U.S. Route 30 Business (US 30 Bus.) is a
business route
A business route (or business loop, business spur, or city route) in the United States is a short special route connected to a ''parent'' numbered highway at its beginning, then routed through the central business district of a nearby city or ...
of
US 30 in
Chester County, Pennsylvania
Chester County (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Tscheschter Kaundi''), colloquially known as Chesco, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the De ...
. The route follows the former alignment of US 30 between
Sadsbury Township and
East Whiteland Township, passing through
Coatesville,
Downingtown, and
Exton. US 30 follows a
freeway
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...
bypass between these two points. The present alignment of US 30 Bus. was originally part of a
turnpike
Turnpike often refers to:
* A type of gate, another word for a turnstile
* In the United States, a toll road
Turnpike may also refer to:
Roads United Kingdom
* A turnpike road, a principal road maintained by a turnpike trust, a body with powers ...
called 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 ...
that was completed in 1794. The state took over the turnpike at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1913, present-day US 30 Bus. was incorporated into the
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 ...
, an
auto trail
The system of auto trails was an informal network of marked routes that existed in the United States and Canada in the early part of the 20th century. Marked with colored bands on utility poles, the trails were intended to help travellers in ...
that ran from
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
east to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. The Lincoln Highway through Pennsylvania became
Pennsylvania Route 1 (PA 1) in 1924. US 30 was designated concurrent with PA 1 west of Philadelphia in 1926, with the PA 1 designation removed two years later. US 30 was widened into a multilane road through Chester County in the 1930s. In the 1960s, US 30 was moved to a freeway bypass around Coatesville and Downingtown, with US 30 Bus. designated onto the former alignment of US 30. In 1995, US 30 Bus. was extended east when US 30 was extended to bypass Exton.
Route description
![2022-09-04 12 33 54 will rename and categorize soon 045](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/2022-09-04_12_33_54_will_rename_and_categorize_soon_045.jpg)
US 30 Bus. begins at an interchange with US 30 at the western terminus of the
freeway
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...
section a short distance east of US 30's intersection with
PA 10 in
Sadsbury Township. This interchange has access from westbound US 30 Bus. to westbound US 30 and access from eastbound US 30 to eastbound US 30 Bus. From this interchange, US 30 Bus. heads east on
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 ...
, 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 ...
that soon becomes 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 ...
as it runs through a mix of farm fields and homes, crossing
Buck Run. The road passes through the community of
Sadsburyville, where there are alternating stretches of center turn lane and divided highway, and continues through a mix of fields and residential and commercial development, crossing into
Valley Township. US 30 Bus. passes to the north of
Chester County G. O. Carlson Airport
Chester County G. O. Carlson Airport is a public airport two miles (3 km) west of Coatesville, in Chester County, Pennsylvania. It is owned by the Chester County Area Airport Authority.
Chester County's airport identifier was 40N but it h ...
and heads east past residences and some businesses in the community of
Hayti, turning to the southeast and narrowing to a two-lane undivided road. The route 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 enters the city of
Coatesville, curving to the east-northeast and passing through urban residential areas. US 30 Bus. comes to an intersection with
PA 82, where that route turns east for a
concurrency
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 30 Bus. on Lincoln Highway. The road runs past more homes before passing to the north of a
Cleveland-Cliffs
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., formerly Cliffs Natural Resources, is a Cleveland, Ohio-based company that specializes in the mining, beneficiation, and pelletizing of iron ore, as well as steelmaking, including stamping and tooling. It is the largest f ...
(formerly
Lukens Steel Company
Lukens Steel Company, located in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, is the oldest steel mill in commission within the United States.
In 1995, it was one of the three largest producers of plate steel and the largest domestic manufacturer of alloy-plate. ...
) steel plant. The road crosses the
West Branch Brandywine Creek
The West Branch Brandywine Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of Brandywine Creek in Chester County, Pennsylvania in the United States.Ger ...
and a
Brandywine Valley Railroad
The Brandywine Valley Railroad is a class III railroad operating in Pennsylvania.
It was established in 1981 by the Lukens Steel Company to operate trackage at Coatesville, Pennsylvania and the neighboring town of Modena. It was acquired, with t ...
line at-grade before PA 82 splits from US 30 Bus. by heading northwest on North 1st Avenue. US 30 Bus. continues east through the commercial downtown of Coatesville before heading past a mix of urban homes and businesses.
![US 30 BUS WB shield past Aston Avenue Downingtown](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/US_30_BUS_WB_shield_past_Aston_Avenue_Downingtown.jpeg)
The road leaves Coatesville for
Caln Township
Caln Township () is a township in Chester County, Pennsylvania, Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 14,428 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The township was founded by settlers from Calne, Wiltshire in En ...
and comes to another bridge over Amtrak's Keystone Corridor. From here, the route gains a center left-turn lane and runs past businesses a short distance to the north of the Amtrak line, passing through the community of
Caln. US 30 Bus. heads into the community of
Thorndale and passes north of the
Thorndale station, which serves as the terminus of
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 ...
's
Paoli/Thorndale Line
The Paoli/Thorndale Line, or R5 commonly known as the Main Line, is a SEPTA Regional Rail service running from Center City Philadelphia through Montgomery County and Delaware County to Thorndale in Chester County. It operates along the far east ...
that follows Amtrak's Keystone Corridor. A short distance later, the route comes to an intersection with the eastern terminus of
PA 340. The road continues east past a mix of homes and businesses to the north of the parallel Amtrak line, passing through the community of
Gallagherville. US 30 Bus. enters the borough of
Downingtown, where the name becomes
West Lancaster Avenue, and curves to the northeast, heading between residential areas to the north and the railroad tracks to the south and narrowing to two lanes. The road passes north of the
Downingtown station
Downingtown station is a commuter and intercity passenger rail station located in the western suburbs of Philadelphia at West Lancaster Avenue & Stuart Avenue in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. It is served by most Amtrak '' Keystone Service'' and SEPT ...
serving Amtrak and SEPTA trains before Amtrak's Keystone Corridor splits further south from the road. The route heads past a mix of homes and businesses before it comes to an intersection with
US 322, where US 322 turns northeast for a concurrency with US 30 Bus. The road heads across the
East Branch Brandywine Creek
The East Branch Brandywine CreekMouth: 39 55'21"N, 75 38'58"W, elevation: 174 ft.; Source: 40 07'09"N,75 53'15"W, is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 tr ...
and curves east into the commercial downtown of Downingtown on East Lancaster Avenue, where US 322 splits to the south and US 30 Bus. becomes concurrent with
US 322 Truck. US 30 Bus. continues through the downtown area and turns northeast, coming to an intersection with the eastern terminus of
PA 282. Following this intersection, the road runs through residential areas and reaches a junction with the southern terminus of
PA 113. The route continues northeast past a mix of homes and businesses.
[
US 30 Bus. becomes the border between East Caln Township to the north and Downingtown to the south, gaining a center left-turn lane. The roadway fully enters East Caln Township and heads into business areas, becoming a four-lane undivided road and bending to the east. US 322 Truck splits from US 30 Bus. by heading south onto Quarry Road as US 30 Bus. reaches an interchange with the US 30 freeway. Past this interchange, the road becomes a four-lane divided highway and passes more commercial development. The route becomes undivided as it crosses into West Whiteland Township and continues east through a mix of residential and commercial areas on Lincoln Highway, turning into a five-lane road with a center left-turn lane and running through the community of Whitford. US 30 Bus. heads into the community of Exton and passes through business areas, coming to an intersection with PA 100. Past this intersection, the route heads to the south of the ]Exton Square Mall
Exton Square Mall is a shopping mall located in the Exton, Pennsylvania in West Whiteland Township in Chester County, Pennsylvania. The mall features a parking garage and food court. It is located at the crossroads of Chester County at the inters ...
and narrows to a three-lane road with a center left-turn lane, crossing the Chester Valley Trail. The road continues east through a mix of fields, woods, and commercial development. US 30 Bus. reaches its eastern terminus at an interchange with US 30 at the eastern terminus of the freeway section and the US 202 freeway in the community of Glenloch on the border of West Whiteland Township and East Whiteland Township, where the road continues east as part of US 30 into the community of Frazer.[
]
History
The present-day alignment of US 30 Bus. was constructed as part of 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 ...
, a turnpike
Turnpike often refers to:
* A type of gate, another word for a turnstile
* In the United States, a toll road
Turnpike may also refer to:
Roads United Kingdom
* A turnpike road, a principal road maintained by a turnpike trust, a body with powers ...
connecting Lancaster to 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 ...
. The turnpike company was incorporated in 1792 and the road was completed in 1794. The Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike was built with a stone and gravel surface and was the first long-distance turnpike constructed in the United States, leading to a movement to improve roads across the country. The turnpike also opened up settlement to the Northwest Territory
The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolutionary War. Established in 1 ...
past the Ohio River
The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...
and provided cheap transportation between the coastal areas and the "bread basket" region around Lancaster. By 1843, the rise of the railroads and the canals reduced the use of the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike, and the road fell into disrepair and saw decreased usage through the later part of the 19th century. The state acquired the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike at the beginning of the 20th century.
Following the passage of the Sproul Road Bill in 1911, the present-day alignment of US 30 Bus. was designated as part of Legislative Route 142, which ran from Lancaster east to Philadelphia. In 1913, the current routing of US 30 Bus. became part of the Lincoln Highway, an auto trail
The system of auto trails was an informal network of marked routes that existed in the United States and Canada in the early part of the 20th century. Marked with colored bands on utility poles, the trails were intended to help travellers in ...
that ran from San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
east to New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. The Lincoln Highway within Pennsylvania was designated as PA 1 in 1924. With the creation of the United States Numbered Highway System
The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these hi ...
in 1926, US 30 was designated concurrently with PA 1 on the Lincoln Highway west of Philadelphia. The concurrent PA 1 designation was removed from US 30 in 1928.
In the 1930s, the section of US 30 through Chester County was widened to a multilane road. By 1960, a freeway bypass for US 30 was proposed to run from just east of the PA 10 intersection to east of Downingtown. In 1963, the freeway bypass of US 30 between east of PA 10 and east of Downingtown was completed, with US 30 Bus. designated onto the former alignment of US 30. In December 1995, the US 30 freeway was extended east to bypass Exton, ending at an interchange with the US 202 freeway. As a result, US 30 Bus. was extended east through Exton along the former alignment of US 30 to its current eastern terminus.
Major intersections
U.S. Route 30 Business Alternate Truck
U.S. Route 30 Business Alternate Truck (US 30 Bus. Alt. Truck) is a truck route
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructi ...
of US 30 Bus. around a weight-restricted bridge over the East Branch Brandywine Creek
The East Branch Brandywine CreekMouth: 39 55'21"N, 75 38'58"W, elevation: 174 ft.; Source: 40 07'09"N,75 53'15"W, is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 tr ...
in Downingtown, Pennsylvania
Downingtown is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, west of Philadelphia. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 7,898. Downingtown was settled by European colonists in the early 18th century and has a number of historic buildings an ...
, on which trucks over 36 tons and combination loads over 40 tons are prohibited. The route follows US 322, the US 30 freeway, and PA 113. US 30 Bus. Alt. Truck runs concurrently with US 322 Alt. Truck along US 30 and PA 113.
See also
*
*
References
External links
Pennsylvania Highways: Business US 30 (Downingtown)
Pennsylvania Roads - Business US 30
{{DEFAULTSORT:30 Business Chester County
30 Business (Chester County, Pennsylvania)
30 Business (Chester County)
Transportation in Chester County, Pennsylvania
Business (Chester County, Pennsylvania)
U.S. Route 30 Business Chester County
Coatesville, Pennsylvania