Pennsylvania Route 248

PA Route 248
Route information
Maintained by PennDOT
Length:	31.11 mi[1] (50.07 km)
Existed:	1966 – present
Major junctions
West end:	US 209 near Weissport
	PA 33 in Lower Nazareth Township. US 22 in Wilson
East end:	PA 611 in Easton
Location
Counties:	Carbon, Northampton
Highway system
Roads in Pennsylvania Interstate • US • State • Legislative ← PA 247 PA 249 →

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.

Route description

Weissport to Bath

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 borough, 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.

Bath to Easton

PA 248 near Lehigh Gap

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 Easton-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 onto 7th Street, then turns to the northeast to be named Prospect Ave. Then it turns to the east to become Pearl Street, which intersects and becomes Bushkill Street. While named Bushkill Street, the route is parallel to U.S. Route 22. It turns to the south to become Larry Holmes Drive and then terminates at an intersection with Pennsylvania Route 611.

History

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 being the current numbering of the route in North Central Pennsylvania extended to Hometown.^[2] The route was designated from what is now PA 873 (former US 309) in Lehigh Gap to US 22, at the intersection of Northampton Street and Walnut Avenue in Easton.^[3][4]

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 PA 3, between 1924 and 1930, then US 22 from 1926 to 1955. In 1955, US 22 was moved north to the Lehigh Valley Thruway; In the 1960s, this led PA 45 to replace the previous US 22 designation. In 1966, PA 248 was established from Lehigh Gap to Easton.^[5][6]

Weissport to Lehigh Gap

From 1926 to the late 1950s, PA 248 was designated as U.S. Route 309 which ran from what is now PA 248 (former 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 in 1963 on the expressway between Lehigh Gap and Parryville; By 1970, the entire Weissport-Lehigh Gap segment was designated as PA 248.^[7][8][9]

Major intersections

County	Location	Mile[1]	Destinations	Notes
Carbon	Franklin Township	0.00	US 209 (Interchange Road/Bridge Street)	Pavement continues as "Canal Street" to Weissport and Walcksville.
	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 329 / PA 987 (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)
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Calculated using DeLorme Street Atlas USA 2007 software
2. ^ Pennsylvania Department of Highways (1929). 1929 Map of Pennsylvania (eastern segment) (Map). http://filebox.vt.edu/users/bharper/roads/PA1929e.jpg. Retrieved 2011-01-08. 
3. ^ Pennsylvania Department of Highways (1930). Pennsylvania State Highway Map (front side) (Map). ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_pdf_files/Maps/Statewide/Historic_OTMs/1930fr.pdf. Retrieved 2007-12-25. 
4. ^ Pennsylvania Department of Highways (1929). Pennsylvania State Highway Map (northeast side) (Map). http://www.broermapsonline.org/members/NorthAmerica/UnitedStates/Midatlantic/Pennsylvania/bluebook1929_015.html. Retrieved 2007-12-25. 
5. ^ "William Penn Highway: US 22 in Pennsylvania". Federal Highway Administration. http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/us22.htm. Retrieved 2007-12-25. 
6. ^ Matt Assad, The Morning Call, Route 22: Fifty years, one billion cars, September 19, 2004
7. ^ Pennsylvania Department of Highways (1960). Pennsylvania State Highway Map (front side) (Map). ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_pdf_files/Maps/Statewide/Historic_OTMs/1960fr.pdf. Retrieved 2007-12-25. 
8. ^ Pennsylvania Department of Highways (1970). Pennsylvania State Highway Map (front side) (Map). ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_pdf_files/Maps/Statewide/Historic_OTMs/1970fr.pdf. Retrieved 2007-12-25. 
9. ^ National Bridge Inventory, a database compiled by the United States Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration, available at nationalbridges.com. Accessed 2007-12-25.