Pennsylvania Route 232
Pennsylvania Route 232 is a state highway located in southeastern Pennsylvania. The southern terminus of the route is at U.S. Route 1 and US 13 at the Oxford Circle in Philadelphia. The northern terminus is at PA 32 in the borough of New Hope, Bucks County, on the banks of the Delaware River. The route passes through the urban areas of Northeast Philadelphia as two-lane undivided Oxford Avenue, serving the Lawncrest, Burholme, and Fox Chase neighborhoods. Upon entering Montgomery County, PA 232 becomes a two- to four-lane road called Huntingdon Pike that passes through suburban areas, serving the communities of Rockledge, Huntingdon Valley, and Bryn Athyn. The route passes through more suburban development in Bucks County as Second Street Pike, running through Southampton and Richboro. In Wrightstown Township, PA 232 enters rural areas and becomes Windy Bush Road as it heads north to New Hope.
South of Penns Park, the road was originally known as the Fox Chase and Huntingdon Valley Turnpike or the Second Street Turnpike, a turnpike that connected farms in Bucks County to Philadelphia. In 1928, PA 232 was designated between PA 532 in Northeast Philadelphia and PA 32 in New Hope, while PA 163 was designated onto current PA 232 between PA 73 in Philadelphia and PA 63 in Bethayres. PA 232 was rerouted south along PA 163 in 1937 and extended to the Oxford Circle by 1960.
Route description
Philadelphia County
PA 232 begins at Oxford Circle, where it intersects with US 1/US 13, Cheltenham Avenue, and Castor Avenue in the Northeast Philadelphia section of the city of Philadelphia in Philadelphia County. The Oxford Circle is a modified traffic circle that has direct access to the local lanes of the Roosevelt Boulevard, with the express lanes passing under it. Here the route continues north on Oxford Avenue, a two-lane undivided surface road. The road passes through urban areas of businesses before turning northwest into areas of rowhomes. Upon reaching Har Nebo Cemetery, the route turns north through locations of homes and businesses and passes to the east of Naval Support Activity Philadelphia.After passing the naval facility, Oxford Avenue continues northeast at the intersection with Robbins Street/Martins Mill Road and crosses Levick Street. PA 232 runs north through the residential Lawncrest neighborhood and reaches the Five Points intersection with PA 73 and Rising Sun Avenue in the Burholme neighborhood. From this junction, the route passes a mix of urban residential and commercial establishments as it comes to a bridge over CSX's Trenton Subdivision at the Bleigh Avenue intersection and reaches a junction with Verree Road. PA 232 continues into the Fox Chase neighborhood, crossing SEPTA's Fox Chase Line at-grade south of its terminus at the Fox Chase station. Upon reaching the Rhawn Street intersection in the downtown area of Fox Chase, the road makes a turn to the northwest.
Montgomery County
Leaving Philadelphia at the Filmore Avenue intersection, PA 232 crosses into Montgomery County in the borough of Rockledge. Here the name of the road changes to Huntingdon Pike as it passes suburban homes and businesses. Upon intersecting Fox Chase Road/Shady Lane, the route turns north and widens to four lanes as it heads into Abington Township. Here, the road passes between the Hollywood neighborhood to the west and a shopping center to the east, reaching a junction with Cedar Road. Farther north, PA 232 runs through wooded residential areas as it enters the Huntingdon Valley area and comes to the Susquehanna Road intersection. The road turns northeast at this point and passes near more homes prior to running to the southeast of Holy Redeemer Hospital, at which point it widens into a four-lane divided highway with some intersections controlled by jughandles. PA 232 crosses over the Pennypack Creek and the Pennypack Trail before it enters Lower Moreland Township at the Moreland Road intersection. Here, the route passes over SEPTA's West Trenton Line west of the Bethayres station and crosses PA 63 in the community of Bethayres.Past the PA 63 junction, PA 232 narrows into a two-lane undivided road and is lined with homes before passing a few businesses, heading through the center of Huntingdon Valley and reaching an intersection with Red Lion Road. The road continues into the borough of Bryn Athyn and runs through wooded residential areas west of the Academy of the New Church Secondary Schools before passing between the Bryn Athyn Cathedral to the west and Bryn Athyn College to the east. The route continues into less dense wooded residential development as it briefly forms the border between Lower Moreland Township to the west and Bryn Athyn to the east before fully entering Lower Moreland Township again. The road turns northeast as it passes near a few businesses at the Byberry Road intersection, where Spur Road serves as a connnector road in the southwest quadrant of the intersection, before heading through wooded residential subdivisions.
Bucks County
PA 232 crosses County Line Road and enters Upper Southampton Township in Bucks County. Here, the road is named Second Street Pike and it heads north into business areas as a three-lane road with a center left-turn lane, passing over Norfolk Southern's Morrisville Line before coming to a bridge over the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The route crosses the abandoned Fox Chase-Newtown rail line west of the former Southampton station before intersecting PA 132 in the community of Southampton.After this intersection, the road narrows back to two lanes and turns northeast into residential areas, reaching a junction with Maple Avenue. PA 232 makes a curve to the north as it crosses Bristol Road into Northampton Township. The route turns northeast again and continues past more housing developments with a few businesses. At Richboro, the road crosses Ironworks Creek and passes shopping centers and businesses as Bustleton Pike merges into Second Street Pike and PA 232 continues due north. The route widens to four lanes and passes more commercial development as it crosses PA 332. Following the PA 332 junction, the road narrows to two lanes and passes more residential areas, with Worthington Mill Road branching to the northeast. As the route approaches the Sacketts Ford Road intersection, the settings become more rural as the road passes near farms and woods with some homes.
The road crosses the Neshaminy Creek and turns northeast in Wrightstown Township. The road continues through agricultural areas and passes to the east of a quarry following the Swamp Road junction. PA 232 curves north again and passes a mix of rural areas and residential and commercial development, intersecting Cherry Lane, prior to crossing PA 413 in the community of Penns Park. Now signed as Windy Bush Road, the road continues past wooded areas of homes, crossing Jericho Creek. After the Pine Lane/Pineville Road intersection, the route enters Upper Makefield Township and continues through woodland before heading into farmland.
A short distance past the Street Road intersection, PA 232 passes into Solebury Township and crosses the Pidcock Creek. The road continues through a mix of farms and woods with some residential areas. As the route approaches Aquetong Road, the surroundings become more forested and the road parallels Dark Hollow Run, briefly passing through farm fields. The road enters the borough of New Hope, where it ends at a junction with PA 32.
History
In colonial times, the current alignment of PA 232 was referred to as the Middle Road because it was roughly midway between Old York Road and Bustleton Pike. What is now PA 232 in Montgomery County was originally chartered in 1846 as the Fox Chase and Huntingdon Valley Turnpike. This road was a turnpike that connected the Fox Chase area and ran through eastern Montgomery County to County Line Road at the Bucks County border. Further south into Philadelphia, the road was known variously as Oxford Avenue, Oxford Pike, and Oxford Turnpike. The Fox Chase and Huntingdon Valley Turnpike was also known as the Second Street Turnpike. The Second Street Pike continued the Huntington Pike north from the border of Montgomery and Bucks counties to Wrightstown in Bucks County and served as a route for farmers into Philadelphia.In 1928, PA 232 was designated between PA 532 in Northeast Philadelphia and PA 32 in New Hope, following Welsh Road to PA 63 in Bethayres before turning north along its current alignment to PA 113, where it headed northwest concurrent with PA 113 to Pineville and turned northeast onto Pine Lane before picking up its current alignment to New Hope. The present-day route from PA 63 south to PA 73 in Philadelphia was designated as PA 163. PA 232 was rerouted to head south and replace PA 163 between Bethayres and Philadelphia in 1937. The same year, PA 232 was rerouted to bypass Pineville to the east. The route was extended further south down Oxford Avenue to the Oxford Circle by 1960. Since then, there have been no alignment changes to PA 232.