Pennsylvania Route 72

Pennsylvania Route 72
PA 72 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by PennDOT and City of Lebanon
Length	37.757 mi[1] (60.764 km)
Existed	1927–present
Major junctions
South end	US 222 / PA 272 in Lancaster
Major intersections	PA 23 / PA 462 in Lancaster US 30 near Lancaster PA 283 near Lancaster PA 722 in East Petersburg PA 772 in Manheim I-76 / Penna Turnpike in Rapho Township US 322 near Cornwall US 422 in Lebanon US 22 in Union Township I-81 in Union Township
North end	PA 443 in Union Township
Location
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
Counties	Lancaster, Lebanon
Highway system
Pennsylvania State Route System Interstate US State Scenic Legislative
← PA 71 → PA 73

Pennsylvania Route 72 (PA 72) is a 37.8-mile-long (60.8 km) north–south state route located in southeast Pennsylvania. The southern terminus of the route is at U.S. Route 222 (US 222)/PA 272 in Lancaster. The northern terminus is at PA 443 north of Lickdale in Union Township. PA 72 serves as a major road connecting Lancaster and Lebanon counties, serving East Petersburg, Manheim, Cornwall, Lebanon, and Jonestown. The route intersects several major roads including US 30 and PA 283 north of Lancaster, the Pennsylvania Turnpike (Interstate 76, I-76) south of Cornwall, US 322 along a concurrency on a freeway bypassing Cornwall, US 422 in Lebanon, US 22 near Jonestown, and I-81 via Fisher Avenue in Lickdale.

The portion of the road between Lancaster and Lebanon was chartered as two separate private turnpikes in the 1850s. PA 72 was designated in 1927 to run concurrent with US 230 between the Maryland state line and Lancaster, with US 222 replacing US 230 a year later. In 1928, PA 72 was extended north from Lancaster to PA 343 north of Jonestown. The concurrency with US 222 south of Lancaster was removed by 1930, cutting the southern terminus back to US 230 in Lancaster. PA 72 was extended south from Lancaster to US 222 in Wakefield in the 1930s, following US 222 to Willow Street before following a straight alignment south. The route was also rerouted to head north to PA 443 near Green Point.

A separate section of PA 72 existed in Luzerne County, running from US 11 in Larksville east to US 309 in Wilkes-Barre between the 1930s and the 1940s. The route was moved to its current alignment between Quentin and Lebanon in the 1950s, having previously followed US 322 along what is now PA 419 between Quentin and Cornwall and Cornwall Road north to Lebanon. PA 72 was also split into one-way pairs following Queen and Prince streets in Lancaster and 9th and 10th streets in Lebanon. The route around Cornwall was upgraded to a freeway bypass concurrent with US 322 in 1963. PA 72 was rerouted in 1969 to reach its northern terminus at PA 443 and PA 934 in what is now Fort Indiantown Gap, following Fisher and Clement avenues between Lickdale and the military reservation. The southern terminus was cut back to Lancaster in the 1960s, with PA 272 replacing the route between Wakefield and Willow Street. The north end was cut back to I-81 in Lickdale in the 1970s before being rerouted to its current location by 1997.