US 11


The highway that now lives in the shadows of Interstate 81 has had a long and varied history.  Signed in 1926, there were still dirt sections from Plymouth to Kingston and Hallstead and Great Bend in 1927.  By the following year, those two segments had been paved.  In 1928, the section from Harrisburg to Heckton was under construction and completed the following year.

In 1930, the designation was moved in Wilkes-Barre from Plymouth Road, Carey Avenue, South River Street, North River Street, and River Road onto its current alignment on Wyoming Avenue.  In 1938, the route was widened from Mount Rock to Shippensburg, PA 114 to Lemoyne, Harrisburg to PA 443, Speeceville to Clark Creek, in Shamokin Dam, Scranton to Clarks Summit, and New Milford to Hallstead.

In 1940, the alignment was widened in Chambersburg, in Carlisle, PA 42 to Bloomsburg, in Berwick, Shickshinny to the Hunlock Township line, Plymouth to Larksville, Kingston to West Pittston, Avoca to Scranton, and Hill Road to College Avenue.  In 1941, the designation was placed on its current alignment between Lemoyne and Amity Hall removing it from the Market Street Bridge and Front Street in Harrisburg.  The alignment was widened from US 22/US 322 to Amity Hall and Larksville to Kingston.  In 1946, the highway was widened from the Pennsylvania Turnpike to PA 114, Selinsgrove to Shamokin Dam, and Hunlock Township line to Plymouth.  In 1948, the designation flipped alignments with Bypass US 11 in Lemoyne, with it moved onto the current route on Cumberland Boulevard and Walnut Street from Market Street and Front Street.  In the last year of the 1940s, widened took place from Greencastle to Marion, Chambersburg to PA 433, and Bloomsburg to Briar Creek.

The 1950s began how the 1940s ended with widening projects taking place along the alignment from Marion to Chambersburg, Port Trevorton to Selinsgrove, and Clarks Summit to Le Plume.  In 1952, the sections from Amity Hall to Port Trevorton and Dupont to Avoca were widened.  In 1953, the section from Le Plume to the current US 6/US 11 split north of Factoryville was widened.  In 1955, widening work took place from Chambersburg to Mount Rock, Shamokin Dam to Chulasky, and Ridgeville to PA 42.  Also in 1955, the route was moved onto a new alignment to bypass Greencastle to the west while the section from Bushtown to the bypass was widened.  In 1956, the route was widened from Chulasky to Ridgeville and Berwick to Shickshinny.  In 1958, the highway began to see medians being placed on sections.  The first sections to see one installed were SR 2001 to PA 16, Woods Drive to Hogestown, 32nd Street to the M. Harvey Taylor Bridge approach, Kinkora Heights to Cove Road, US 22/US 322 to Amity Hall, in Half Falls, Chulasky to the Montour County line, School House Road to Kaseville Road, Larksville to Edwardsville, the bridge over Toby's Creek in Wilkes-Barre, Scranton to the PA Turnpike, and Clarks Summit to US 6 north of Factoryville.  The designation was changed in Scranton that same year, with northbound traffic using Pittston Avenue, and southbound remaining on Birch Street, Cedar Avenue, and Brook Street.  The following year northbound traffic returned to Cedar Avenue between Sander Avenue and Birch Street.

The 1960s saw the continuation of installing medians on the highway, with the section from Selinsgrove to the split with US 15 north of Shamokin Dam seeing one installed in 1962.  Also that year, the Harrisburg Expressway opened from Sporting Hill to US 15, removing the designation from Carlisle Pike while construction began on the expressway from Cork Lane to Suscon Road which opened the following year.  Construction began on the North Scranton Expressway in 1963 which opened the following year but did not receive the US 11 designation.  Also in 1964, a median was installed from the Turnpike to Appalachian Drive.

The 1970s saw the work to upgrade the highway slow down.  In 1971, construction began to widen and install a median at the I-81 interchange between Valley Road and the Perry County line and finished in 1973.  In 1974, construction began on the Selinsgrove Bypass which opened in 1977, and removed the designation from Market Street through the borough.  The North Scranton Expressway finally received the US 11 designation in 1989, and shifted it to Jefferson Avenue and Mulberry Street from Moosic Street, Harrison Avenue, Myrtle Street, Wheeler Avenue, Cherry Street, Blakely Street, Green Ridge Street, North Main Avenue, and West Market Street.

A decade later, construction began on a 10.1 mile section from Mount Patrick to McKees Half Falls.  The result was a four-lane, at-grade highway which was the last segment between US 22/US 322 and the Selinsgrove Bypass to be widened.  The southern half of the project zone has a Jersey barrier in the median, while the northern half has a center turning lane.  Six signalized jug-handled intersections are located along the section and the traffic signals are linked and coordinated.  The project finished in Fall 2001 and cost $47.2 million.

Studies began in 2000 on how to redesign the US 11/US 15/PA 581 interchange in Camp Hill.  Congestion due to growth of the area and poor design are the leading factors in rebuilding the interchange.  Parts of the study included a new interchange at Zimmerman Drive and US 15, removing the Gettysburg Road interchange, and modifying the existing interchange.  The project was divided into two parts:  the first part involved relocating the previous interchange at Gettysburg Road to a diamond interchange at Lower Allen Drive, construction of a third lane in the northbound directions between Slate Hill Road and Lower Allen Drive, reconfiguring lanes at the PA 581 interchange, reconstruction of various side roads, new storm water drainage facilities, guiderail, signing, and traffic signals which began in March 2008 and was completed in late 2010 at a cost of $57.7 million.  The second part of the project began in January 2009 and consisted of widening to six lanes and reconstruction of US 15 between the Gettysburg Road interchange and Harvard Avenue, replacing and widening bridges, elimination of the US 15 northbound ramp to US 11 southbound/PA 581 westbound which was replaced by a signalized left-turn lane, drainage improvements, sound barrier and retaining wall construction, new traffic signals, highway lighting, signing, curbs and sidewalks, and box culvert extensions.  The left turn lane was part of the plan for years, and after a fatal crash in July 2005, PennDOT was taken to task over why the ramp switch could not be made then.  Engineers determined there was not enough room on the bridge that carried US 15 over PA 581 to put in a left-turn lane that would be long enough, but that was rectified in this segment of the project which wrapped up in August 2011 at a cost of $50.8 million.

In October 2003, the alignment of the Central Susquehanna Valley Thruway project was approved.  Nothing happened in seven years until December 2, 2010 when the Appalachian Regional Commission approved a new Appalachian Development Highway System corridor designated as Corridor P-1.  The new corridor covers the portion of US 15 between the US 22/US 322 interchange near Harrisburg and Interstate 80/Interstate 180 interchange near Milton.  This new corridor was formed by transferring 12.5 miles of the cancelled Corridor O-1 along US 322 between Interstate 80 and Phillipsburg, and with this, money allocated for the ADHS can be used.  However, the $604 million needed to complete the CSVT is more than the amount of funding provided to complete the entire Appalachian Development Highway System within Pennsylvania.  US Representative Bill Shuster introduced a bill in the House of Representatives to allow the use of toll credits to match federal money for transportation projects in March 2011, which would allow completion of this expressway.  Another bill was introduced by US Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland and co-sponsored by Senators Bob Casey and Pat Toomey in August 2011 in the Senate.  On November 26, 2013, State Transportation Secretary Barry Schoch announced that the state would allocate $558 million, of a revised estimate of $615 million total, towards completion of the CSVT.  Project website:  http://www.csvt.com.

A sinkhole, which had caused issues in 2007, reopened on February 5, 2014 on the southbound side of the Scranton Expressway between the Mifflin Avenue intersection and Seventh Avenue/Providence Road interchange.  The hole opened up as soon as a  PennDOT snowplow had passed over the area while clearing the travel lanes after a snowfall, which prompted the agency to initially close the southbound passing lane and then later both passing lanes.  The lanes were reopened after three days of repairs that included filling the hole with a concrete mix.

A $42 million project began on March 11, 2014 to improve the section from Clarks Summit to Tunkhannock.  "This road does have a lot of traffic, a lot of that is truck traffic. Because of that we wanted to make sure we were not able to have to post the bridges down," said PennDOT spokesperson James May.  Work will involve replacing eight bridges along the route as well as replacing pavement, adjusting traffic patterns, and installation of two traffic signals, one of which at the entrance to Keystone College, and conclude in November 2017.  "We're going all the way down to the base and replacing the road, doing a lot of work on the bridges, we're going to be installing two new signals and upgrading the other signals, So it's a major, major project here that we're doing," said PennDOT official James May.

Links:
Exit Guide
US 11 Auxiliary Routes
US 11 Pictures
Capital Beltway Map
Terminus of US 11 - Dale Sanderson
US 11 Pictures - Steve Alpert
US 11 Photos - Valerie Deane
US 11/US 15 Selinsgrove Bypass - Alex Nitzman
US Route 11 - David Golub


Information INFORMATION
Southern
Entrance:
Maryland state line in State Line.
Northern
Entrance:
New York state line two miles north of Great Bend.
Length: 247 miles
National
Highway
System:
PA 433/Truck PA 997 to PA 997
I-76/PA Turnpike to Shamokin Dam
PA 29 in Wilkes-Barre to US 6 in Factoryville
Names: Pennsylvania Avenue, Molly Pitcher Highway, Antrim Way, Main Street, Garfield Street, Second Street, Philadelphia Avenue, Norland Avenue, West King Street, King Street, Ritner Highway, High Street, Hanover Street, Bedford Street, Harrisburg Pike, Carlisle Pike, Pennsylvania Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial Highway, Capital Beltway, 32nd Street, Cumberland Boulevard, Walnut Street, Front Street, Enola Road, Susquehanna Trail, State Road, Marine Corps League Memorial Highway, Charles Attig Memorial Highway, Northumberland Highway, Northumberland Street, Bloom Street, Montour Boulevard, East Street, New Berwick Highway, East Front Street, Salem Boulevard, South Main Street, North Main Street, Wyoming Avenue, Exeter Avenue, Kennedy Boulevard, William Street, James A. Musto Bypass, Birney Avenue, Pittston Avenue, Cedar Avenue, Birch Street, Spruce Street, Mulberry Street, Joseph M. McDade Expressway, North Scranton Expressway, Scranton-Carbondale Highway, Northern Boulevard, and Lackawanna Trail
SR
Designations:
SR 0011
SR 0581:  PA 581 west to US 15
SR 0006:  I-476 to one mile north of Factoryville
Counties: Franklin, Cumberland, Perry, Juniata, Snyder, Union, Montour, Columbia, Luzerne, Lackawanna, Wyoming, and Susquehanna
Expressway: PA 581 to US 15
PA 274 to US 22/US 322
Market Street to US 522
Providence Road in Scranton to Business US 6
Multiplexed
Routes:
PA 533:  Shippensburg
PA 696:  Shippensburg
Truck PA 997:  PA 433 to PA 997
PA 641:  Carlisle
PA 74:  Carlisle
PA 34:  Carlisle
PA 581:  PA 581 West to US 15
US 15:  PA 581 to Shamokin Dam
PA 147:  Shamokin Dam to US 15
PA 487:  Bloomsburg
PA 42:  Rupert
PA 93:  Briar Creek to Nescopeck
PA 239:  Shickshinny
PA 29:  West Nanticoke to Avondale
PA 307:  Scranton
Business US 6:  I-476 to Business US 6
US 6:  I-476 to one mile north of Factoryville
Former
Designations:
PA 13  (1925 - 1930):  Maryland state line to Shippensburg and Moredale to PA 581
PA 4  (1925 - 1930):  Harrisburg to Shamokin Dam
PA 2  (1925 - 1930):  Scranton to the New York state line
PA 7  (1925 - 1930):  Scranton to Factoryville
PA 19  (1926 - 1930):  Shamokin Dam to Scranton
PA 14  (1927 - 1928):  Lemoyne to Amity Hall
PA 5  (1928 - 1935):  Lemoyne to Amity Hall
PA 641  (1928 - 1956):  PA 641 to Carlisle Pike
PA 14  (1935 - 1941):  Lemoyne to Amity Hall
Bypass US 11  (1935 - 1947):  PA 581 to Front Street
PA 33  (1936 - 1963):  Shippensburg to Moredale
BicyclePA Route J
BicyclePA Route:
US 22/US 322 to PA 35
US 522 to SR 1023
11th Avenue to PA 147
BicyclePA Route V
BicyclePA Route:
PA 54 to Ferry Street
BicyclePA Route Y
BicyclePA Route:
US 6 to PA 107
PennDOT
Traffic Camera:
Trindle Road

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Page updated October 05, 2022.
Content and graphics, unless otherwise noted, copyright © Jeffrey J. Kitsko. All rights reserved.
Information sign courtesy of Richard C. Moeur.
Information courtesy of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Rand McNally, General Drafting, Harrisburg Patriot-News, Williamsport Sun-Gazette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, WHTM-TV Harrisburg, WNEP-TV Scranton, Route 15 Coalition, The Sunbury Daily Item, and Tim Reichard.