U.S. Route 1 in Pennsylvania

"Pennsylvania Route 1" redirects here. For the short-lived Pennsylvania Traffic Route, now U.S. Route 30, see Pennsylvania Route 1 (1920s).

This article is about the section of U.S. Route 1 in Pennsylvania. For the entire route, see U.S. Route 1.

U.S. Route 1
Route information
Maintained by PennDOT and DRJTBC
Length:	80.916 mi (130.222 km)
Major junctions
South end:	US 1 near Rising Sun, MD
	US 202 / US 322 in Chadds Ford I-476 near Media PA 3 in Havertown US 30 in Wynnewood I-76 in Philadelphia US 13 in Philadelphia PA 63 in Philadelphia I-276 / Penna Turnpike in Bensalem I-95 near Langhorne US 13 in Falls Township
North end:	US 1 on Trenton-Morrisville Toll Bridge in Morrisville
Location
Counties:	Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, Philadelphia, Bucks
Highway system
United States Numbered Highways List Bannered Divided Replaced Pennsylvania State Route System Interstate US State Scenic Byways Legislative ← PA 999 PA 1 →

U.S. Route 1 (US 1) is a major north–south U.S. Highway, extending from the Florida Keys in the south to the Canadian border in the north. In the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, US 1 runs for 81 miles (130 km) from the Maryland state line near Oxford to the New Jersey state line near Trenton, through the southeastern portion of the state. The route runs southwest to northeast, and serves as a major arterial road for many of the suburbs in the Delaware Valley area. South of Philadelphia, the road mostly follows the alignment of the old Baltimore Pike. Within Philadelphia, it mostly follows Roosevelt Boulevard.

Route description

Maryland to Interstate 476

US 1 enters Pennsylvania in southwest Chester County. At the border it becomes the John H. Ware III Memorial Highway (formerly the Kennett-Oxford Bypass) and widens to a four-lane divided highway. A mile into Pennsylvania, the Ware Highway diverts north of Baltimore Pike, the former routing of US 1, and becomes a freeway, passing mostly through farmland. At Kennett Square it rejoins Baltimore Pike as a four-lane divided at-grade highway. It then passes by Longwood Gardens, a year-round botanical garden, at the PA 52 North junction and Brandywine Battlefield, near where PA 52 splits off southward toward Wilmington, Delaware before intersecting with US 202 in Chadds Ford (at an intersection commonly known as "Painter's Crossing"). The road winds through Chadds Ford and Wawa, wherein it provides an address to the Wawa Dairy Farms, which went on to create Wawa Food Markets, one of the most successful local convenience store chains in the United States. Before arriving in Media, it exits from the Baltimore Pike and curves northeastward to become the Media Bypass, a freeway that runs to the north of busy downtown Media. After about two miles, the bypass has an interchange with PA 252, the last northbound exit before I-476. Baltimore Pike, meanwhile, becomes a local road, running parallel to, and south of, US 1 through Media and Springfield, Pennsylvania before terminating in West Philadelphia as US 13 near the University of Pennsylvania.

Interstate 476 to Roosevelt Boulevard

After providing drivers access to Interstate 476 (I-476) by means of a three-level diamond interchange, one of the busiest interchanges on I-476, the route becomes a local road again. It travels for a while as State Road, a four-lane divided thoroughfare. After State Road leaves the alignment, US 1 turns northward as Township Line Road, a four-lane undivided road that continues through towns such as Springfield, Drexel Hill, and Upper Darby.

After intersecting PA 3 (West Chester Pike) in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, not too far from the SEPTA transit system's 69th Street Terminal, US 1 drops the "Township Line Road" moniker at Cobbs Creek, which forms part of the border between Philadelphia and Delaware counties. It becomes City Avenue and acts as the border between the city of Philadelphia and the Montgomery County suburbs of Bala Cynwyd, Merion Station, and Penn Wynne which are all located in Lower Merion Township. City Avenue also provides the border of area codes 215 (Philadelphia) and 610 (suburbs). Saint Joseph's University makes its home on this particular stretch of the route, as do Philadelphia television stations WPVI-TV and WCAU-TV, whose studios happen to be on opposite sides of the roadway. Many of the city's radio stations are located just off City Avenue, mainly in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. Just before 66th Street, US 1 crosses the City Line Avenue Bridge, then intersects US 30 (Lincoln Highway and Lancaster Avenue) at the southwest corner of the St. Charles Borromeo Seminary grounds before reaching the Schuylkill River.

September 1920 photograph near the intersection of Broad Street and Northeast Boulevard in Philadelphia

Roosevelt Boulevard to New Jersey

Main article: Roosevelt Boulevard (Philadelphia)

Roosevelt Boulevard (US 1) at Rhawn Street in Northeast Philadelphia

At the Schuylkill, US 1 interchanges with and briefly runs concurrently with I-76 (Schuylkill Expressway). This, too, is one of the busiest interchanges in the region, witnessing traffic backups in all directions during morning and afternoon rush hours. Now fully entering the Philadelphia city limits, it splits with I-76 as the Roosevelt Expressway, immediately crossing the Schuylkill River just beyond the interchange on the Twin Bridges. The bridges also pass over Dr. Martin Luther King Drive, Kelly Drive, Ridge Avenue, and the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, Schuylkill River Viaduct. The expressway passes through the urban area, skirting the southern edge of Queen Lane Reservoir. It then rises over a large SEPTA rail yard near Wayne Junction, then passes under four streets and the Broad Street Subway in a cut. Frontage roads at the cut provide access to PA 611 (North Broad Street).

At the end of the expressway, encountered at Ninth Street, US 1 returns to grade level and becomes Roosevelt Boulevard. This portion of US 1 is the proverbial lifeline of those wishing to access Northeast Philadelphia and regularly sees traffic tie-ups at all of its major intersections. Just before the Ninth Street intersection, US 13 joins US 1 by straddling its carriageways outside US 1, forming a very wide setup of local and express carriageways in a 3-3-3-3 configuration; this continues for the duration of its route inside Philadelphia's borders. Access between the inner and outer carriageways is provided with narrow crossover ramps immediately between them; for most intersections, left turns are only permitted from the inner pair (or from separate left turn roadways) and right turns only from the outer, and crossing between them is not permitted at the intersections. Typically, Roosevelt Boulevard meets all cross-streets at-grade, although there are a number of interchanges.

As the route passes through a mix of residential and commercial development, the first interchange exists at 5th Street, which the express lanes pass over and the local lanes intersect. Roosevelt Boulevard continues, crossing the Tacony Creek on a concrete arch bridge built in 1909, before turning sharply southeastward along the north side the campus of Friends Hospital, then turning back northeastward. The express lanes then pass underneath Oxford Circle, a large modified roundabout containing connections to three additional streets crossing the circle—Cheltenham Avenue, Castor Avenue, and Oxford Avenue, the latter of which carries PA 232 to its southern terminus at the circle. After travelling for a few miles, US 13 exits the boulevard at Robbins Street (one-way northbound) and Levick Street (one-way southbound). The route turns to the northeast a bit before meeting PA 73 (Cottman Avenue), another interchange. The route continues to the next interchange a few blocks later at the Solly and Holme Street intersection, with the local lanes meeting the cross street at a roundabout (though smaller than Oxford Circle). Roosevelt Boulevard then snakes northward, briefly entering Pennypack Park to cross over the Pennypack Creek and the parallel Pennypack Trail, then immediately northeastward again. Soon after, it crosses Grant Avenue, then Red Lion Road, both of which have been called two of the top three most dangerous intersections in the United States. At Red Lion Road, PA 63 joins US 1 from the northeast, and the two routes continue together through areas of businesses and industrial parks. After intersecting Byberry Road, the concurrency with PA 63 ends at a cloverleaf interchange, where PA 63 heads southeast onto Woodhaven Road, a six-lane freeway lined with frontage roads. US 1 continues on Roosevelt Boulevard through Southampton Road, shortly after which the express and local carriageways merge, forming a divided street in a 3-3 lane configuration. It then crosses the Bucks County Line, its name changing to Lincoln Highway, and the road encounters two close interchanges with PA 132 (Street Road) and the Pennsylvania Turnpike at interchange 351, the Bensalem Interchange (old exit 28, and formerly named "Philadelphia"), just across the Philadelphia/Bucks county line.

US 1 freeway northbound in Langhorne

Route 1 facing northbound at the Pennsylvania Route 213 exit

In Bucks County, US 1 upgrades once again to a freeway, first passing south of Langhorne, which is home to suburban Philadelphia landmarks Oxford Valley Mall and the Sesame Place amusement park based on characters from PBS' Sesame Street program. US 1 Business exits US 1 shortly before crossing a CSX rail line, taking the Lincoln Highway designation along with it to pass directly through Bensalem and Fairless Hills, after which the freeway narrows, removing shoulders in favor of one-lane frontage roads featuring at-grade intersections with local roads leading to the surrounding residential areas. These frontage roads close just before passing under PA 413 with no interchange. Now carrying shoulders, the freeway interchanges with PA 213, then turns east and crosses the CSX rail line again, then I-95 at a cloverleaf interchange. The remainder of the route features more conventional interchanges as it proceeds through Morrisville, Pennsylvania. Here, northbound US 1 Business rejoins its parent route before US 1 encounters its interchange with the national northern terminus of US 13; this interchange also grants access to southbound US 1 Business. Along its final stretch through the urban area, US 1 then crosses the Delaware River on the Trenton-Morrisville Toll Bridge into Trenton, New Jersey, where it continues as the Trenton Freeway.

History

In Chester County, before the US 1 expressway was built there, US 1 continued up Baltimore Pike (which now has a dead-end section in Nottingham where northbound US 1 veers away from the Baltimore Pike alignment onto the expressway). In Oxford, US 1 northbound ran on S. 3rd Street, then turned right on Market Street (PA 472) (N. 3rd Street is the beginning of PA 10), then very quickly turned left onto Lincoln Street, and after leaving Oxford the road ran by Lincoln University. Approaching Avondale, Baltimore Pike traffic bent southeast along Pennsylvania Avenue (PA 41), then Baltimore Pike split off after Avondale. In the town of Kennett Square, northbound US 1 ran along Cypress Street (southbound US 1 ran along State Street), and those streets were marked E-W, not N-S. After Kennett Square, the US 1 expressway ends and its traffic merges onto Baltimore Pike.

Except for the southernmost part of Baltimore Pike at Nottingham, the Chester County part of old US 1 is still driveable. There is the dead end mentioned above; also, a small part of Baltimore Pike is permanently blocked by the Herr's Snacks company property.

Between Philadelphia and Trenton, US 1 is a part of the Lincoln Highway, a cross-country road that ran from New York City to San Francisco, California. It was also a part of the Byberry and Bensalem Turnpike between Oakford (Neshaminy Creek) and Philadelphia.

From the Lancaster Turnpike, where the Lincoln Highway headed west along U.S. Route 30, the Lincoln Highway originally headed east along Market Street to Penn Square, where it turned north onto Broad Street (Prior to the building of Roosevelt Boulevard, the main road followed Frankford Avenue to Bustleton Avenue from downtown.)

A bypass was added around downtown Philadelphia (in addition to the downtown route) in 1924, using Hunting Park Avenue, Ridge Avenue and City Avenue. This alignment is now used by U.S. 1, except that Hunting Park and Ridge Avenues are now bypassed by the Roosevelt Expressway and Schuylkill Expressway.

From Broad Street, the Lincoln Highway then headed north on the Roosevelt Boulevard. By 1914, the Roosevelt Boulevard was completed to Rhawn Street, and the Lincoln Highway turned off the Boulevard there to reach Bustleton Avenue. The old alignment splits from Bustleton Avenue at Haldeman Avenue and then follows Roosevelt Boulevard. (A short piece of Old Bustleton Avenue southwest of Welsh Road was used, crossing Pennypack Creek east of the current bridge.)

A 1920 extension took the Boulevard to Welsh Road, allowing traffic to turn off Bustleton Avenue there (that route is still Route 532), and a 1920s extension took it to the intersection with Old Lincoln Highway just north of the Poquessing Creek bridge. North of there the present US 1 was completed in 1933 to the south end of the 1923 Langhorne bypass and in 1938 to Bellevue Avenue (Route 413) in downtown Langhorne.

Lincoln Highway in Bucks County in 1922. This is now looking west on Woolston Drive with a ramp to the U.S. 1 freeway ahead; the underpass under the Trenton Cutoff is to the left.

From near Hornig Road in Northeast Philadelphia, the old alignment heads through woods, closed to traffic, paralleling power lines, after which it was upgraded on the spot to become Roosevelt Boulevard. The original route is then gated at an 1805 stone bridge across Poquessing Creek at the Philadelphia city line, just before crossing Roosevelt Boulevard. After crossing Street Road, the Old Lincoln Highway then becomes one-way southbound past the Bristol Road intersection and crosses the Neshaminy Creek. (This bridge itself was built in 1921 to replace a covered bridge just to the west.)

The present route of Lincoln Highway and US 1 Business was built in 1923, bypassing Langhorne to the south and avoiding two railroad crossings. This crosses under the US 1 freeway just south of the railroad, where the older route had crossed the railroad. From Oakford, the Old Lincoln Highway heads northeast, no longer crossing SEPTA's West Trenton line, as the US 1 freeway crosses just to the east. It then headed onto Maple Avenue (Route 213) to pass through Langhorne. Past Langhorne, the original route used what is presently known as Lincoln Highway (U.S. Route 1 Business).

At Fallsington, the original road crossed the Pennsylvania Railroad's Trenton Cutoff on a bridge just east of the present bridge, built on a reverse curve to shorten the span. It used Trenton Road and Main Street from the bridge to the intersection with Woolston, where Main Street is now cut. In 1917, an underpass under the railroad was built to the west on Woolston Drive; this became the main route by 1924.

It then headed toward Morrisville, where it first crossed the Delaware River the Calhoun Street Bridge, running along Trenton Avenue to Fallsington. In 1920 it was moved to the Bridge Street Bridge, passing through downtown Morrisville.

Major intersections

All exits are unnumbered.

County	Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
Chester	West Nottingham Township	0.000	0.000	US 1 south (Conowingo Road) – Rising Sun, Baltimore	Continuation into Maryland
		0.748	1.204	Southern terminus of freeway section
		2.092	3.367	PA 272 – Nottingham
	Oxford	5.095	8.200	PA 472 – Oxford, Quarryville
	Lower Oxford Township	7.126	11.468	PA 10 – Cochranville, Oxford
	Penn Township	10.047	16.169	PA 896 – Russellville, New London
	London Grove Township	12.497	20.112	PA 796 – Jennersville
		15.024	24.179	PA 841 – West Grove
		16.336	26.290	PA 41 – Avondale, Chatham
	New Garden Township	18.359	29.546	Toughkenamon, London Grove
	East Marlborough Township	21.177	34.081	PA 82 – Kennett Square, Unionville
	Kennett Township	22.534	36.265	Kennett Square	Southbound exit and northbound entrance via Baltimore Pike
		22.534	36.265	Northern terminus of freeway section
		23.791	38.288	Longwood Gardens	Interchange via Longwood Road
		23.911	38.481	PA 52 north (Lenape Road) – West Chester	Southern terminus of concurrency with PA 52
		24.587	39.569	PA 52 south (Kennett Pike) – Wilmington	Northern terminus of concurrency with PA 52
Delaware	Chadds Ford Township	30.665	49.351	US 202 / US 322 west (Wilmington Pike) – West Chester, Wilmington	Southern terminus of concurrency US 322
	Concord Township	31.710	51.032	US 322 east (Conchester Highway) to I-95 – Chester	Northern temrinus of concurrency with US 322
	Middletown Township	36.956	59.475	PA 452 (Pennell Road) – Frazer, Marcus Hook
		37.788	60.814	PA 352 (Middletown Road) – Frazer, Chester	Interchange
		37.922	61.030	Southern terminus of freeway section
		37.922	61.030	Baltimore Pike – Media	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	Upper Providence Township	40.191	64.681	PA 252 – Media, Newtown Square	To Rose Tree Park
		41.131	66.194	State Road	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	Marple Township	41.677	67.073	I-476 – Chester, Plymouth Meeting	Three-level diamond interchange, exit 5 on I-476
		42.212	67.934	Northern terminus of freeway section
	Springfield Township	42.405	68.244	PA 320 (Sproul Road)	Interchange
	Upper Darby	46.279	74.479	PA 3 (West Chester Pike)
Montgomery– Philadelphia	Lower Merion Township– Philadelphia	48.820	78.568	US 30 (Lancaster Avenue)
		50.534	81.327	PA 23 west (Conshohocken State Road)	Eastern terminus of PA 23
		51.735	83.259	Southern terminus of freeway section
		51.735	83.259	I-76 west / Lincoln Drive – Valley Forge	Southern terminus of concurrency with I-76; exit 339 on I-76
Philadelphia	Philadelphia	52.172	83.963	I-76 east – Central Philadelphia	Northern terminus of concurrency with I-76; exit 340B on I-76
				Twin Bridges over the Schuylkill River
		52.627	84.695	Ridge Avenue / Kelly Drive	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		53.241	85.683	Fox Street / Henry Avenue	Southbound exit and entrance
		53.626	86.303	Wissahickon Avenue south / Hunting Park Avenue	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		53.626	86.303	Wissahickon Avenue north / Germantown Avenue	Northbound exit, southbound entrance
		54.899	88.351	PA 611 (Broad Street)	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		55.037	88.573	US 13 south (Hunting Park Avenue) / Broad Street	Southern terminus of concurrency with US 13; southbound exit and northbound entrance
		55.407	89.169	Northern terminus of freeway section
		58.600– 58.670	94.308– 94.420	PA 232 north (Oxford Avenue) / Cheltenham Avenue	Interchange (Oxford Circle)
		59.383	95.568	US 13 north (Robbins Street) – Tacony-Palmyra Bridge	Northbound one-way pair
		59.469	95.706	US 13 south (Levick Street)	Southbound one-way pair
		60.549	97.444	PA 73 (Cottman Avenue)	Interchange
		61.696– 61.745	99.290– 99.369	Holme Avenue / Solly Avenue	Interchange (Pennypack Circle)
		62.900	101.228	PA 532 north (Welsh Road)
		64.648	104.041	PA 63 west (Red Lion Road)	Southern terminus of concurrency with PA 63
		65.987	106.196	PA 63 east (Woodhaven Road)	Interchange; northern terminus of concurrency with PA 63
Bucks	Bensalem Township	68.028	109.480	Southern terminus of freeway section
		68.074	109.554	PA 132 (Street Road)	To Parx Casino and Racing
		68.344	109.989	I-276 / Penna Turnpike – Harrisburg, New Jersey	Exit 351 (Bensalem) on I-276 / PA Turnpike
		68.891	110.869	Neshaminy	Via Rockhill Drive
	Middletown Township	69.827	112.376	US 1 Bus. north – Penndel	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	Langhorne Manor	70.091	112.801	Hulmeville Avenue	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	Langhorne	72.245	116.267	To PA 413 (Bellevue Avenue)
		72.923	117.358	PA 213 (Maple Avenue)
	Middletown Township	74.725– 74.749	120.258– 120.297	I-95 – Central Philadelphia, Trenton, Princeton	Exit 46 on I-95; cloverleaf interchange
		75.508	121.518	Oxford Valley	Via Oxford Valley Road
	Falls Township	78.067	125.637	US 1 Bus. south / Tyburn Road / Trenton Avenue – Fairless Hills	Only signed as Fairless Hills northbound
		78.874	126.935	US 13 south – Tullytown, Bristol	Northern terminus of US 13
		78.874	126.935	Pine Grove Road north – Yardley	Southbound exit only
	Morrisville	79.298	127.618	PA 32 north – Morrisville	Former US 1 Bus.
		80.516	129.578	Pennsylvania Avenue – Morrisville	Split into separate north and south exits southbound
Delaware River		80.916	130.222	Trenton–Morrisville Toll Bridge
Mercer	Trenton	80.916	130.222	US 1 north (Trenton Freeway) – Trenton, New York	Continuation into New Jersey
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access       Tolled

See also

• U.S. Roads portal
• Pennsylvania portal
• Philadelphia portal

References

U.S. Route 1
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