U.S. Route 422

U.S. Route 422 (US 422) is a long road that stretches for 271 miles in the states of Ohio and Pennsylvania. It is a special branch of US 22 and has two parts. The western part starts in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, and goes east to a town called Ebensburg in Pennsylvania. The eastern part is entirely in Pennsylvania and runs from Hershey to King of Prussia, which is near Philadelphia.

In Cleveland, the road begins at a busy square where it meets several other roads. In Pennsylvania, the eastern part of the road starts near Hershey and ends close to King of Prussia. In Pennsylvania, this road is called the Benjamin Franklin Highway to honor the famous person Benjamin Franklin. Along the way, there are special roads that help connect the main highway to towns it passes through.

Numbering and gap

U.S. Route 422 has two separate parts, which is unusual for U.S. highways. Normally, highways should be connected without big gaps, but US 422 is different. When the U.S. Highway system was created, some people wanted US 422 to go all the way from Philadelphia to Omaha, including a road from Philadelphia to Reading. However, this would mean changing another highway, US 22, which wasn’t going to happen. So, the road was split into two parts, and that’s how it stays today.

Route description

The western section of US 422 begins at US 6 and US 20 in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, at Public Square. It runs south with State Route 14 before splitting off and continuing east through Cleveland and its suburbs. The road passes through several communities, including Shaker Heights, Beachwood, and Aurora, before leaving Ohio and entering Pennsylvania.

In Pennsylvania, US 422 continues east through rural areas and small towns. It bypasses several communities, including New Castle, Butler, and Kittanning, before reaching Indiana. The road then passes through more countryside and small towns, eventually ending near Ebensburg.

The eastern section of US 422 starts east of Hummelstown in Dauphin County. It runs through Hershey, Palmyra, and Lebanon before continuing east through several more communities. The route passes through agricultural areas and small towns, eventually reaching Wyomissing, where it intersects with US 222. US 422 continues east along the Warren Street Bypass and the West Shore Bypass before crossing the Schuylkill River and heading toward King of Prussia, where it ends at an interchange with US 202.

History

Western segment

The western part of US Route 422 was first marked in 1926. Most of this road in Ohio follows its original path. During World War II, a section in Parkman Township, Geauga County, was made wider. By 1950, the road was expanded to four lanes as it reached Warren.

A bypass around Butler was built in the early 1960s, replacing the old road that went through the town center. In 1969, the road through Moraine State Park near Butler was upgraded. In 1971, a bypass around downtown Youngstown opened. During the 1970s, new bypasses were constructed around New Castle, Kittanning, and Indiana. Some parts of the Indiana bypass finished later, in 1995, and the Kittanning bypass finished in 2001. A part of the New Castle bypass is now part of the Interstate Highway System.

The road connecting downtown Solon to I-271 and I-480 was once an alternate route. In 1992, this road was extended east through Bainbridge Township to SR 44 in Auburn Center, and US 422 was rerouted to use this new section.

Eastern segment

The eastern part of US Route 422 was first marked in 1927, going from US 22 in Reading to US 309 in Philadelphia’s Chestnut Hill area. Most of the road from Pottstown to Philadelphia followed old roads like Ridge Pike and Germantown Pike.

In 1932, the western end was extended to downtown Harrisburg. In 1958, plans started for a bypass around Reading, which opened in 1965. The road’s eastern end was moved to Tacony–Palmyra Bridge in Tacony, Philadelphia, in 1961, and later to Hunting Park in 1967.

In 1967, a bypass around Pottstown was finished, and the road was moved off High Street there. Also in 1967, the County Line Expressway opened, connecting Trooper Road to US 202 near King of Prussia. Work began in the early 1970s to connect this to the Pottstown Bypass, but funding delays pushed back completion. The section from PA 29 to the County Line Expressway finished in 1984, and the last part from the Pottstown Bypass to Lewis Road opened in 1985. This made the whole road a freeway from Douglassville to King of Prussia.

The completion of this freeway made travel faster for people living near Pottstown heading to King of Prussia and Philadelphia. It also helped nearby towns grow. In the early 2000s, traffic increased a lot, with up to 110,000 cars a day near the Schuylkill River.

In 1999, a big project to improve the road near King of Prussia finished in 2003. It added new roads to help traffic flow better between US 422, US 202, I-76, and the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

In 2000, a part of US 422 was named the Albert Boscov Commemorative Highway. In 2009, work began to improve the road between Trappe/Royersford and PA 29, finishing in 2010.

As traffic kept growing, plans were made to improve US 422, including adding train service and widening the road. But ideas to charge tolls were stopped in 2011.

In 2013, work started to improve an interchange with PA 363, finishing in 2015. In 2016, a big project began to replace old bridges over the Schuylkill River, finishing in 2020.

Since 2012, work has been ongoing to fix and improve the Pottstown Bypass part of US 422.

Plans for a train service called the Schuylkill Valley Metro, which would run alongside US 422, were stopped in 2006, but new ideas for train service are being planned since 2021.

Major intersections

Related routes

U.S. Route 422 connects to several other roads. These include:

• U.S. Route 22
• U.S. Route 222
• U.S. Route 322
• U.S. Route 522
• Special routes of U.S. Route 422