Pennsylvania Route 33

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PA Route 33
Gen. Anthony Clement McAulifee 101st Airborne Memorial Highway
Length:	29 mi[1] (47 km)
Formed:	1959
South end:	I-78 in Bethlehem Township
Major junctions:	US 22 in Bethlehem Twp. US 209 in Hamilton Twp.
North end:	I-80/PA 611 in Hamilton Township
Counties:	Northampton, Monroe
Pennsylvania State Routes < PA 32 PA 34 > Legislative

Pennsylvania Route 33 (PA 33) or State Route 33 is a north-south limited-access route in eastern Pennsylvania, United States. The highway is 29 miles (47 km) long. South of the US 22 interchange, the route is called the Gen. Anthony Clement McAulifee 101st Airborne Memorial Highway. The route is an expressway its entire length.

The northern terminus is Interstate 80 near Stroudsburg and the southern terminus is Interstate 78 near Redington. Until 2003, the southern terminus was U.S. Route 22, but the freeway was extended to Interstate 78. It is commonly used as a "HAZMAT" bypass for the Pennsylvania Turnpike's Northeast Extension due to the HAZMAT restrictions in place on its Lehigh Tunnel.

Contents 1 Route description 1.1 Northampton County 1.2 Monroe County 2 Communities along the route 2.1 Boroughs 2.2 Townships 2.3 Census-designated places 2.4 Other Places 3 Exit list 4 History 5 References

[edit] Route description

[edit] Northampton County

PA 33 begins at a trumpet interchange with Interstate 78 in Bethlehem Township, Pennsylvania. At mile marker 0.5 near the I-78 interchange, PA 33 crosses the Lehigh River on a long concrete bridge. At mile markers 1 through 2, PA 33 meets Freemansburg Avenue and William Penn Highway, two major roads in Northampton County. At mile marker 2.8, US 22 (Lehigh Valley Thruway) meets PA 33 at a cloverleaf interchange. At mile marker 4, in Lower Nazareth Township, Pennsylvania Route 248 meets PA 33. In the small borough of Stockertown, at mile marker 7, PA 33 meets Pennsylvania Route 191, a highway that is nearly 100 miles in length. At mile markers 9 through 11, PA 33 passes through the towns of Belfast and Wind Gap. At mile marker 11 in Wind Gap, Pennsylvania Route 512 meets PA 33. At mile marker 12, PA 33 crosses the Blue Mountain ridge, which is the Northampton - Monroe county line.

[edit] Monroe County

At mile marker 22 marks the southern terminus of the U.S. Route 209 concurrency with PA 33 east of Brodheadsville. The concurrency with US 209 is about three miles long. At mile marker 25 marks the northern terminus of the concurrency with US 209. Note at the US 209 exit at mile marker 25; passengers who need to take Interstate 80 east to Stroudsburg have to take the US 209 and passengers who have to take Interstate 80 west continue on PA 33 northbound towars Bartonsville and Hazleton. At mile marker 29, PA 33 terminates (ends) at an interchange with Interstate 80 and passengers coming from northbound lanes have access to Pennsylvania Route 611. ^[2][3]

[edit] Communities along the route

Bolded cities are officially-designated control cities for signs. ^[2][3]

[edit] Boroughs

• Stroudsburg (via US 209)
• Stockertown
• Wind Gap

[edit] Townships

• Bethlehem Township
• Lower Nazareth Township
• Bushkill Township
• Ross Township
• Hamilton Township
• Stroud Township

[edit] Census-designated places

• Snydersville
• Bartonsville
• Belfast
• Eastlawn Gardens

[edit] Other Places

• Friedenstahl (see Stockertown)
• Hollo (See Lower Nazareth)

[edit] Exit list

County	Location	Mile	#	Destinations	Notes
Northampton	Bethlehem Township	0.0		I-78 east - New York City, New Jersey	Southbound only.
		0.0		I-78 west - Allentown, Harrisburg	Southbound only.
		1.6		Freemansburg Avenue
		2.0		William Penn Highway
		2.8		US 22 - Bethlehem, Easton	Cloverleaf interchange.
	Lower Nazareth Township	3.6		Hecktown Road
		4.7		PA 248 - Wilson	To Palmer.
	Stockertown	7.5		PA 191 - Nazareth, Stockertown
	Belfast	9.2		Belfast
	Wind Gap	11.8		PA 512 - Bath, Wind Gap
Monroe	Ross Township	12.1		Wind Gap	Southbound only.
	Hamilton Township	20.1		Saylorsburg
		22.4		US 209 south - Lehighton
		Southern terminus of US 209/ PA 33 concurrency
		24.5		Snydersville
		Northern terminus of US 209/ PA 33 concurrency
		25.6		US 209 north to I-80 east - Stroudsburg	Northbound only.
		25.9		US 209 BUS	Southbound only.
		29.2		I-80 west - Hazleton	Northbound only.
	Stroud Township	29.3		PA 611 - Bartonsville	Northbound only. At-grade intersection.

[edit] History

The construction of PA 33 started in 1959, and stretched from the Route 512 interchange to Saylorsburg. Construction finished in 1960. The stretch connecting the highway to Interstate 80 was built and completed by 1964. Construction on Route 33 was not continued until 1969 when work began on the stretch from Route 512 in Wind Gap to Henry Road in Belfast. This stretch was completed by 1970. By 1972, the road had reached what is now Route 191 in Stockertown, and was extended down to its long-term end terminus at US-22. The highway was left at that until 1999 when construction began on a final segment that would connect the Route 22 interchange to Interstate 78. The final three-mile stretch opened in January of 2002.

In January of 2004, the expressway was shut down between Lower Nazareth Township (Route 248) and Stockertown (Route 191) due to a sinkhole in the area of the Bushkill Creek directly under a northbound bridge support beam. Crossovers were created, narrowing the highway to one lane in each direction through Stockertown. Studies were conducted, and came to the conclusion that the bridge was dangerous and could not be fixed. The northbound bridge was demolished in February of the same year. Just 21 days later, a sinkhole was discovered under the southbound bridge over the Bushkill Creek, and resulted in the demolition of the southbound bridge. Once the new northbound bridge was completed, another crossover was created, detouring southbound traffic onto the northbound side of the highway. On April 21, 2004, a depression formed under the new northbound bridge, and the highway was shut down once again to fill the area with bituminous material. The bridge re-opened within twenty minutes. By November 19, 2004, both bridges were completed and opened. All of this happened feet from the Bushkill Street Bridge which connects Stockertown and Palmer Township., and has been closed since 1999 because of numerous sinkholes causing the bridge to collapse.^[1]

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b} Pennsylvania Highways: Pennsylvania Route 33. Retrieved on October 14, 2006.
2. ^ ^{a b} Pennsylvania Tourism & Transportation Map
3. ^ ^{a b} Rand McNally Motor Carries Atlas Deluxe Edition: Pages 88 and 89