Pennsylvania Route 743

Pennsylvania Route 743 (PA 743) is a north–south state route located in central Pennsylvania. The southern terminus is at PA 441 in Marietta. The northern terminus is at U.S. Route 22 (US 22) near the East Hanover Township hamlet of Grantville though some signage has it continue north past Interstate 81 (I-81) to PA 443. The route runs north through Lancaster County, passing through Maytown before reaching Elizabethtown. Here, the route has concurrencies with PA 230 and PA 241 and comes to an interchange with the PA 283 freeway. PA 743 continues into Dauphin County and crosses PA 341 before reaching Hershey. In Hershey, the route follows Cocoa Avenue between US 322 and US 422, the latter which is known as Chocolate Avenue. PA 743 follows Park Avenue north past Hersheypark and Hersheypark Drive east before heading north on Laudermilch Road from Hershey to Grantville.

Pennsylvania Route 743
PA 743 highlighted in red; partially signed portion north of US 22 in blue
Route information
Maintained by PennDOT
Length24.685 mi[1] (39.727 km)
Major junctions
South end PA 441 in Marietta
 
North end US 22 in Grantville
Location
CountiesDauphin, Lancaster
Highway system
← PA 742PA 746 →

PA 743 was first designated by 1930 from US 22 (now US 422) east of Hershey north to PA 43 in Grantville along Lingle Avenue and Laudermilch Road. The road between Marietta and Maytown became the southernmost part of PA 241. By 1940, a portion of PA 340 was designated along the road between Marietta and Hershey while PA 743 was realigned to head southwest to US 422 and PA 340 in Hershey. The northern terminus was slightly shortened in the 1940s following a realignment of US 22. PA 743 was moved from Derry Road to Hersheypark Drive in the 1950s. In 1961, PA 743 was extended south from Hershey to Marietta, replacing that section of PA 340. In 2012, PA 743 was realigned at the intersection with US 422 in Hershey, eliminating a short concurrency.

Route description

PA 743 begins at PA 441 near Marietta in East Donegal Township, Lancaster County, heading northwest on two-lane undivided Maytown Road. The road passes a mix of farms and residential subdivisions as it comes to the community of Maytown. Here, PA 743 passes through residential areas and comes to a traffic circle with High Street. After passing through Maytown, the route continues north through open farmland with a few homes, crossing into West Donegal Township. PA 743 makes a turn northeast prior to curving northwest. The road heads northeast and enters Elizabethtown, coming to a bridge over Amtrak's Keystone Corridor. A short distance later, PA 743 comes to an intersection with PA 230 and forms a concurrency with that route by turning northwest onto South Market Street. The road, which contains a center left-turn lane, passes several homes prior to entering the downtown area of Elizabethtown, where it becomes two lanes wide, and intersecting PA 241, at which point that route joins PA 230 and PA 743 on North Market Street. The road leaves the downtown and enters residential areas, with PA 241 and PA 743 splitting from PA 230 by briefly heading northeast on Linden Avenue. PA 241 and PA 743 turn north onto North Hanover Street a short distance later, passing a mix of homes and businesses as it crosses into Mount Joy Township and becomes Hershey Road. PA 241 splits from PA 743 by heading northeast onto Mt. Gretna Road, and PA 743 heads north-northeast to an interchange with PA 283. Within the area of the interchange, the road is briefly a divided highway. At this point, the route becomes concurrent with PA 341 Truck in the northbound direction and heads into areas of farms and woods as an undivided road, crossing the Conewago Recreation Trail.[2][3]

PA 743 at south end of former US 422 overlap in Hershey at intersection of Chocolate and Cocoa avenues. This intersection was realigned in 2012.

Upon crossing the Conewago Creek, PA 743 enters Conewago Township in Dauphin County, continuing north-northwest past farmland, woodland, and a few homes. The road passes under the Pennsylvania Turnpike (I-76) without an interchange before reaching the PA 341 intersection, at which point the PA 341 Truck overlap ends. Past this intersection, PA 743 passes through more rural areas with some homes and businesses, continuing into Derry Township and becoming Fishburn Road. The route turns northwest and passes residential neighborhoods as it enters the community of Hershey. PA 743 turns north onto Cocoa Avenue and passes between businesses to the west and farms to the east as it reaches the US 322 intersection. From this point, Cocoa Avenue continues through residential areas prior to intersecting US 422 (Chocolate Avenue) in the downtown area of Hershey. At this intersection, the name of PA 743 changes to Park Avenue. The road comes to a bridge over Norfolk Southern's Harrisburg Line before running between Hersheypark to the west and ZOOAMERICA to the east. Continuing along the eastern edge of Hersheypark, the road passes near some homes to the east before reaching Hersheypark Drive.[2][4]

At this point, PA 743 turns east onto Hersheypark Drive, which is a four-lane road. The route passes between facilities owned by The Hershey Company and Tanger Outlets Hershey to the south before heading northeast to Laudermilch Road. Here, PA 743 turns north onto two-lane Laudermilch Road and enters agricultural areas. The road turns north and crosses the Swatara Creek into East Hanover Township. Here, the route winds north through a mix of farms, woods, and homes. The road passes a few businesses at the US 22 intersection in Grantville. The PA 743 designation officially ends at the US 22 intersection according to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation but some signage and mapping websites show it continuing north on Laudermilch and Bow Creek Road.[2][4]

Laudermilch Road runs north from this intersection as state-maintained SR 2025 for 0.3 miles (0.48 km) before intersecting Jonestown Road.[4][5] At this intersection, the road becomes township-maintained Bow Creek Road and continues northwest to I-81's exit 80. After this interchange, the route turns north into rural areas and passes a short distance to the west of Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course. Bow Creek Road comes to its northern terminus at an intersection with PA 443 at the base of Blue Mountain.[2][4]

History

When legislative routes were first established in Pennsylvania in 1911, present-day PA 743 was not given a route number.[6] The road between Elizabethtown and Hershey was paved by 1926.[7] PA 743 was designated by 1930 to run from US 22 (now US 422) east of Hershey north to PA 43 (Jonestown Road) in Grantville, following Lingle Avenue and Laudermilch Road. At this time, the entire route was paved. In addition, the road between Marietta and Maytown was designated as the southernmost part of PA 241.[8] The road between Marietta and Hershey via Elizabethtown was designated as a westward extension of PA 340 by 1940, which replaced the PA 241 designation between Marietta and Maytown.[9] Also, PA 743 was realigned to follow Laudermilch Road, Derry Road, and Park Avenue to end at US 422 and PA 340 at Chocolate Avenue in Hershey.[9][10]

In the 1940s, the northern terminus of PA 743 was cut back to its current location follow a realignment of US 22 from Jonestown Road to Allentown Boulevard.[11] The route was realigned to use Hersheypark Drive between Park Avenue and Laudermilch Road in the 1950s.[12] In 1961, PA 743 was extended south from Hershey to its current southern terminus at PA 441 in Marietta, replacing that portion of PA 340.[13] In 2010, a $12 million project began to realign PA 743 at its intersection with US 422 in Hershey, eliminating a short concurrency. The project realigned the route along Cocoa Avenue to the west west to intersect US 422 at Park Avenue and also built a new bridge carrying PA 743 over the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks. The intersection realignment was completed in 2012 while the new bridge was completed in 2013.[14]

Major intersections
CountyLocationmi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
LancasterEast Donegal Township0.0000.000 PA 441 (River Road) – Columbia, Middletown
Elizabethtown6.53310.514 PA 230 east (Market Street) – Mt. JoySouth end of PA 230 concurrency
7.34911.827 PA 241 south (Bainbridge Street)South end of PA 241 concurrency
7.81512.577 PA 230 west (Market Street) – MiddletownNorth end of PA 230 concurrency
Mount Joy Township8.45213.602 PA 241 north (Mt. Gretna Road) – Colebrook, Mount Gretna, LebanonNorth end of PA 241 concurrency
9.416–
9.435		15.154–
15.184		 PA 283 – Harrisburg, LancasterInterchange, south end of PA 341 Truck concurrency northbound
DauphinConewago Township12.01519.336 PA 341 (Colebrook Road) – Deodate, Colebrook

PA 341 Truck ends		North end of PA 341 Truck concurrency northbound
Derry Township16.83327.090 US 322 (Governor Road) – Hersheypark Drive, Harrisburg, Campbelltown
17.65728.416 US 422 (Chocolate Avenue) – Lebanon
East Hanover Township24.68539.727 US 22 (Allentown Boulevard)
SR 2025 north (Laudermilch Road) to I-81
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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See also
  •  U.S. Roads portal
  •  Pennsylvania portal

References
  1. Bureau of Maintenance and Operations (January 2015). Roadway Management System Straight Line Diagrams (Report) (2015 ed.). Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on February 17, 2011. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  2. Google (May 12, 2013). "Pennsylvania Route 743" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved May 12, 2013.
  3. Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Highway Map (PDF) (Map). PennDOT. 2010. Retrieved 2010-11-27.
  4. Dauphin County, Pennsylvania Highway Map (PDF) (Map). PennDOT. 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-11-06. Retrieved 2010-11-30.
  5. "Pennsylvania state roads". Pennsylvania Spatial Data Access. Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. 2013. Retrieved March 14, 2013.
  6. Map of Pennsylvania Showing State Highways (PDF) (Map). Pennsylvania Department of Highways. 1911. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 5, 2011. Retrieved December 14, 2014.
  7. Pennsylvania Highway Map (eastern side) (Map). Gulf Oil. 1926. Retrieved December 26, 2007.
  8. Tourist Map of Pennsylvania (PDF) (Map). Pennsylvania Department of Highways. 1930. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 5, 2011. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
  9. Official Road Map of Pennsylvania (PDF) (Map). Pennsylvania Department of Highways. 1940. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 5, 2011. Retrieved August 19, 2010.
  10. General Highway Map Dauphin County, Pennsylvania (PDF) (Map). Pennsylvania Department of Highways. 1941. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 5, 2011. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
  11. Official Road Map of Pennsylvania (PDF) (Map). Pennsylvania Department of Highways. 1950. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 5, 2011. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
  12. Official Map of Pennsylvania (PDF) (Map). Pennsylvania Department of Highways. 1960. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 5, 2011. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  13. "Traffic Route Changes Made". The Evening Sentinel. Carlisle, PA. May 4, 1961. p. 20. Retrieved April 26, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. Smith, Paul (September 13, 2013). "New Park Avenue Bridge in Hershey Now Open to Traffic". York, PA: WPMT-TV. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
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