Pennsylvania Route 309

Pennsylvania Route 309
PA 309 in red, PA 309 Bus., and PA 309 Truck in blue
Route information
Maintained by PennDOT
Length	134.043 mi[1] (215.721 km)
Existed	February 1968[2]–present
Major junctions
South end	PA 611 in Philadelphia/Cheltenham
Major intersections	I-276 Toll / Penna Turnpike in Fort Washington US 202 in Montgomeryville I-78 / PA 145 near Allentown US 222 / PA 222 near Allentown US 22 near Allentown US 209 in Tamaqua I-81 near McAdoo I-80 in Butler Township I-81 near Wilkes-Barre US 11 in Kingston
North end	PA 29 in Monroe Township
Location
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
Counties	Philadelphia, Montgomery, Bucks, Lehigh, Schuylkill, Carbon, Luzerne, Wyoming
Highway system
Pennsylvania State Route System Interstate US State Scenic Legislative
← PA 308 → PA 310
← US 22 → PA 23

Pennsylvania Route 309 (PA 309) is a state highway that runs for 134 miles (216 km) through eastern Pennsylvania. The route runs from an interchange between PA 611 and Cheltenham Avenue on the border of Philadelphia and Cheltenham Township north to an intersection with PA 29 in Bowman Creek, a village in Monroe Township in Wyoming County. The highway connects Philadelphia and its northern suburbs to Allentown and the Lehigh Valley, and Hazleton and Wilkes-Barre in Wyoming Valley.

PA 309 heads north from Philadelphia and becomes a freeway called Fort Washington Expressway through suburban areas in Montgomery County, passing through Fort Washington, before becoming a surface road called Bethlehem Pike and running through Montgomeryville. In Bucks County, the route has a freeway section bypassing Sellersville before passing through Quakertown as a surface road. PA 309 then enters the Lehigh Valley, where it joins Interstate 78 (I-78) on a freeway bypassing Allentown to the south before splitting to the north and running through rural areas as a surface road. The route continues north into the Coal Region, passing through Tamaqua before it reaches Hazleton. PA 309 heads into Wyoming Valley and passes through the Wilkes-Barre area on a freeway alignment along I-81 and the North Cross Valley Expressway before turning into a surface road again, where it runs through Dallas before reaching its northern terminus.

The surface road sections of the route between Philadelphia and the Lehigh Valley follow a turnpike called Bethlehem Pike that was built in the 1800s. With the creation of the U.S. Highway System in 1926, U.S. Route 309 (US 309) was designated to run from US 120 (later renamed US 422) in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia north to US 11 in Wilkes-Barre. When first designated, US 309 followed the present corridor of PA 309 to Allentown before heading further east through Slatington, Palmerton, Lehighton, Jim Thorpe, and Nesquehoning and then following present-day PA 309 between Hazleton and Wilkes-Barre. In 1930, US 309 was extended north to New York State Route 17 (NY 17) in Waverly, New York, heading north to Pittston and Tunkhannock before following US 6 between Tunkhannock and Towanda and US 220 between Towanda and Waverly. By 1940, US 309 was extended south to US 1 Bypass (US 1 Byp.)/US 13 Byp./US 422 at Ridge Avenue and City Line Avenue in Philadelphia.

In the 1940s, US 309 was realigned between Ashley and Tunkhannock to Wilkes-Barre, Dallas, and Bowman Creek, with the former alignment between Wilkes-Barre and Pittston becoming unnumbered and the portion between West Pittston and Tunkhannock designated as part of PA 92. In the 1950s, US 309 was rerouted between Allentown and Hazleton to follow US 22 west to Fogelsville before turning north to Pleasant Corners and following present-day PA 309 to Hazleton. Most of the former US 309 between Allentown and Hazleton became a rerouted PA 29, which previously followed present-day PA 309 between the two cities, and is now PA 873, PA 248, US 209, and PA 93. US 309 was realigned to Fort Washington Expressway in 1960 to head to a new southern terminus at US 611 (Broad Street) and Stenton Avenue in Philadelphia and was also realigned to bypass Allentown. US 309 was shifted to follow present-day PA 309 between Allentown and Pleasant Corners in 1962, with PA 100 extended north along the former alignment between Fogelsville and Pleasant Corners. In 1963, the northern terminus of US 309 was cut back to US 6 in Tunkhannock. US 309 was decommissioned in 1968 and replaced with PA 309. In the 1980s, the termini of PA 309 were moved to their present locations. PA 309 was realigned to follow I-81 and North Cross Valley Expressway through the Wilkes-Barre area in 1991.