Pennsylvania Route 33 (PA 33) is a 27.69-mile-long (44.56 km) limited-access state highway in eastern Pennsylvania, United States. It runs from an interchange with Interstate 78 (I-78) just south of Easton to I-80 and PA 611 west of Stroudsburg. Until 2003, the route's southern terminus was at U.S. Route 22 (US 22), and the extension south of the US 22 interchange is known as the Gen. Anthony Clement McAuliffe 101st Airborne Memorial Highway. The route is commonly used as a hazmat bypass for the Pennsylvania Turnpike's Northeast Extension due to the restrictions in place on the Lehigh Tunnel.
Route description [edit]
Route 33 southbound near
Easton
Northampton County [edit]
PA 33 begins at a trumpet interchange with Interstate 78 in southern Northampton County.[2] The speed limit is 65 from the beginning until the Wind Gap interchange, where it is then reduced to 55. At mile marker 0.5 near the I-78 interchange, PA 33 crosses the Lehigh River on the Gene Hartzell Memorial Bridge, which is a steel deck-truss bridge. At mile markers 1 through 2, PA 33 meets Freemansburg Avenue and William Penn Highway, two major roads in Northampton County. At mile marker 2.8, US 22 (Lehigh Valley Thruway) meets PA 33 at a cloverleaf interchange. At mile marker 4, in Lower Nazareth Township, Pennsylvania Route 248 meets PA 33. In the small borough of Stockertown, at mile marker 7, PA 33 meets Pennsylvania Route 191, a highway that is nearly 100 miles (160 km) in length. At mile markers 9 through 14, PA 33 passes through the towns of Belfast and Wind Gap. At mile marker 14 in Wind Gap, Pennsylvania Route 512 meets PA 33. At mile marker 16, PA 33 crosses the Blue Mountain ridge, which is the Northampton - Monroe county line.[2]
Monroe County [edit]
PA 33 northbound approaching US 209 in Hamilton Township
At mile marker 22 marks the southern terminus of the U.S. Route 209 concurrency with PA 33 east of Brodheadsville. The concurrency with US 209 is about three miles (5 km) long. At mile marker 25 marks the northern terminus of the concurrency with US 209. Note at the US 209 exit at mile marker 25; passengers who need to take Interstate 80 east to Stroudsburg have to take US 209 and passengers who have to take Interstate 80 west continue on PA 33 northbound toward Bartonsville and Hazleton. At mile marker 27.6, PA 33 terminates (ends) at an interchange with Interstate 80 and passengers coming from northbound lanes have access to Pennsylvania Route 611. [3][4]
History [edit]
The construction of PA 33 started in 1959, and stretched from the Route 512 interchange to Saylorsburg. Construction finished in 1960. The stretch connecting the highway to Interstate 80 was built and completed by 1964. Construction on Route 33 was not continued until 1969 when work began on the stretch from Route 512 in Wind Gap to Henry Road in Belfast. This stretch was completed by 1970. By 1972, the road had reached what is now Route 191 in Stockertown, and was extended down to its long-term end terminus at US-22. The highway was left at that until 1999 when construction began on a final segment that would connect the Route 22 interchange to Interstate 78. The final three-mile (5 km) stretch opened in January 2002.
In January 2004, the expressway was shut down between Lower Nazareth Township (Route 248) and Stockertown (Route 191) because of a sinkhole that was in the area of the Bushkill Creek directly under a northbound bridge support beam. Crossovers were created, narrowing the highway to one lane in each direction through Stockertown. Studies were conducted, and came to the conclusion that the bridge was dangerous and could not be fixed. The northbound bridge was demolished in February of the same year. Just 21 days later, a sinkhole was discovered under the southbound bridge over the Bushkill Creek, and resulted in the demolition of the southbound bridge. Once the new northbound bridge was completed, another crossover was created, detouring southbound traffic onto the northbound side of the highway. On April 21, 2004, a depression formed under the new northbound bridge, and the highway was shut down once again to fill the area with bituminous material. The bridge re-opened within twenty minutes. By November 19, 2004, both bridges were completed and opened. All of this happened feet from the Bushkill Street Bridge, which connects Stockertown and Palmer Township, and has been closed since 1999 because of numerous sinkholes causing the bridge to collapse.[5]
On March 21, 2009, a tractor-trailer carrying 32,000 pounds of hydrofluoric acid overturned on southbound Route 33 in Plainfield Township, prompting the evacuation of about 5,000 people. The truck, registered to the Honeywell company, flipped over at about 2:40 a.m. after the driver swerved to avoid a deer. Nobody was injured and the highway was reopened later that day. Hundreds of evacuees were taken to the Pen Argyl Area High School in nearby Pen Argyl.[6]
On January 31, 2013, ground was broken for a new interchange at Main Street in Palmer Township to the west of Tatamy, with Governor Tom Corbett in attendance. This interchange is being constructed to serve the Palmer Industrial Park and is expected to bring economic development to the area. Completion of this interchange, which is to cost $40 million, is expected in 2014.[7]
Exit list [edit]
See also [edit]
References [edit]
Route map: Google / Bing
I-78 in Bethlehem Township
US 22 in Bethlehem Township
US 209 in Hamilton Township
I-80 / PA 611 in Hamilton Township
→
PA 248 – Nazareth, Wilson
PA 191 – Stockertown, Bangor, Nazareth
PA 512 – Bath, Wind Gap
