U.S. Route 111

Infobox U.S. Route
article_route=111
alternate_name=Susquehanna Trail, York Road, Greenmount Avenue
established=1926
deleted=1963
direction_a=South
from=
junction=
direction_b=North
to=
spur_of=11

U.S. Route 111 was a U.S. Route that ran from Baltimore, Maryland north to the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania area. It replaced part of the Susquehanna Trail and was in turn replaced by Interstate 83. Portions of its pre-freeway alignment are now Maryland Route 45 and Interstate 83 Business. Other old sections in Pennsylvania are now unsigned Quadrant Routes or township-maintained roads.

US 111 extended north to the Pennsylvania-New York state line where U.S. Route 15 now crosses it between 1926 and ca. 1936. [http://www.us-highways.com/us1.htm U.S. Highways: North-South routes] ] [http://www.pahighways.com/us/US15.html Pennsylvania Highways: US 15] ] [http://www.pahighways.com/us/decommissioned/US111.html Pennsylvania Highways: US 111 (Decommissioned)] ]

Route description

The pre-freeway route of US 111 consisted primarily of two-lane rural highway through Pennsylvania and Maryland, with the segments through the various towns and cities it passes through consisting mainly of suburban and city streets. South of Hunt Valley, Maryland, the route is heavily built up and serves as a major urban highway all the way into Baltimore.

From Baltimore to Lemoyne, US 111 roughly followed the present Interstate 83. Its south end was at Greenmount Avenue (now Maryland Route 45) and North Avenue (still U.S. Route 1) in Baltimore. The old alignment in Maryland is now Maryland Route 45, while in Pennsylvania - except through York, where it is now Interstate 83 Business, another major urban highway - it is mostly unsigned Quadrant Routes and township roads, many still named Susquehanna Trail. At the intersection of 3rd Street and Market Street in Lemoyne, US 111 reached its original northern terminus on U.S. Route 11.

History

Creation and original routing

In the preliminary 1925 plan for what were then called "Interstate Highways", US 111 was assigned to the Baltimore-Harrisburg route; it met its "parent" - U.S. Route 11 - at Harrisburg. [Report of Joint Board on Interstate Highways, October 30, 1925] The changes made by the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) during the next year included the creation of U.S. Route 220 from Cumberland, Maryland north to the New York state line at Lawrenceville. []

Extension to New York

US 111 was extended beyond its northern terminus at 3rd and Market Streets in Lemoyne; it ran concurrent with US 11 to Northumberland. The combined US 11 and US 111 crossed the Susquehanna River three times: the Market Street Bridge [Bureau of Public Roads, [http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/us11bpr.htm memorandum on U.S. 11] , June 29, 1927] between Wormleysburg and Harrisburg, the Clarks Ferry Bridge north of Harrisburg, and the Route 11 Bridge over the West Branch Susquehanna River at Northumberland. Between the bridges, US 11 and US 111 used the main roads along the river.PDFlink| [ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_pdf_files/Maps/Statewide/Historic_OTMs/1930fr.pdf 1930 Pennsylvania map] | 7.66 MiB] PDFlink| [ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_pdf_files/Maps/Statewide/Historic_OTMs/1930bk.pdf 1930 Pennsylvania map, back side] |5.75 MiB] PDFlink| [ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_pdf_files/Maps/Statewide/Historic_OTMs/1940fr.pdf 1940 Pennsylvania map] |6.86 MiB] PDFlink| [ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_pdf_files/Maps/Statewide/Historic_OTMs/1940bk.pdf 1940 Pennsylvania map, back side] |5.88 MiB]

In Northumberland, US 11 and US 111 split at the intersection of Water Street (still US 11) and Duke Street (now Pennsylvania Route 147). U.S. Route 120 also passed through Northimberland on the present alignment of PA 147, running concurrent with US 111 to Williamsport. Along this section, US 111 and US 120 roughly followed the east bank of the West Branch Susquehanna River along PA 147, Pennsylvania Route 405 and a number of Quadrant Routes. However, between Milton and Muncy, the alignment was more inland, fairly close to the present Interstate 180. (Much of this road is still known as Susquehanna Trail.) At Water Street (now PA 405) in Muncy, US 111 and US 120 met U.S. Route 220, which joined the other routes the rest of the way to Williamsport. The three routes passed through Williamsport on Washington Street, Market Street, 7th Street, Hepburn Street and Park Avenue. US 120 and US 220 split at Campbell Street, heading south and then west on 4th Street, while US 111 continued along Park Avenue and High Street. From the end of High Street, US 111 used former and current alignments of U.S. Route 15 the rest of the way to New York. (By 1940, US 111 - by then US 15 - and the other routes through Williamsport had moved to Washington Boulevard, Harris Place, Hepburn Street and High Street, with the split still occurring at Campbell Street.)

Truncation and deletion

US 111 was truncated back to Lemoyne around 1936, and U.S. Route 15 was extended north from Lemoyne along the former US 111 and beyond to Rochester, New York. Soon after 1940, US 15 was rerouted to roughly its present alignment, only crossing the Susquehanna River once - on the Market Street Bridge at Williamsport.

Later changes to US 111 included an extension to Front Street and Walnut Street in Wormleysburg when US 11 was moved to its present alignment, relocations to the new freeway (now Interstate 83) south of Lemoyne, and finally a relocation from Lemoyne over the John Harris Bridge with I-83 to end at U.S. Route 22 in Lower Paxton Township. The route disappeared in 1963, by then completely replaced by I-83, and running along I-83 except inside the Baltimore Beltway (where it used present Maryland Route 45 to the end). [ [http://www.mdroads.com/routes/040-059.html#md045 MDRoads: Route 45] ]

ee also

*U.S. Route 11
*Maryland Route 45

References

External links

* [http://www.mdroads.com/routes/us111.html US 111 @ MDRoads.com]

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