Pennsylvania Route 23

Pennsylvania Route 23
Route information
Maintained by PennDOT, City of Lancaster, Upper Merion Township, and Lower Merion Township
Length	81.144 mi[1] (130.589 km)
Existed	1928–present
Tourist routes	Conestoga Ridge Byway
Major junctions
West end	PA 441 in Marietta
Major intersections	US 222 / PA 272 in Lancaster US 30 east of Lancaster US 322 in Blue Ball I-176 in Morgantown PA 10 in Morgantown PA 100 in Bucktown PA 29 in Phoenixville US 422 in King of Prussia US 202 in Bridgeport I-76 in West Conshohocken
East end	US 1 in Bala Cynwyd/Philadelphia
Location
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
Counties	Lancaster, Berks, Chester, Montgomery
Highway system
Pennsylvania State Route System Interstate US State Scenic Legislative
← PA 22 → PA 24

Pennsylvania Route 23 (PA 23) is an 81.14-mile-long (130.58 km) state highway in southeastern Pennsylvania. The route begins at PA 441 in Marietta and heads east to U.S. Route 1 (US 1) at City Avenue on the border of Lower Merion Township and Philadelphia. PA 23 begins at Marietta in Lancaster County and continues east to Lancaster, where it passes through the city on a one-way pair of streets and intersects US 222 and US 30.

East of Lancaster, the route runs through agricultural areas in Pennsylvania Dutch Country, serving Leola, New Holland, and Blue Ball, the latter location where it crosses US 322. PA 23 passes through the southern tip of Berks County and serves Morgantown, where a ramp provides access to Interstate 176 (I-176). The route runs through northern Chester County and serves Elverson, Bucktown, Phoenixville, and Valley Forge.

PA 23 continues into Montgomery County and intersects US 422 in King of Prussia and US 202 in Bridgeport. The route follows the Schuylkill River to West Conshohocken, where it has access to I-76 and I-476, before it continues southeast through Lower Merion Township to US 1, which there is running on the border between Montgomery County and Philadelphia. The portion of PA 23 between Blue Ball and west of Morgantown is designated the Conestoga Ridge Byway, a Pennsylvania Scenic Byway.

PA 23 was first designated in 1927 between US 230 in Lancaster and City Avenue on the Lower Merion Township/Philadelphia border. The route was extended east to US 30 (Girard Avenue) in West Philadelphia via Conshohocken Avenue and Belmont Avenue in the 1930s.

PA 23 was rerouted to use Gulph Road through Valley Forge Park by 1945, with PA 23 Truck designated to bypass the route to the north and east by 1950. PA 23 Alternate (PA 23 Alt.) was designated as an alternate alignment in Lower Merion Township in 1937. PA 23 was moved to its current alignment between Valley Forge and Bala Cynwyd by 1967, replacing parts of PA 363 between Valley Forge and Port Kennedy and PA 320 between Bridgeport and West Conshohocken. The alternate and truck routes were also decommissioned at this time.

The route was extended west from Lancaster to Marietta by 1970, replacing a part of PA 340; the route was also moved onto a one-way pair in Lancaster. The eastern terminus was moved to its current location in the 1980s. PA 23 was rerouted to its current alignment in the eastern part of Lancaster in 1992, bypassing New Holland Avenue.

A PA 23 freeway was proposed east of Lancaster in the 1960s, and parts of the road were built before construction stopped. The road was turned over to farmers and is known as the "Goat Path". A two-lane bypass of PA 23 east of Lancaster was later proposed before being shelved in 2010. A freeway between US 422 and US 202 in Upper Merion Township called the Schuylkill Parkway was planned in the 1960s. A small stub of the freeway in Bridgeport was built in 1972 before funding issues halted the project. Another freeway was proposed to bypass the borough of Phoenixville in the 1960s, although local opposition prevented the project from ever moving forward.