	Western terminus of concurrency.
		24.54	PA 663 (Layfield Road)	Eastern terminus of concurrency.
	Lower Frederick Township	30.16	PA 29 (Gravel Pike)	Western terminus of concurrency.
	Perkiomen Township	32.41	PA 29 (Gravel Pike)	Eastern terminus of concurrency.
	Skippack Township	36.06	PA 113 (Bridge Road)
	Worcester Township	39.78	PA 363 (Valley Forge Road)
		42.32	I-476/PA Tpk	PA 73 passes under I-476/PA Turnpike.
	Whitpain Township	43.58	US 202 (Dekalb Pike)
	Whitemarsh Township	48.09	I-276/PA Tpk	PA 73 passes under I-276/PA Turnpike.
		48.63	US 309 (Bethlehem Pike)	Former designation of US 309.
	Springfield Township	49.67	PA 309 (Fort Washington Expressway)	Interchange.
	Cheltenham Township	52.16	PA 152 (Limekiln Pike)
		54.41	PA 611 (Old York Road)
Philadelphia	Philadelphia	57.22	PA 232 (Oxford Avenue)
		59.15	US 1 (Roosevelt Boulevard)
		60.03	US 13 (Frankford Avenue)
		61.04	I-95	Exit 30 (I-95).
		62.51	NJ 73	Western terminus of NJ 73. Tacony-Palmyra Bridge.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Burlington County Bridge Commission - Tacony-Palmyra Bridge
• PA State Route 73 Ends

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