U.S. Route 202 (US 202) is a spur route of US 2. It follows a northeasterly and southwesterly direction stretching from Delaware in the south to Maine in the north and traveling through the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. The highway has borne the number 202 since at least 1936.[1] Before this, sections of the highway were designated U.S. Route 122,[2] as it intersected US 22 in New Jersey. Its current designation is based on its intersection with I-395 and SR 15 near US 2 in Maine, but it does not have a direct connection with US 2.
This highway is considerably longer than the eastern segment of US 2 (although considerably shorter than the combined segments of US 2), making it one of several three-digit U.S. highways to be longer than their parent routes.
US 202 begins at an interchange with US 13/US 40 south of Wilmington. It runs north along the same road as Delaware Route 141, then joins with Interstate 95 through Wilmington. North of the city, it exits the freeway onto Concord Pike, heading north; Delaware Route 202 also continues south from this point. US 202 continues north towards the state line as a six-lane arterial road and is lined with numerous strip malls and "big-box stores".
US 202 continues north toward West Chester, joining with US 322 after intersecting U.S. Route 1. South of West Chester, US 202/US 322 exits onto a limited-access bypass of the borough; that is the West Chester Bypass, and includes a grade-level intersection at Matlack Street. North of West Chester, US 322 exits, and US 202 continues north as a freeway towards Frazer, where it interchanges with U.S. Route 30 and bends east to head towards Malvern and King of Prussia. In King of Prussia, the highway forms a large, complicated interchange with the Schuylkill Expressway (Interstate 76) the Pennsylvania Turnpike (Interstate 76/Interstate 276), and U.S. Route 422.
U.S. Route 202 in New Jersey at the New York/New Jersey state line
On the toll bridge, US 202 has two lanes in each direction. It continues a northeasterly course for about 5.7 miles (9.2 km) as a freeway. This segment of US 202 was earlier called the US 202 bypass (as it bypassed the New Hope-Lambertville area) from its original route. The old section of US 202 between New Hope and Ringoes, New Jersey is now Route 179 which is also Old York Road, the first roadway to connect New York City and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1953, this section of Old York Road was renumbered US 202. A small section of the US 202 bypass was built in 1965 and the old route was renamed Route 179. When the western section of the bypass was built to the Delaware River, the whole former segment was renamed Route 179. The section of the new US 202 freeway section ends once it begins to run concurrently with Route 31 in East Amwell Township. The concurrency runs for five miles (8 km), to Flemington. This stretch, and the 13 miles (21 km) between Flemington and Somerville, is a four-lane divided roadway. In Bridgewater Township, just northwest of Somerville, US 202 has a junction with US 22 towards I-287 South.
From here to the state line, US 202 parallels, and has largely been supplanted by, I-287, which during its construction dumped traffic onto US 202. US 202 continues through Morristown to Morris Plains with an intersection with Route 53. With a few exceptions, US 202 is maintained by counties rather than the New Jersey Department of Transportation north of Route 53. The only sections of US 202 in New Jersey north of Route 53 that are state-maintained are at the I-80 interchange, at the US 46 intersection, along the Route 23 concurrency, and at the I-287 interchange in Oakland.
US 202 continues past Boonton along the Boonton Turnpike to historic Mountain View in Wayne, where it then picks up Route 23 for about two miles (3 km) and then exits on Black Oak Ridge Road. It then follows the Paterson-Hamburg Turnpike, Terhune Drive on the east side of Pompton Lake (past the former homes of Cecil B. DeMille and Albert Payson Terhune), and Ramapo Valley Road (more or less paralleling the Ramapo River through Oakland) to Mahwah before crossing the New York state line on the Franklin Turnpike.
At Haverstraw, US 202 makes a sharp left turn north onto US 9W and follows US 9W's path for 13 miles (21 km) towards Bear Mountain and then crosses the Hudson River on the Bear Mountain Bridge, running concurrently with US 6, the Grand Army of the Republic Highway. The two wind around Anthony's Nose, briefly forming New York's only three-way concurrency of U.S. highways with US 9 at Peekskill. Afterwards, the two separate for several miles, with US 202 taking the more southerly route through Somers. The highways reunite at Brewster and become a four-lane road for their last few miles before the state line, taking in NY 121 in the process.[5]
US 202 is signed east–west in Connecticut. At Danbury, US 6 and 202 climb up onto I-84, which had just been joined by the north–south US 7, making a four-way concurrency. US 7 and 202 split from I-84 and US 6 at Exit 7. It is a two-lane road in southern Brookfield as it follows Federal Road. US 202 diverts from U.S. Route 7 at the next exit to a parallel surface route. The US 7 freeway continues for another 8.5 miles (13.7 km) before it rejoins US 202 at the Brookfield/New Milford town line. The now rejoined US 7 and 202 approach New Milford in bucolic Litchfield County, where they once again split.
US 202 continues through Torrington and on to Cherry Brook, where it then runs concurrently with US 44 for several miles before turning northward at Avon. For the run to the state line, US 202 runs concurrently with Route 10.
Unlike elsewhere in New England, US 202 is posted as a north–south highway in Massachusetts, as the highway runs mostly in those directions for its length through the state. US 202 and Route 10 enter the Bay State at the "Congamond Notch" in Southwick, a southward jog in the state line that includes Congamond Lake. North of Westfield, US 202 turns eastward toward Holyoke, crosses the Connecticut River on the Joseph E. Muller Bridge and travels for 1.5 miles as a limited access bypass of South Hadley, traversing MA 116 and MA 33 toward Belchertown. After crossing MA 9, it then heads north along the west side of the Quabbin Reservoir through New Salem toward Athol. This section of US 202 has been dubbed the Daniel Shays Highway, named for a Revolutionary War veteran who led an insurrection against the state government of Massachusetts. US 202 meets Massachusetts Route 2 at Orange, and runs along the two-lane freeway to Phillipston. There, it diverges to the north again as a two-lane road.
The stretch of highway through Belchertown, Pelham, Shutesbury, and New Salem opened in 1935 to coincide with the completion and opening of the Quabbin Reservoir. The roadway reaches its closest point to the reservoir itself at the crossing of the Swift River, at the Shutesbury/New Salem town line. Access to the west side of the Quabbin Reservation is made through multiple gates in the three towns. There is no public access, however, to the Prescott Peninsula.
New Hampshire
Section of US 202 in Henniker, New Hampshire
US 202 is posted as an east–west highway in New Hampshire. It remains a two-lane highway for most of its length in the Granite State.
It heads north, through Rindge, Jaffrey, and Peterborough, to Hillsborough, where it turns eastward along a concurrency with New Hampshire Route 9. The span of the road between Hillsborough and Hopkinton, which passes through Henniker, is among the most deadly sections of roadway in the state.[6] At Concord, New Hampshire, the state capital, US 202 heads north and picks up a concurrency with US 3 for a short time, and then turns eastward again along Interstate 393, a freeway spur that also carries US 4. The freeway ends short of Chichester, and NH 9 rejoins the two-lane concurrency along with US 4 and 202.
At Northwood, US 202 and NH 9 leave US 4. NH 9 splits off a few miles later, leaving US 202 to continue alone toward Rochester, where the road jumps up onto the Spaulding Turnpike (NH 16) for a short, non-tolled distance. US 202 leaves the turnpike two miles (3 km) before the state line at East Rochester.
The highway passes through Greene, Monmouth, and Winthrop concurrently with Maine Route 11 and Maine Route 100 and becomes concurrent with State Route 17 at Manchester. US 202 runs concurrently with U.S. Route 201 as it crosses the Kennebec River at Augusta, and shortly thereafter it picks up State Route 3 and State Route 9. US 202 then ends at I-395 and SR 15 just a half mile east of US 2 and a half mile west of US 1A Bus in Bangor, Maine. I-395's junction with US 1A just southeast of the eastern terminus of US 202 is just two miles south of central Bangor.
US 202 was approved by the AASHO (now AASHTO) in June 1934; the route approved was 671 miles (1,080 km), from Bangor, Maine, to State Road, Delaware, south of Wilmington. In 1964, the AASHO approved a request by Delaware to eliminate the portion of US 202 between its intersection with I-295 in Farnhurst and State Road; that stretch was carrying US 13/40/301. US 202 was later shortened so that it ended at I-95 just north of Wilmington. Then in 1984, the route numbering committee approved extending US 202 from there to its intersection with US 13/US 40 in Basin Corner, near New Castle. This intersection is US 202's current terminus.[8]
US 202's path passes near the sites of various important Revolutionary War battles in Delaware and Pennsylvania, such as Cooch's Bridge, near Newark, Delaware; Brandywine, near Philadelphia; and Valley Forge.[9] In New Hampshire, US 202 passes by a historical marker in Antrim commemorating the last surviving soldier of the Revolutionary War.[10][11]
In Pennsylvania in the early 1960s, a four-lane expressway, the Piedmont Expressway, was proposed that would follow the US 202 corridor. The expressway was to be 59 miles (95 km) long, and would cost approximately $146 million. It was to serve as an outer beltway around the Philadelphia area. The project was ultimately cancelled.[citation needed] In its place, the Route 202 Parkway Trail was built. The trail is 9 miles (14 km) in length.[12] The trail is ultimately expected to connect to the East Coast Greenway via the Neshaminy Creek Trail.[13]
Construction began in November 2008 on a parkway project between Pennsylvania Route 63 in Lower Gwynedd and the existing cloverleaf interchange at the US 202 bypass and PA 611 near Doylestown. This parkway was planned to consist of a four-lane stretch between Route 63 and Pennsylvania Route 463 and a two-lane parkway the rest of the way that bypasses the boroughs of Chalfont and New Britain. The parkway opened on December 3, 2012.[4]
US 202 originally ended at its junction with US 2/US 1A in Bangor, Maine. In the late 1980s, however, the section of US 202 between I-395 and US 2 was removed from US 202's official routing. Officially, US 202 ends at I-395's exit 3. However, signs designating US 202's termination at US 2 in downtown Bangor, at the corner of Main Street and Hammond Street, still stand today. That intersection is still seen as US 202's end.
US 13 / US 40 / DE 141 in New Castle, DE
.svg){kind=small}
