Pennsylvania Route 343 (PA 343) is an route running from
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
north to
Fredericksburg in
Lebanon County
Lebanon County ( Pennsylvania Dutch: Lebanon Kaundi) is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the population was 133,568. Its county seat is the city of Lebanon.
The county was formed from portions of Dauphin ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. It begins at
PA 72 and ends at Exit 6 of
Interstate 78
Interstate 78 (I-78) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the Northeastern United States, running from I-81 northeast of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, through Allentown to western and northern New Jersey and terminating at the Holland Tunn ...
(I-78). PA 343 heads mostly through urbanized areas near Lebanon before continuing into rural areas further north. There is a concurrency with
U.S. Route 22
U.S. Route 22 (US 22) is a west–east route and is one of the original United States highways of 1926, running from Cincinnati, Ohio, at US 27, US 42, US 127, and US 52 to Newark, New Jersey, at U.S. Route 1/9 in the Newark Airport Interchange ...
(US 22) near the northern terminus.
PA 343 has had a number of different realignments, most of them relating to the northern terminus of the highway. The highway originally terminated at an intersection with
PA 443 in
Lickdale, moved to end in the community of
Bordnersville soon after. The highway was then extended along the local continuation to end at US 22 in
Harper Tavern. In 1963, PA 343 was moved back to Lickdale, and seven years after, moved to its northern terminus, thirteen years after the construction of I-78.
Route description
![Route 343 Southbound in Fredericksburg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Route_343_Southbound_in_Fredericksburg.jpg)
PA 343 begins at an intersection with
PA 72, near the Northwest Elementary School, in the city of
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
in
Lebanon County
Lebanon County ( Pennsylvania Dutch: Lebanon Kaundi) is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the population was 133,568. Its county seat is the city of Lebanon.
The county was formed from portions of Dauphin ...
. PA 343 heads eastward along Maple Street, a two-lane undivided street maintained by the city, past urbanized homes and businesses. The route turns north onto North 7th Street and passes more development. PA 343 leaves Lebanon for
North Lebanon Township, where it becomes state-maintained and passes through the residential community of
Reindeldville. The road runs north-northeast past more homes and businesses as it heads through the community of
Eustontown. The route leaves the urbanized areas and heads into agricultural areas with some trees and homes. PA 343 turns northwest at the Heffelfinger Road intersection and enters
Bethel Township, where it heads north as South Pine Grove Street through a patch of woods before running through more farmland. The road runs to the west of
Little Swatara Creek
Little Swatara Creek (once known as Jackson Creek) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 8, 2011 tributary of Swatara Creek in southeast Pennsylvania in the United ...
and passes to the east of Pine Meadows Golf Course before it crosses the creek. The route continues through rural areas and passes through the residential community of
Shirksville. PA 343 heads north through more farmland before it comes to an intersection with
US 22
U.S. Route 22 (US 22) is a west–east route and is one of the original United States highways of 1926, running from Cincinnati, Ohio, at U.S. Route 27, US 27, U.S. Route 42, US 42, U.S. Route 127, US 127, and U.S. Route 52, US 52 to Newark, New ...
(
William Penn Highway
The William Penn Highway was an auto trail that ran from Pittsburgh in west to New York City in the east. It served as the Pikes Peak Ocean to Ocean Highway west of Reading and as its branch to New York City. The William Penn Highway Association o ...
) south of the community of
Fredericksburg.
At this point, South Pine Grove Street continues to Fredericksburg and PA 343 turns northeast to become
concurrent
Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to:
Law
* Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea''
* Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...
with US 22 on four-lane
divided
Division is one of the four basic operations of arithmetic, the ways that numbers are combined to make new numbers. The other operations are addition, subtraction, and multiplication.
At an elementary level the division of two natural numb ...
William Penn Highway. The road runs through agricultural areas with some commercial development, passing to the south of a warehouse. PA 343 splits from US 22 by heading north on two-lane undivided Pine Grove Road, passing to the west of a park. The route continues near rural commercial development before it reaches its northern terminus at a partial interchange with
I-78
Interstate 78 (I-78) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the Northeastern United States, running from I-81 northeast of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, through Allentown to western and northern New Jersey and terminating at the Holland T ...
, with access to westbound I-78 and access from eastbound I-78. Past this interchange, Pine Grove Road continues north as SR 1007 toward the
Berks County
Berks County ( Pennsylvania German: ''Barricks Kaundi'') is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 428,849. The county seat is Reading.
The Schuylkill River, a tributary of the Delaware River ...
line.
[
]
History
PA 343 was assigned in the numbering of state routes in Pennsylvania during 1928. The highway then ran from the southern terminus in Lebanon, which was at the time, an intersection with US 22 (now US 422
U.S. Route 422 (US 422) is a long spur route of US 22 split into two segments in the U.S. states of Ohio and Pennsylvania. The western segment of US 422 runs from downtown Cleveland, Ohio, east to Ebensburg, Pennsylvania. ...
). At Fredericksburg, the route reached an intersection with PA 43 (now US 22). At Fredericksburg, highway turned to the northwest and headed to Lickdale. There it terminated at an intersection with PA 443. The highway stayed intact for two years, until 1930, when the highway was extended a few miles to the community of Bordnersville, where the road then continued as a local highway.
The highway was paved from Fredericksburg to an intersection with Lancaster Street and from Lickdale to Bordnersville in 1932. In 1936, the Pennsylvania Department of Highways extended PA 343 past Bordnersville and Lickdale, along the local road. This changed the northern terminus to an intersection with US 22 (formerly the alignment of PA 43) in Harper Tavern. This alignment remained intact for more than two decades. In 1963, even with the construction of I-78 six years prior, PA 343 was realigned once again by the Department of Highways. This time, the northern terminus was cut back to the PA 72 intersection in Lickdale, with an extended PA 934 replacing the route between Harper Tavern and Lickdale. This change was made to provide the same route number on both sides of the I-81
Interstate 81 (I-81) is a north–south (physically northeast–southwest) Interstate Highway in the eastern part of the United States. Its southern terminus is at I-40 in Dandridge, Tennessee; its northern terminus is on Wellesley Island ...
interchange north of Harper Tavern. The highway remained intact for another seven years, and in 1970, PA 343 was realigned for the final time, this time onto its current alignment. The northern terminus is now at a partial interchange with I-78.
Major intersections
See also
*
*
References
External links
Pennsylvania Highways: PA 343
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343
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Year 343 ( CCCXLIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Memmius and Romulus (or, less frequently, year 1096 ' ...
Transportation in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania