U.S. Route 202 is a highway stretching from
Delaware to
Maine, also passing through the states of
Pennsylvania,
New Jersey,
New York,
Connecticut,
Massachusetts, and
New Hampshire.
The road has borne the number 202 since at least 1935. Before this, sections of the road were designated U.S. Route 122, as it intersected
U.S. Route 22. Its current designation is based on its intersection with
US 2 in Maine.
Route description
Delaware
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".
Pennsylvania
US 202 continues north toward
West Chester, joining with
US 322 north of
U.S. Route 1. South of
West Chester, US 202/322 exits onto a limited-access bypass of the borough; that is the old West Chester By-Pass, 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. The stretch between Valley Road in Paoli and King of Prussia was recently widened to three lanes in each direction. In King of Prussia, the highway forms a large, complicated interchange with the
Schuylkill Expressway, the
Pennsylvania Turnpike, and
U.S. Route 422.
The freeway then transitions into a
divided highway, passing the
King of Prussia Mall and heading northeast through commercial areas before splitting into a
one-way pair through the streets of
Bridgeport and
Norristown, crossing the
Schuylkill River in the process.
US Route 202 (perpendicular), at the expressway terminus in King of Prussia. Twelve lanes move traffic through the intersection with Gulph Road.
North of Norristown, US 202 continues as a two-lane road heading northeast through the Philadelphia suburbs, passing through
Blue Bell and
Lower Gwynedd, where it becomes a four-lane full-access highway for about two miles. East of
Lansdale, in
Montgomeryville, it briefly joins with
Pennsylvania Route 309, splitting off at a large intersection locally known as the "Five Points". It continues northeast towards
Doylestown, bypassing the town first on a
wrong-way concurrency on
PA 611 then on a short bypass that ends at
PA 313. It continues as a two-lane road to
New Hope, crossing the
Delaware River on the
New Hope-Lambertville Toll Bridge.
Construction began in November 2008 on a parkway project between
PA 63 in Lower Gwynedd and the existing cloverleaf interchange at the
US 202 Bypass and PA 611 near Doylestown. This parkway will consist of a four-lane stretch between PA 63 and
PA 463 and a two-lane parkway the rest of the way that bypasses the
boroughs of
Chalfont and
New Britain.
New Jersey
On the toll bridge, US 202 has two lanes in each direction. It continues a northeasterly course for about as a
freeway. This segment of US 202 was earlier called the
202 bypass (as it bypassed the
New Hope-
Lambertville area) from its original route. The old section of 202 between New Hope and
Ringoes, New Jersey is now
NJ 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 NJ 179. When the western section of the "bypass" was built to the Delaware River, the whole former segment was renamed 179. The section of the new US 202 freeway section ends once it begins to run concurrently with
NJ 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.
US 202 just inside New Jersey at the NY/NJ state line.
At Somerville, the road merges with
US 206 at a now-reconfigured
Somerville Circle. Parts of the old
traffic circle, which also carries
NJ 28, remain below the US 202
flyover. US 202 splits northeastward from US 206 at
Bedminster Township and again becomes a two-lane road.
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
NJ 53. Interestingly, with a few exceptions, US 202 is maintained by counties rather than the
New Jersey Department of Transportation north of NJ 53.
The following sections are state-maintained:
- At the US 46 intersection
- Along the NJ 23 concurrency
US 202 continues past
Boonton along the
Boonton Turnpike to
Wayne, where it then picks up
NJ 23 for about two miles (3 km) and then exits on Black Oak Ridge Road. It then follows the
Paterson-Hamburg Turnpike 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.
New York
US 202 is mostly designated east-west in New York, owing to its greater coverage in those directions.
Franklin Turnpike becomes Orange Avenue in
Suffern, and US 202 continues to a block-long
wrong-way concurrency with
NY 59 before tailing off on Wayne Avenue and heading east toward
Haverstraw. Most of this stretch is two-lane road.
At Haverstraw, US 202 turns north along
US 9W to
Bear Mountain and then crosses the
Bear Mountain Bridge, running concurrently with
US 6, the Grand Army 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.
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. They remain a freeway for a short stretch but then 202 splits off two a two-lane road in southern
Brookfield as it follows Federal Road. The US 7 freeway continues for another before it rejoins US 202 in northern Brookfield. 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.
Massachusetts
Unlike most states it passes through, US 202 is posted as a north-south highway in Massachusetts, as most of its length through the state runs mostly in those directions.
US 202 and
Route 10 enter the Bay State at the "
Congamond Notch", a southward jog in the state line that includes
Congamond Lake. North of
Westfield, US 202 turns eastward toward
Holyoke and
Belchertown. 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
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.
In Massachusetts, US 202 passes through the municipalities of
Southwick,
Westfield,
Holyoke,
South Hadley,
Granby,
Belchertown,
Pelham,
Shutesbury,
New Salem,
Orange,
Athol,
Phillipston,
Templeton, and
Winchendon.
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
Jaffrey, 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. 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 recently built 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.
Maine
US 202 is posted as an east-west highway in Maine.
The highway enters the state at
South Lebanon and continues through
Sanford and
Gorham to
Auburn and
Lewiston, passing nearby the campus of
Bates College. A very short stretch through the latter two cities is four-lane highway, but most of its length in the Pine Tree State consists of two-lane road. Its final miles west of
Hampden, including the short overlay on I-395, and concurrency with US 1A also include four-laned segments.
Approaching the state capital of
Augusta, US 202 has a concurrency with
State Route 11,
State Route 17, and
State Route 100. US 202 runs concurrently with
U.S. Route 201 as it crosses the
Kennebec River, and shortly thereafter it picks up
State Route 3 and
State Route 9. SR 3 splits off at
South China, but SR 9 stays with US 202 almost all the way to its terminus in
Bangor. When SR 9 turns right onto Summer Street in Bangor with US 1A, US 202 runs 4 more blocks to its eastern terminus at the US 2 rotary at the corner of Hammond, Main, Central and State Streets.
A proposed extension eastward of US 202 would run up State Street in Bangor with US 2, turning east onto Broadway/Oak St across the bridge to Brewer (the unposted US 1A Business route), and then following SR 9 again and then with US 1 to
Calais utilizing the under-construction/proposed 'third Calais crossing'. This is part of the Maine East-West Corridor.
History
U.S. Route 122 was created in 1926, connecting
US 22 at
Whitehouse, New Jersey with
Wilmington, Delaware. It became part of US 202 in 1934.
The Piedmont Expressway
In Pennsylvania in the early 1960s, a four-lane
expressway was proposed that would follow the US 202 corridor. The "Piedmont Expressway" was to be long, and would cost approximately $146 million. It was to serve as an outer beltway around the Philadelphia area, similar to the
Capital Beltway that encircles
Washington, D.C.
