U.S. Route 322 in Pennsylvania
U.S. Route 322 is a spur of U.S. Route 22, running from Cleveland, Ohio east to Atlantic City, New Jersey. In the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, the route runs from the Ohio border in West Shenango Township southeast to the Commodore Barry Bridge over the Delaware River in Chester, at which point the route crosses into New Jersey. The route passes near several cities, including DuBois, State College, and Harrisburg.
Route description
In Pennsylvania, US 322 is signed as 28th Division Highway, in honor of the 28th Infantry Division. The route enters Pennsylvania taking a northeasterly course. In Meadville, US 322 overlaps US 6 and US 19. Southeast of Meadville, the highway runs generally southeast through Crawford, Venango and Clarion Counties. Once leaving Clarion borough, US 322 has an interchange with I-80, at exit 70. From I-80, it continues on a solid east-west routing crossing Jefferson County. The route overlaps US 219 near the northern terminus of US 119, south of DuBois. East of US 219, the route takes a southward turn to traverse Moshannon State Forest, before taking an east-west alignment. From Clearfield to US 220, the highway runs southeast and is partly divided.In the State College area, the current alignment of US 322 overlaps I-99 and US 220 for Northeast of Port Matilda, I-99, US 220, and US 322 depart the Appalachian Thruway via an interchange and proceed east on the 28th Division Highway while the Thruway continues to the northeast as US 220 Alternate.
West of State College, the 28th Division Highway becomes the Mount Nittany Expressway after intersecting with Scotia Road and North Atherton Street. The I-99/US 220/US 322 overlap ends at a complex interchange north of downtown State College.
East of the overlap, US 322 continues southeastward through State College and its immediate suburbs on the Mount Nittany Expressway. After three exits, US 322 reverts to an at-grade highway two miles east of State College in Boalsburg, merging with US 322 Business and proceeding eastward along Boal Avenue as the route exits the State College area. Between Boalsburg and Lewistown, the highway traverses Tussey Mountain and Stone Mountain, in the Rothrock State Forest, as it turns to the south.
Between Potters Mills and Lewistown, US 322 is a limited-access road. Near Lewistown, it briefly overlaps US 522 and begins a long overlap with US 22. South of Lewistown, US 22/US 322 enters the Lewistown Narrows, an stretch of road through the Juniata River water gap in Shade Mountain. Construction to convert this section of the highway from a two-lane highway to a divided, limited-access four-lane highway was completed in December 2007, and it includes building the longest mechanically stabilized earth wall in the U.S. The highway exits the narrows in Arch Rock, traverses Juniata County and Perry County, and crosses the Tuscarora Mountain through a water gap on a southeastward course along the banks of the Juniata River. After crossing the Susquehanna River on the Clarks Ferry Bridge, the freeway runs south and parallels the river for before entering the Harrisburg Area. The section of US 322 between State College and Harrisburg serves as a major access road to Pennsylvania State University from points to the southeast and experiences traffic congestion on Penn State Nittany Lions football home game days.
North of downtown Harrisburg, the US 22/322 overlap has an interchange with I-81 at exit 67. While US 22 continues through the interchange and heads into downtown, US 322 departs US 22 and joins I-81 northbound. I-81 and US 322 remain concurrent for three miles to exit 70, where US 322 exits, following I-83, which has its northern terminus at the interchange, south through the innermost suburbs of Harrisburg. After two exits, US 322 departs I-83 at the Eisenhower Interchange, following Paxton Street east, returning to an at-grade roadway after one exit, toward Hummelstown. West of that borough, US 322 becomes a freeway once again, becoming the Hummelstown Bypass after crossing Fiddlers Elbow Road. The route runs south of Hummelstown, interchanging with two local roads before meeting the eastern terminus of PA 39 and the western terminus of US 422 at an interchange midway between Hummelstown and Hershey.
As the freeway ends, US 322 exits and heads east on the at-grade West Governor Road as it passes south of Hershey. East of the Hershey area, the route runs eastward via the scenic Horseshoe Pike traversing Lebanon County. The Horseshoe Pike portion ends west of Cornwall, where US 322 bypasses the town. East of the bypass, the route becomes grade-leveled again, enters Lancaster County and passes over the Pennsylvania Turnpike. This stretch runs eastward, again known as the 28th Division Highway. East of Ephrata, US 322 reaches an interchange with US 222 and continues southeastward through the Pennsylvania Dutch Country of eastern Lancaster County, which is home to many Amish farms. In this area, the route intersects PA 23 in Blue Ball, and then reverts to the name Horseshoe Pike before crossing PA 10 in Honey Brook after entering Chester County. In Downingtown, US 322 comes to an interchange with US 30. After passing under US 30 it continues into Downingtown as Manor Avenue before intersecting US 30 Business The route turns left at the intersection and runs concurrent US 30 Business for a block while crossing the Brandywine Creek. The route then turns right at the next intersection onto Brandywine Avenue as it exits the borough and becomes Downingtown Pike.
Where the highway approaches the West Chester area, it bypasses the borough via West Chester Bypass. At the end of the at-grade bypass, the eastbound lane of US 322 merges onto US 202 southbound to begin an overlap. After three exits, the US 202/US 322 overlap becomes grade leveled running north-south. South of West Chester, the overlap is a major divided highway in Chester County and then entering Delaware County. In Concord Township, US 322 turns east onto US 1 and leaves US 202 at Painters Crossing. One mile conjoined with US 1 east of US 202, US 322 leaves US 1 in Concordville via a turn southeastward to become the Conchester Highway. Approaching Chester, the route has three exits before beginning an overlap with I-95, at exit 3A. The overlap with I-95 is a brief one, where US 322 leaves I-95, at exit 4, and crosses the Delaware River to enter New Jersey via the Commodore Barry Bridge.
History
In 1937, US 322 replaced PA 5 along the Lakes-to-Sea Highway between Harrisburg and West Chester.To decrease congestion and improve safety, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation began a project in 2014 to reconstruct US 322 from the Centre/Mifflin county line to the route's interchange with PA 144, at a cost of about $93 million. On March 30, 2018, the Sand Mountain Road interchange in Spring Mills opened, replacing the at-grade intersection. The bulk of the cost of the project is related to an extension of the four-lane portion of US 322 through Potters Mills Gap and a new interchange with PA 144, which is scheduled to be completed by October 2020.
The section of US 322 along Conchester Highway between US 1 in Concordville and I-95 in Chester opened in 1954. PennDOT had plans since 1979 to widen the stretch of US 322 along Conchester Highway from a two-lane road to a four-lane road. The stretch of road saw a large number of accidents and fatalities, leading to the nickname "Killer Conchester". Construction on the project to widen the Conchester Highway section of US 322 began on April 28, 2017, with Governor Tom Wolf, PennDOT secretary Leslie Richards, and other state and local officials in attendance for a groundbreaking ceremony. Construction on the first phase of the widening between US 1 and Featherbed Lane/Mattson Road started in 2017 and is expected to be completed in fall 2020. Construction on the second phase of the widening between Featherbed Lane/Mattson Road and PA 452 is planned to begin in 2020. Plans to replace the bridge over the CSX tracks and Bethel Road along with improving the Bethel Road interchange are in the design phase.