Pennsylvania Route 463 (PA 463) 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 ...
completely in
Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Montgomery County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the third-most populous county in Pennsylvania and the 73rd-most populous county in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the county was 856,55 ...
. Its western terminus is at
PA 63 in
Hatfield Township and its eastern terminus is at
PA 611 in
Horsham
Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...
. PA 463 runs through the northern suburbs of
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
and passes through the towns of
Hatfield,
Montgomeryville, and Horsham. The route intersects
PA 309,
U.S. Route 202 Business (US 202 Bus.), and
US 202 in Montgomeryville and
PA 152 in
Prospectville. Through its length, the route carries the names Forty Foot Road, Broad Street, Main Street, Cowpath Road, and Horsham Road. PA 463 was designated in 1928 and fully paved by 1940. In 2010, a portion of the route in
Montgomery Township was widened.
Route description
![PA 463 WB past Upper State Road](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/PA_463_WB_past_Upper_State_Road.jpeg)
PA 463 begins an intersection with
PA 63 on the border of
Hatfield Township and
Towamencin Township in the
North Penn Valley
The North Penn Valley is a region of Philadelphia suburbs and exurbs in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It is somewhat congruent with the North Penn School District. It contains the boroughs of North Wales, Lansdale and Hatfield as well as the s ...
region, heading northeast on four-lane undivided Forty Foot Road into Hatfield Township. The road passes through commercial areas and housing developments and narrows to two lanes. The route continues into residential areas with a few businesses and enters the borough of
Hatfield, where it becomes West Broad Street. In Hatfield, the road runs northeast to the center of town. Here, PA 463 turns to the southeast on South Main Street and passes more residential and commercial development, crossing the
Liberty Bell Trail
The Liberty Bell Trail is a suburban rail trail under construction in southeastern Pennsylvania.
When complete it will cover in suburban southeastern Pennsylvania, traveling from East Norriton Township in Montgomery County to Quakertown i ...
and the
Bethlehem Line
The Bethlehem Line was a SEPTA Regional Rail service on the former Reading Company Bethlehem Branch between Lansdale and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Some trains continued over the electrified Lansdale/Doylestown Line to the Reading Terminal in Phil ...
, a railroad line that is owned by
SEPTA
The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly 4 million people in five coun ...
and operated by the
Pennsylvania Northeastern Railroad
The Pennsylvania Northeastern Railroad is a short-line railroad operating on trackage mostly in Bucks and Montgomery counties to the north of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was created in 2011, taking over former operations from CSX Transporta ...
, at-grade. The road continues back into Hatfield Township and becomes Cowpath Road, reaching a junction with Orvilla Road. The route crosses SEPTA's
Lansdale/Doylestown Line
The Lansdale/Doylestown Line is a SEPTA Regional Rail line connecting Center City Philadelphia to Doylestown in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Until 1981, diesel-powered trains continued on the Bethlehem Branch from Lansdale to Quakertown, Bethle ...
at-grade southwest of the
Fortuna station and intersects Broad Street in a commercial area.
[
Heading past more homes, PA 463 enters Montgomery Township at the Line Street intersection.][ The road comes to an junction with Taylor Road/Lansdale Avenue before it reaches the community of Montgomeryville, where PA 463 widens into a four-lane ]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 intersects PA 309 (Bethlehem Pike
Bethlehem Pike is a historic long road in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania that connects Philadelphia and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It began as a Native American path called the Minsi Trail which developed into a colonial highway called the King ...
) and US 202 Bus. at the Five Points intersection.
Past this intersection, the route becomes Horsham Road and passes near more businesses as it narrows into a three-lane road with 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 ...
and one travel lane in each direction. After crossing North Wales Road, the route carries five lanes total, with two travel lanes in each direction and a center left-turn lane, as it heads into residential areas. The road passes through commercial areas past the Upper State Road intersection and crosses the US 202 parkway and the US 202 Parkway Trail
The US 202 Parkway Trail is a multi-use trail in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania that follows the U.S. Route 202 (US 202) parkway between Montgomery Township in Montgomery County and Doylestown Township in Bucks County. The trail has a length o ...
. The route heads across Little Neshaminy Creek
Little Neshaminy Creek is a tributary of the Neshaminy Creek, part of the Delaware River Watershed rising near the intersection of U.S. Route 202 and Pennsylvania Route 309 near Montgomeryville, Pennsylvania and meets its confluence with Nesham ...
before coming to a junction with Stump Road. Past Stump Road, PA 463 narrows to two lanes total and runs past residential areas and business parks, reaching intersections with Hartman Road and Kenas Road. Farther southeast, the route becomes the border between Horsham Township to the southwest and Montgomery Township to the northeast.[
Upon crossing Lower State Road, PA 463 leaves the North Penn Valley region and fully enters Horsham Township, becoming a three-lane road with a center left-turn lane as it heads past housing subdivisions. The route loses the turning lane and continues southeast to an intersection with PA 152 in the village of Prospectville. At this intersection, PA 463 gains a center left-turn lane again and passes a few businesses before continuing between Deep Meadow Park to the north and Kohler Park to the south and crossing Park Creek. The road intersects Keith Valley Road and passes south of Samuel Carpenter Park. At the Babylon Road junction, the route becomes a five-lane road and runs to the northeast of ]Hatboro-Horsham Senior High School
Hatboro-Horsham Senior High School is a comprehensive public high school, serving grades 9 -12, located in Horsham, Pennsylvania, about 17 miles outside of Philadelphia. Hatboro-Horsham Senior High School, a successor of the Loller Academy, origi ...
and past business parks before coming to Privet Road. At this point, PA 463 heads between the Biddle Air National Guard Base to the northeast and homes and businesses to the southwest, intersecting Norristown Road. The route reaches the edge of the air station property at the Maple Avenue junction. PA 463 continues past suburban development and intersects Dresher Road, where the center left-turn lane ends and the road becomes four lanes, before reaching its eastern terminus at PA 611 in the community of Horsham
Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...
. At the eastern terminus, access from PA 463 to northbound PA 611 is provided by Dresher Road.[
]
History
When Pennsylvania first legislated routes in 1911, present-day PA 463 was not given a number. In 1928, PA 463 was designated onto its current alignment from PA 63 in Hatfield Township to US 611/ PA 2 in Horsham. At this time, the route was paved between PA 63 and Hatfield.[ When first created, PA 463 intersected US 122/ US 309/ PA 12/ PA 52 in Montgomery Township and PA 152 in Horsham Township. By 1930, PA 463 was paved in Horsham Township. At this time, it no longer intersected PA 12 and PA 52 and it now intersected PA 752 in Horsham Township.] The remainder of PA 463 was paved by 1940. Also by this time, US 122 became US 202 and PA 463 no longer intersected PA 752, the first of several changes to the routes that intersected PA 463.
In 1968, the US 309 designation that the route intersected in Montgomeryville became PA 309.[ ] The route at the eastern terminus of PA 463 changed from US 611 to PA 611 in 1972.[ ] Construction began to widen the section of PA 463 between North Wales Road and General Hancock Boulevard into a five-lane road as part of the US 202 parkway project in 2009. The widening project was completed a year later.
Major intersections
See also
*
*
References
External links
Pennsylvania Highways: PA 463
Pennsylvania Roads - PA 463
{{good article
463
Year 463 ( CDLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Basilius and Vivianus (or, less frequently, year 1216 '' Ab urbe ...
Transportation in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania