Pennsylvania Route 41 (PA 41) is a
state highway
A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...
located in southeastern
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, ...
, United States. The southern terminus of the route is at the
Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...
state line in
Kennett Township, where the road continues as
Delaware Route 41
Delaware Route 41 (DE 41) is a highway in northwestern New Castle County, Delaware. Its southern terminus is at DE 2 and DE 62 in Prices Corner. From DE 2, the road passes through suburban areas along Newport Gap Pike, ...
(DE 41). The northern terminus is at
U.S. Route 30
U.S. Route 30 or U.S. Highway 30 (US 30) is an east–west main route in the system of the United States Numbered Highways, with the highway traveling across the northern tier of the country. With a length of , it is the third longest ...
(US 30) in
Gap. PA 41 runs along a two-lane undivided road called Gap Newport Pike, passing through mostly rural areas of
Chester
Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
and
Lancaster counties and serving
Avondale,
Chatham
Chatham may refer to:
Places and jurisdictions Canada
* Chatham Islands (British Columbia)
* Chatham Sound, British Columbia
* Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi
* Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...
,
Cochranville, and
Atglen. The route serves as part of the main road linking
Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...
to
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster, ( ; pdc, Lengeschder) is a city in and the county seat of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It is one of the oldest inland cities in the United States. With a population at the 2020 census of 58,039, it ranks 11th in population amon ...
.
The Gap and Newport Turnpike was charted in 1807 to run from Gap southeast to the Delaware border, where it was to continue to
Newport, Delaware
Newport is a town in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. It is on the Christina River. It is best known for being the home of colonial inventor Oliver Evans. The population was 1,055 at the 2010 census. Four limited access highways, I- ...
. PA 41 was first designated in 1926 to run between
US 22/
PA 3/
PA 13 in
Harrisburg
Harrisburg is the capital city of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the List of c ...
and US 22/PA 3 and
US 120/PA 13 in
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
, following
US 230 between Harrisburg and Lancaster and
US 222 between Lancaster and Reading. PA 41 was rerouted at Lancaster to run southeast to the Delaware border in 1928, heading south from Lancaster to
Lampeter
Lampeter (; cy, Llanbedr Pont Steffan (formal); ''Llambed'' (colloquial)) is a town, community and electoral ward in Ceredigion, Wales, at the confluence of the Afon Dulas with the River Teifi. It is the third largest urban area in Ceredigion, ...
along
US 222/
PA 72 before it turned east to Gap and southeast along the Gap Newport Pike. The western terminus was cut back to US 222 in Lampeter by 1930 while
PA 741 was designated from PA 41 north to US 30 in Gap. PA 41 was rerouted to US 30 by 1940 while PA 741 was designated on the former alignment between US 222 in Lampeter and Gap.
Route description
PA 41 begins at the
Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...
state line in
Kennett Township,
Chester County Chester County may refer to:
* Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States
* Chester County, South Carolina, United States
* Chester County, Tennessee
Chester County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, th ...
, where the road continues into that state as
DE 41 and heads toward the city of
Wilmington. From the state line, the route heads northwest on two-lane undivided Gap Newport Pike, passing through farmland with some development. The road enters
New Garden Township and comes to an interchange with Limestone Road, which heads south to the Delaware border and becomes
DE 7. PA 41 continues northwest through more rural areas with some homes and businesses, crossing Newark Road and passing a
weigh station
A weigh station is a checkpoint along a highway to inspect vehicular weights and safety compliance criteria. Usually, trucks and commercial vehicles are subject to the inspection.
Weigh stations are equipped with truck scales, some of which are ...
on the southbound side that serves trucks from both directions. Then route heads into the borough of
Avondale, where it crosses an
East Penn Railroad
East Penn Railroad is a short-line railroad that operates a number of mostly-unconnected lines in the U.S. states of Pennsylvania and Delaware. Except for two industrial park switching operations, all are former Pennsylvania Railroad or Read ...
line at-grade and comes to an intersection with
Baltimore Pike
The Baltimore Pike was an auto trail connecting Baltimore, Maryland, with Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Today, parts of the road are signed as U.S. Route 1 (US 1), US 13, and a small portion of Pennsylvania Route 41 (PA 41). A section of the road ...
. Here, the road becomes Pennsylvania Avenue and crosses the
East Branch White Clay Creek, running through wooded residential areas. PA 41 leaves Avondale for
London Grove Township and becomes Gap Newport Pike again, passing near homes and farmland before Baltimore Pike heads to the west. The route continues through commercial areas before coming to an interchange with the
US 1
U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, making i ...
freeway.
Following this, the road runs through agricultural areas with some woods and homes. In the community of
Chatham
Chatham may refer to:
Places and jurisdictions Canada
* Chatham Islands (British Columbia)
* Chatham Sound, British Columbia
* Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi
* Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...
, the route passes residences and businesses, reaching an intersection with
PA 841. The road briefly gains a median on either side of Chatham. PA 41 continues through more rural areas and enters
Londonderry Township, where it comes to a junction with
PA 926. A short distance later, the road reaches a junction with the northern terminus of
PA 796. The route runs through more farmland with some woodland and residences, crossing into
West Fallowfield Township. Here, PA 41 comes to the community of
Cochranville, where it crosses
PA 10. After Cochranville, the road heads through more open farmland with some patches of woods and homes. The route climbs a hill, gaining a second northbound lane for trucks, before narrowing back to two lanes and passing to the west of
Octorara Junior-Senior High School
Octorara Junior-Senior High School is the only secondary school in the Octorara Area School District. It is located between Atglen and Cochranville in Chester County, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially th ...
. PA 41 descends a hill, with a second southbound truck lane, before it becomes a two-lane road again. The route briefly passes through a corner of
West Sadsbury Township before it enters the borough of
Atglen and comes to an intersection with
PA 372. Following this, PA 41 becomes a
divided highway
A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...
and heads into wooded areas, turning into an undivided road again as it comes to a bridge over
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
's
Keystone Corridor
The Keystone Corridor is a 349-mile (562 km) railroad corridor between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that consists of two rail lines: Amtrak and SEPTA's Philadelphia-to-Harrisburg main line, which hosts SEPTA's Paoli/Thorndale ...
railroad line and Swan Road. The road curves northwest and crosses back into West Sadsbury Township, passing through a mix of farm fields and development. The route heads down a hill, with an additional southbound truck lane, before it returns to two lanes.
[
PA 41 crosses Pine Creek into Sadsbury Township in Lancaster County.][ At this point, the route enters the ]Pennsylvania Dutch Country
The Pennsylvania Dutch Country ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Deitscherei'' Dutchery', also called Pennsylvania Dutchland ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Pennsylvania Deitschland'', german: Pennsylvania Deutschland), or simply the Dutch Country or Dutchland ( ...
of eastern Lancaster County, which is home to many Amish
The Amish (; pdc, Amisch; german: link=no, Amische), formally the Old Order Amish, are a group of traditionalist Anabaptist Christian church fellowships with Swiss German and Alsatian origins. They are closely related to Mennonite churches ...
farms. The roadway heads west past homes and businesses as it bypasses the borough of Christiana to the north, briefly gaining a center left-turn lane
A reversible lane (British English: tidal flow) is a lane in which traffic may travel in either direction, depending on certain conditions. Typically, it is meant to improve traffic flow during rush hours, by having overhead traffic lights and li ...
. The road curves to the north-northwest and passes through a mix of farms and woods with some commercial development a short distance to the east of the Amtrak line, becoming a three-lane road with a center left-turn lane. The route heads north and crosses into Salisbury Township, where it enters the residential community of Gap and has a junction with Strasburg Road before it gains a second southbound travel lane. In Gap, the road comes to an intersection with the eastern terminus of PA 741. PA 41 heads into business areas and comes to its northern terminus at a junction with US 30
U.S. Route 30 or U.S. Highway 30 (US 30) is an east–west main route in the system of the United States Numbered Highways, with the highway traveling across the northern tier of the country. With a length of , it is the third longest ...
(Lincoln Highway
The Lincoln Highway is the first transcontinental highway in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated October 31, 1913 ...
), which provides access to the city of Lancaster to the west.
PA 41 serves as part of the main route connecting Wilmington to Lancaster and sees heavy truck traffic. Because the route is two lanes wide and carries high levels of local and through traffic, it experiences a high accident rate.[ Portions of PA 41 prone to aggressive driving have white dots painted along the travel lanes in order to reduce ]tailgating
Tailgating is the action of a driver driving behind another vehicle while not leaving sufficient distance to stop without causing a collision if the vehicle in front stops suddenly.
The safe distance for following another vehicle varies depend ...
by telling motorists to keep a minimum of two dots from the vehicle in front of them. In 2015, PA 41 had an annual average daily traffic
Annual average daily traffic, abbreviated AADT, is a measure used primarily in transportation planning, transportation engineering and retail location selection. Traditionally, it is the total volume of vehicle traffic of a highway or road for a y ...
count ranging from a high of 14,000 vehicles between the Delaware border and US 1 and between PA 796 and PA 10 to a low of 9,100 vehicles between PA 926 and PA 796. The entire length of PA 41 is part of the National Highway System.
History
On April 7, 1807, the state of Pennsylvania chartered the Gap and Newport Turnpike to run from the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike
The Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike, first used in 1795, is the first long-distance paved road built in the United States, according to engineered plans and specifications. It links Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Philadelphia at 34th Street, st ...
in Gap southeast towards Delaware, where it was to continue to the Christina River
The Christina River is a tributary of the Delaware River, approximately 35 miles (56 km) long, in northern Delaware in the United States, also flowing through small areas of southeastern Pennsylvania and northeastern Maryland. Near i ...
in Newport, Delaware
Newport is a town in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. It is on the Christina River. It is best known for being the home of colonial inventor Oliver Evans. The population was 1,055 at the 2010 census. Four limited access highways, I- ...
. The continuation into Delaware was chartered on January 30, 1808. Construction of the Gap and Newport Turnpike began in 1809 and was completed in 1818. The turnpike was created to improve trade between Lancaster County and Wilmington, Delaware. When Pennsylvania first legislated routes in 1911, the Gap Newport Pike along with the road running from Gap west to Lancaster were designated as Legislative Route 215. PA 41 was first designated in 1926 to run from US 22/ PA 3/ PA 13 in Harrisburg
Harrisburg is the capital city of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the List of c ...
to US 22/PA 3 and US 120/PA 13 in Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
, heading southeast through Middletown, Elizabethtown, and Mount Joy to Lancaster, where it turned northeast and passed through Ephrata Ephrata may refer to:
Places
* Ephrata, Suriname
* Ephrata, Pennsylvania, U.S.
*Ephrata, Washington, U.S.
* Ephrata Township, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Other uses
*Ephrata Cloister, a religious community in Ephrata, Pennsylvania
See also
*
* Efrata or E ...
on its way to Reading. PA 41 ran 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 230 between Harrisburg and Lancaster and US 222 between Lancaster and Reading.
In 1928, PA 41 was rerouted at Lancaster to head southeast to the Delaware state line near Kaolin
Kaolinite ( ) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is an important industrial mineral. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral ...
. The new alignment ran along US 222/ PA 72 from Lancaster south and east to Lampeter
Lampeter (; cy, Llanbedr Pont Steffan (formal); ''Llambed'' (colloquial)) is a town, community and electoral ward in Ceredigion, Wales, at the confluence of the Afon Dulas with the River Teifi. It is the third largest urban area in Ceredigion, ...
, where PA 41 headed east through Strasburg to Gap. From Gap, PA 41 ran southeast along the Gap Newport Pike to the Delaware border. At this time, all of PA 41 was paved except for the portion between Strasburg and Gap. PA 240 replaced the PA 41 designation along the US 222 concurrency between Lancaster and Reading. By 1930, the western terminus of PA 41 was cut back to US 222 near Lampeter, removing the concurrences with US 230 and US 222, while the road from PA 41 in Gap north to US 30 was designated as PA 741. By this time, the route was paved from a point east of Strasburg east to Gap. The northern terminus of PA 41 was moved to its current location at US 30 by 1940, replacing PA 741. Meanwhile, PA 741 was designated onto the former alignment of PA 41 between US 222 near Lampeter and Gap. In 1954, PA 41 was rerouted to bypass Atglen and Christiana to the northeast along its current alignment, having previously followed Fallowfield Road, Main Street, Zion Hill Road, and Newport Avenue. By 1959, PA 41 was realigned to the east of Cochranville, having previously passed through the community on Cochran Street.[
Because PA 41 has a high accident rate due to being two lanes wide and carrying a high amount of local and through traffic, plans were made to improve the road. A highway-needs study by planning officials in Chester County in 1986 said the route was "deficient" and needed to be improved. In 1993, the ]Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) oversees transportation issues in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The administrator of PennDOT is the Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation, currently Yassmin Gramian. Presently, Pe ...
(PennDOT) began the process of planning improvements to the road to enhance safety and the movement of freight. Three options were presented in improving PA 41: building a bypass of Avondale, building a bypass of Chatham, and widening the route to four lanes between the Delaware border and PA 926. The widening and bypass plans drew the opposition of Governor Ed Rendell
Edward Gene Rendell (; born January 5, 1944) is an American lawyer, prosecutor, politician, and author. He served as the 45th Governor of Pennsylvania from 2003 to 2011, as chair of the national Democratic Party, and as the 96th Mayor of Philade ...
and an activist group called Safety Agricultures Village and Environment in 2003, both of whom instead supported a truck ban and traffic-calming measures such as roundabout
A roundabout is a type of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction.''The New Shorter Oxford En ...
s along the road. In 2003, PennDOT painted white dots in the travel lanes along portions of PA 41 prone to aggressive driving in order to reduce tailgating along with adding rumble strip
Rumble strips (also known as sleeper lines or alert strips) are a road safety feature to alert inattentive drivers of potential danger, by causing a tactile vibration and audible rumbling transmitted through the wheels into the vehicle interior. ...
s.[ In September 2017, a project began to construct gateways at both the north and south ends of the village of Chatham which would consist of a short median in order to alert traffic they are entering the village. Widening of the road at the gateways was completed in fall 2017, with construction of the medians taking in spring 2018. There are also plans to improve safety and traffic flow at the route's intersections with PA 841 and PA 926; these projects are currently in the planning stages.]
Major intersections
See also
*
*
References
External links
{{commons category
Pennsylvania Highways: PA 41
PA 41 at AARoads.com
Pennsylvania Roads - PA 41
041
Transportation in Chester County, Pennsylvania
Transportation in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania