Pennsylvania Route 145

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PA Route 145
Length:	20.46 mi[1] (32.93 km)
Formed:	1928
South end:	I-78/PA 309 in Upper Saucon Township
Major junctions:	PA 222 in Allentown US 22 in Whitehall Township PA 329 in Whitehall Township
North end:	PA 248 in Weiders Crossing
Counties:	Lehigh, Northampton
Pennsylvania State Routes < PA 144 PA 146 > Legislative

Pennsylvania Route 145 (abbreviated PA 145) is a state highway located in the US state of Pennsylvania, covering a distance of 20 miles and 32 kilometers.^[1] The route, traveling north-south from Interstate 78 at exit 60 and Pennsylvania Route 309 in Lanark, Pennsylvania north to Pennsylvania Route 248 in Weiders Crossing, Pennsylvania.

PA 145 is the main north-south route into Allentown, Pennsylvania, the third largest city in Pennsylvania. In Whitehall Township, a seven mile portion of PA 145 is known as MacArthur Road. MacArthur Road is almost entirely divided and between US 22 and Eberhart Road it is up to six lanes wide with slip ramps. In Whitehall Township, MacArthur Road is the location of the main commercial center of the Lehigh Valley. The Lehigh Valley Mall, a large Allentown-area shopping mall, is based on PA 145, in Whitehall Township.^[2]

At the point where PA 145 is no longer MacArthur Road, PA 145 narrows to two lanes and passes through predominantly rural land paralleling the Lehigh River. PA 145 also crosses a long concrete bridge over the Lehigh River at the Lehigh - Northampton county line.^[3]

Contents 1 Route description 1.1 Lehigh County 1.1.1 South Mountain 1.1.2 Allentown 1.1.3 MacArthur Road 1.2 Northampton County 2 History 3 Major intersections 4 Attractions 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Route description

Communities[4]
Summit Lawn Mountainville Allentown Whitehall Laury's Station Walnutport Weiders Crossing

[edit] Lehigh County

[edit] South Mountain

PA 145 begins at an interchange with Interstate 78 at exit 60 and PA Route 309 in Upper Saucon Township, located 4 miles southeast of downtown Allentown. This interchange is not only the southern terminus of PA 145 but also the eastern terminus of the Interstate 78/PA Route 309 concurrency. Just north of I-78, PA 145 is known as South Pike Avenue and meets Vera Cruz Road and Oakhurst Drive at an at-grade intersection.

The route continues to the north as it runs up a hill on South Mountain with s-curves. Upon entering the village of Summit Lawn at the peak of South Mountain, PA 145 has access to I-78 west and PA 309 north via Rock Road. After crossing Rock Road, PA 145 begins to go down another hill on South Mountain.

[edit] Allentown

PA 145 enters the city of Allentown as South Fourth Street going down a steep hill. At the end of the hill, PA 145 intersects Emmaus Avenue; a major road that connects Bethlehem, Allentown, and Emmaus. Past Emmaus Avenue, PA 145 continues on its north alignment as South Fourth Street passing through the Allentown neighborhood of Mountainville. In Mountainville, PA 145 passes west of a shopping center with stores like Price Rite and K-mart. When exiting Mountainville, PA 145 turns west onto Susquehanna Street then crosses Trout Creek and Norfolk Southern Railway before making a wide curve to the north and becoming South Fifth Street.

Just after becoming South Fifth Street, PA 145 divides into a couple of one-way streets. PA 145 south is known as South Sixth Street, then turns to the east onto Wyoming Street and ruinites with the other half at South Fifth Street. PA 145 north is known as South Fifth Street, passes Good Shepherd Hospital, turns west onto Auburn Street, and ruinites with PA 145 south at a junction with South Sixth Street and Lehigh Street. North of the split, PA 145 becomes the three lane Lehigh Street, crosses the Little Lehigh Creek, and intersects Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive. Briefly north of the MLK Drive intersection, PA 145 progresses on its north alignment up a long hill as Lehigh Street.

At the top of the hill, PA 145 divides again when PA 145 north turns east onto Union Street while PA 145 south comes from the west also as Union Street. Just after becoming Union Street, PA 145 north turns north to become Sixth Street. While PA 145 south is known as Seventh Street, the commercial district of Allentown and is a major one-way three lane street home to one of Allentown's oldest supermarkets: Little Apple Market.^[5] At the intersection of Seventh and Hamilton Streets, the "Sailors and Soldiers Monument" stands at Center Square. The monument was to honor General Phillip Sheridan’s Civil War unit and the 47th Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers.^[6] Meantime, PA 145 north continues its north alignment as Sixth Street and intersecting the northern terminus of PA Route 222 which is split into Walnut and Linden Streets.

Sixth Street is home to The Morning Call, Allentown's main newspaper distributor. In the northern region of Allentown, PA 145 (as Seventh and Sixth Streets) intersects Tilghman Street one of the major streets in Allentown. After crossing Tilghman Street, PA 145 north turns west onto Washington Street then turns north onto Seventh Street to reunite with PA 145 south. North of Washington Street, PA 145 continues its northern course as the three lane Seventh Street. Then, PA 145 crosses a tall bridge over Sumner Avenue, leaves Allentown, and becomes MacArthur Road.^[7][8]

[edit] MacArthur Road

After crossing the bridge, PA 145 has officially entered Whitehall Township and has become a four lane divided highway known as MacArthur Road. In Whitehall, PA 145 has several intersections like Mickley Road, Jordan Parkway, and Fairmount Avenue. After crossing the Jordan Creek, less than a half a mile north of Fairmont Avenue, PA 145 intersects U.S. Route 22 at a full cloverleaf interchange. North of this point, PA 145 has widened to six lanes.

Just north of US 22, PA 145 passes by the main commercial center of the Lehigh Valley. The first junction is Grape Street with two ramps to access the street from both northbound and southbound. PA 145 continues its north alignment through numerous stores and businesses. PA 145 has several major junctions like Schadt Avenue and Mickley Road. At the intersection with Eberhart Road, PA 145 is no longer divided and no longer six lane but a four lane road. About a mile north of Eberhart Road, PA 145 becomes a divided highway again but only four lane.

About a mile west of Northampton, PA 145 meets PA Route 329. North of PA 329, PA 145 continues its northern course as MacArthur Road. Then, the divided four lane MacArthur Road comes to an end as PA 145 continues its north alignment as a two lane road. At this point the Lehigh River is almost visible and is only about 280 feet east of PA 145. After crossing the village of Laury's Station, PA 145 curves to the west and leaves Lehigh County while crossing the Lehigh River on the Triechler's Bridge.^[9][4]

[edit] Northampton County

Just after crossing the bridge, PA 145 has entered Northampton County and intersects Blue Mountain Drive which has direct access to Blue Mountain Ski Area. Then, PA 145 curves to the south as Riverview Drive later upon shifting to the west and back to the north paralleling the Lehigh River. PA 145 enters Walnutport from the south as Riverview Drive which becomes Best Avenue when entering the borough. At the center of Walnutport, PA 145 meets Main Street.

Now in Lehigh Township, PA 145 becomes Riverview Drive once again as it terminates at an intersection with PA Route 248 located in Weiders Crossing. The northern terminus of PA Route 873 is also on PA 248 just north of PA 145.^[4][8][10]

[edit] History

PA 145 was established in 1928. As of 1941, the southern terminus was located at a major intersection with U.S. Route 22, U.S. Route 309, and PA Route 29 at Tilghman Street in Allentown. The northern terminus of PA 145 was at U.S. Route 309 in Weiders Crossing. From Tilghman Street to Summit Lawn, PA 145 had the US 309 alignment. PA 145 had the PA 29 alignment from Tilgman Street to Lehigh Street as of 1941.^[11][12]

By 1960, the southern terminus of PA 145 would be at an interchange with Interstate 78 and U.S. Route 22 in Whitehall Township. As of 1960, US 22 would have a new alignment as the Lehigh Valley Thruway and concurrencyed with I-78, the former alignment of US 22 was at Tilghman Street in Allentown which was the southern terminus of PA 145 as of 1941. US 309 would no longer be the southern terminus of PA 145 because it runs south of Allentown as an expressway on what is today known as the I-78/ PA 309 concurrency. As of the 1960s, the northern terminus of PA 145 was PA Route 45 on what is today known as PA Route 248 in Weider's Crossing.^[13]

As of 1974, PA 45 was relocated and PA Route 248 was the replacement making PA 248 the current northern terminus.^[14][15] As of 1991, PA 145 had been extended south of US 22 through Allentown to the current southern terminus at an interchange with Interstate 78 and PA Route 309 in Lanark.^[16][17] As of 2004, PA 145 had been split into 7th and 6th Streets in the northern part of Allentown and in the southern parts of the city, PA 145 was split into 6th, Auburn, and 5th Streets.^[9]

[edit] Major intersections

County	Location	Mile	Road(s)	Notes
Lehigh	Upper Saucon Township	0.00[18]	I-78/PA 309[8]	Access to PA 309 south and I-78 east.
	Salisbury Township	0.97	Rock Road	Access to I-78 west and PA 309 north.
	Allentown	2.09	Emmaus Avenue
		3.03	PA 43[12] Susquehanna Street	Former alignment of PA 43. To Bethlehem.
		3.62	US 309/PA 29[12] Lehigh Street	Former southern terminus of US 309/PA 29 concurrency.
		4.15	PA 222 north Walnut Street	Northern terminus of PA 222.
		4.36	PA 222 south Linden Street	The Morning Call is located at this intersection.
		4.97	US 22/US 309/PA 29[12] Tilghman Street	Former alignment of US 22. Former eastern terminus of US 22/US 309/PA 29 concurrency.
	Whitehall Township	6.15	US 22	Cloverleaf interchange. Former alignment of I-78.
		6.57	Grape Street	Provides access to the Lehigh Valley Mall and Whitehall Mall.
		7.27	Schadt Avenue
		10.71	PA 329
Northampton	Lehigh Township	14.78	Blue Mountain Drive	Access to Blue Mountain Ski Area.
	Walnutport	19.15	Main Street	Shown as PA 946 on some maps.
	Lehigh Township	20.46	PA 248	Former alignment of US 309 and PA 45.[11]

Legend
Crossing, no access	Concurrency termini	Decommissioned	Unconstructed	Closed

[edit] Attractions

• Allentown Symphony Hall, Allentown
• Lehigh Valley Mall, Whitehall Township

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Multiplexed Roads - Pennsylvania Route 145 Junction list
• State Ends - Pennsylvania Route 145
• Pennsylvania Highways - Pennsylvania Route 145

edit Transportation Infrastructure of the Lehigh Valley
East-West thru-highways	I-78 | US 22 | PA 248
South-North thru-highways	Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike | PA 33 | PA 309 | PA 611
Allentown Roads	PA 145 | PA 222 | PA 987 | Cedar Crest Boulevard | Lehigh Street | Tilghman Street
Bethlehem Roads	PA 378 | PA 412 | PA 512 | Bethlehem Pike
Other roads	US 222 | PA 29 | PA 100 | PA 143 | PA 191 | PA 329 | PA 873 | PA 946
Public transportation	Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority
Airports	Lehigh Valley International Airport
Waterways & Rail	Lehigh Canal | Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Canal | Norfolk Southern Railway