The precursor to the PA 283 expressway that now runs between Harrisburg and Lancaster, US 230 was originally planned to connect the state capital to Maryland in the 1926 US route numbering plan.  Between the Mason-Dixon Line and Lancaster, the designation would have followed what is now US 222, but that section was dropped by 1928 when US routes were posted in Pennsylvania.

Originally, the western terminus was at the intersection with US 22 at Mulberry Street in Harrisburg.  The designation then followed the current PA 230 alignment through Dauphin and Lancaster counties to the current PA 283 interchange.  Just before the current terminus of PA 230 there, the US 230 designation originally followed Old Harrisburg Pike, Main Street through Salunga and Landisville, Harrisburg Pike, Harrisburg Avenue, and North Prince Street to its eastern terminus at US 30 in Lancaster at the intersection with King Street.

A section of US 230 west of Lancaster in Lancaster County in 1929.  (Pennsylvania Department of Highways)

The first change in routing took place in 1932 when the route was extended over Paxton Street and Front Street to its new western terminus at the intersection of Front Street and Market Street, where it intersected US 11/US 22/US 111 at the time.  Three years later, the western terminus was moved once again when the route was extended up Cameron Street to Maclay Street which it followed to Front Street and intersected those same routes.  The final year of the 1930s saw improvements to widen the route in several locations such as Harrisburg to Middletown, Elizabethtown to Florin, and Cornerstone Drive in Mount Joy to Salunga.  In the case of those first two sections, the roadway was widened from two to three lanes, which consisted of one travel lane in each direction and a center passing lane both directions could use also referred to as a "suicide lane."

Construction began on the first section of limited-access roadway in 1948 between the current eastern terminus of PA 230 and PA 72, while between the intersection with Old Harrisburg Pike and current PA 283 was reconfigured as a four-lane, divided highway.  The new alignments opened a year later, and with it, the US 230 designation was removed from Harrisburg Pike and Main Street through Salunga and Landisville.  At the end of the expressway in Lancaster, the designation now followed PA 72 and Dillerville Road to Harrisburg Avenue, where it continued on its path to its eastern terminus in Lancaster.

The original pavement and median of the four-lane divided transition roadway to the limited-access expressway could still be seen up until the early 2010s at the eastern terminus of PA 230 at PA 283.  A resurfacing project eliminated the raised concrete median that was a standard fixture on divided highways built in Pennsylvania during the 1950s and 1960s and covered the original concrete with asphalt.  (PennDOT)

The year 1949 also saw improvements, with more sections were widened between PA 341 and Geyers Church Road and Land Avenue and Cedar Avenue in Londonderry Township in Dauphin County.

The 1950s began with construction beginning in 1951 to extend the expressway east from PA 72 to Oregon Pike, which was then designated US 222.  Not only did that section open in 1952, but another change in routing in Lancaster happened, with the US 230 designation being extended to the Fruitville Pike interchange and then following that roadway and Prince Street to its eastern terminus at US 30 in Lancaster.  Also in 1952, the roadway was widened between Geyers Church Road and Land Avenue in Londonderry Township in Dauphin County, while construction on the remainder of the expressway between Oregon Pike and US 30 east of Lancaster commenced.  The expressway section between Oregon Pike and the Lincoln Highway east of Lancaster opened to traffic in 1954, and with its opening, a new eastern terminus with US 30 was created.  In 1958, improvements to the route include widening the route to a four-lane, divided highway between Tioga Avenue and Rosedale Avenue in Swarta Township in front of the Harrisburg International Airport, as well as the route being widened between Angle Street and Little Chiques Creek in Mount Joy.

US 230 facing westbound towards the New Holland Pike interchange outside of Lancaster.  (Pennsylvania Department of Highways)

The 1960s marked not only the final years of the designation, but also one last changes in the route.  In 1961, the western terminus was moved from Front Street on the banks of the Susquehanna River to the intersection of Maclay Street and Cameron Street in Harrisburg near the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex.

On April 14, 1965, the Department of Highways applied to the American Association of State Highway Officials to decommission the route.  They cited a policy that was established by AASHO effective January 1, 1959, which stated that any US route less than 300 miles in length and/or within one state should be eliminated as the reason.  AASHO's US Route Numbering Committee approved the elimination of US 230 at their meeting on June 28, 1965, with the Executive Committee approving it the following day.  Over the remainder of the year, the US 230 markers would come down, and PA 230 markers took their places.

Page updated September 12, 2022.
Content and images, unless otherwise noted, copyright © Jeffrey J. Kitsko.  All rights reserved.
Information courtesy of the Pennsylvania Department of Highways, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Rand McNally, and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.