Pennsylvania Route 307

Pennsylvania Route 307 (PA 307) is a north–south route of the Pennsylvania Highway System that runs for 31 miles (50 km). The southern terminus is PA 435 in Covington Township and the northern terminus is PA 92 in Tunkhannock Township. The highway is called Scranton-Pocono Highway south of Scranton, connecting Scranton to the Pocono Mountains region.

Pennsylvania Route 307 marker
Pennsylvania Route 307
Map
PA 307 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by PennDOT and City of Scranton
Length31.510 mi[1] (50.710 km)
ExistedNovember 1935[2]–present
Major junctions
South end PA 435 in Covington Township
Major intersections PA 502 in Covington Township
I-380 in Covington Township
PA 690 in Spring Brook Township
I-81 in Scranton
US 11 in Scranton
President Biden Expressway in Scranton
North end PA 92 in Tunkhannock Township
Location
CountryUnited States
StatePennsylvania
CountiesLackawanna, Wyoming
Highway system
PA 305 PA 308

Route description

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PA 307 northbound at Lower Mill City Road in Falls Township

PA 307 begins at a Y intersection with PA 435 in Covington Township in Lackawanna County, heading northwest on four-lane undivided Scranton-Pocono Highway. The road runs through forested areas with some homes, coming to an intersection with PA 502 in the community of Fells Corners. The route heads through more woodland with some fields and development and comes to an interchange with I-380 at exit 20. Past this interchange, PA 307 continues through forests with some homes and enters Spring Brook Township, where it crosses PA 690 at Quinlan Corners in the community of Maple Lake. The road continues through rural land and enters Roaring Brook Township, where it heads across the forested Moosic Mountains, passing east of Coon Hill. The route heads to the east of the Williams Bridge Reservoir and curves to the north, narrowing to a three-lane road with one northbound lane and two southbound lanes. The road heads into a section of the borough of Dunmore and turns to the northwest.[3][4]

 
PA 307 near its northern terminus at PA 92 in Tunkhannock Township

PA 307 enters the city of Scranton and becomes two-lane Moosic Street, passing to the north of Lake Scranton and curving west. The road gains a center left-turn lane and runs west-southwest through wooded areas with homes. The route becomes a three-lane road with one northbound lane and two southbound lanes and bends to the west-northwest, running through woodland and passing under an abandoned railroad line. PA 307 widens into a four-lane divided highway and crosses I-81, with a ramp from southbound I-81 to PA 307; the remaining movements between PA 307 and I-81 and provided by Meadow Avenue and River Street. Past this interchange, the route runs past businesses and becomes a three-lane undivided road with two northbound lanes and one southbound lane, heading through residential areas. The road narrows to two lanes and continues northwest to an intersection with US 11.[3][4]

At this point, PA 307 turns north to form a concurrency with US 11 on a divided road and comes to a southbound exit and northbound entrance with the western terminus of the President Biden Expressway. The two routes cross over Roaring Brook and the Electric City Trolley Museum line and head north as a six-lane divided highway, passing under a Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad line and curving northwest to enter downtown Scranton on Biden Street. US 11/PA 307 turns northeast onto city-maintained Jefferson Avenue, with one northbound lane and two southbound lanes. The road runs past downtown commercial development as it heads to the west of the University of Scranton campus. The two routes turn northwest onto state-maintained four-lane undivided Mulberry Street and runs past more businesses. Upon crossing Wyoming Avenue, the road becomes a divided highway and continues to an intersection with Mifflin Avenue. At this point, US 11/PA 307 becomes a four-lane freeway called the North Scranton Expressway and passes over a Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad line and the Lackawanna River.[3][4]

The highway comes to an interchange with Providence Road that provides a connection to 7th Avenue and access to Memorial Staduum. From here, the freeway heads north near residential and commercial development and runs parallel to Norfolk Southern's Sunbury Line to the west, coming to a diamond interchange with North Main Avenue. The highway continues north-northeast through more of the city alongside the railroad tracks, bending to the north-northwest. PA 307 splits from the US 11 freeway at a diamond interchange by heading west on four-lane undivided Keyser Avenue, passing under the Norfolk Southern tracks. The route turns north onto Morgan Highway, a three-lane road with two northbound lanes and one southbound lane and runs through wooded areas with some commercial development, curving to the northwest.[3][4]

PA 307 leaves Scranton for South Abington Township and traverses forested Bald Mountain, running a short distance to the northeast of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Northeast Extension (I-476). The road narrows to two lanes and continues through wooded areas with some homes, passing under I-476. The route continues through rural land and development and passes to the east of Summit Lake, bending to the north-northwest and heading into the borough of Clarks Summit. PA 307 curves west-southwest and reenters South Abington Township, running through a mix of fields and woods with some development. The road crosses into Newton Township and becomes Winola Road. The route passes to the north of Clarks Summit State Hospital and winds west through more rural land, passing to the north of the community of Schultzville.[3][4]

PA 307 enters Falls Township in Wyoming County and becomes Roosevelt Highway, continuing to wind west through forests with some farm fields and homes. The road curves to the north and passes through the community of Mill City, crossing into Overfield Township. The route heads north through forests to the community of Lake Winola, where it turns west and runs through wooded areas of homes to the south of Lake Winola. PA 307 bends to the north and heads along the west side of the lake before it makes a sharp curve to the west. The road heads through forests with sparse development and enters Tunkhannock Township. PA 307 comes to its northern terminus at an intersection with PA 92 on the east bank of the Susquehanna River.[3][5]

History

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At its inception in the late 1920s, PA 307 was little more than a short loop of its namesake, PA 7 (modern-day US 6), extending from that route west of Clarks Summit to its concurrency with the Lackawanna Trail in northern Scranton. At the time, PA 7, and later US 6, followed all of Winola Road out of Clarks Summit.[6] PA 307 has since been extended twice. Its first extension occurred in 1935, when the Scranton-Pocono Highway was completed; to bridge the gap between the two highways, PA 307 formed a concurrency along US 11 through Scranton.[7] In 1955, US 6 was rerouted onto a new alignment from Factoryville to Tunkhannock, and so PA 307 was extended west along this old alignment, terminating at the previously existing PA 92.[citation needed]

On March 18, 1965, truck driver Eugene P. Sesky was involved in a fatal crash on this highway, that would later be chronicled in the 1974 Harry Chapin song "30,000 Pounds of Bananas"

Major intersections

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CountyLocationmi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
LackawannaCovington Township0.0000.000  PA 435 (Drinker Turnpike)Southern terminus
1.6562.665  PA 502 (Daleville Highway) – Moosic, Daleville
2.6494.263  
 
I-380 to I-84 – Mount Pocono, Scranton
Exit 20 on I-380
Spring Brook Township3.9626.376  
 
 
 
PA 690 to I-84 / I-380
Scranton11.35418.272 
 
To I-81
Access via Meadow Street
12.00119.314 
 
US 11 south (Pittston Avenue)
Southern end of US 11 concurrency
12.012–
12.076
19.331–
19.434
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
To I-81 / I-84 east / I-380 south
Interchange; southbound exit and northbound entrance; access via President Biden Expressway
12.97320.878Southern end of freeway section
13.18821.2247th Avenue / Providence Road
13.88122.339Main AvenueDiamond interchange
15.26324.563 
 
 
 
US 11 north (North Scranton Expressway) to I-81
Northern end of US 11 concurrency
15.26324.563Northern end of freeway section
WyomingTunkhannock Township31.51050.710  PA 92 – Pittston, TunkhannockNorthern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Bureau of Maintenance and Operations (January 2015). Roadway Management System Straight Line Diagrams (Report) (2015 ed.). Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  2. ^ "State Routes Are Changed". The Daily Notes. Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. November 8, 1935. p. 9. Retrieved January 25, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.  
  3. ^ a b c d e f "overview of Pennsylvania Route 307" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved January 24, 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d e Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania Highway Map (PDF) (Map). PennDOT. 2015. Retrieved January 24, 2016.
  5. ^ Wyoming County, Pennsylvania Highway Map (PDF) (Map). PennDOT. 2015. Retrieved January 23, 2016.
  6. ^ Official Road Map of Pennsylvania (PDF) (Map). Pennsylvania Department of Highways. 1930. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
  7. ^ "State Routes Are Changed". The Daily Notes. Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. November 8, 1935. p. 9. Retrieved January 25, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.  
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