U.S. Route 222
U.S. Route 222 is a U.S. Highway that is a spur of US 22 in the states of Maryland and Pennsylvania. It runs for from US 1 in Conowingo, Maryland, north to the junction of Interstate 78 and Pennsylvania Route 309 in Dorneyville, Pennsylvania. US 222 is almost entirely in Pennsylvania, and serves as the state's principal artery between the Lancaster and Reading areas in the west and the Lehigh Valley in the east.
US 222 heads north from US 1 in Conowingo and soon crosses from Maryland into Pennsylvania, continuing north through rural areas and passing through Quarryville and Willow Street before reaching Lancaster. The route passes through Lancaster on a one-way pair of city streets before becoming a freeway at US 30 north of the city. The US 222 freeway heads northeast, crossing US 322 in Ephrata and coming to an indirect interchange with the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
US 222 bypasses Reading to the west, where it forms a concurrency with US 422. The freeway section ends past Reading and the route continues northeast through rural areas, with a freeway bypass of Kutztown. US 222 bypasses Trexlertown on a multilane divided expressway before coming to its northern terminus at I-78/PA 309 in Dorneyville, where the road continues into Allentown as PA 222.
Route description
Conowingo to Lancaster
US 222 begins at an intersection with US 1 in Conowingo in Cecil County, Maryland. Following US 1 southwest to the Conowingo Dam across the Susquehanna River leads to the northern terminus of MD 222. From this intersection, the route heads northwest on two-lane undivided Rock Springs Road, passing through a mix of fields and woods with some homes. The road curves to the north through woodland and passes east of Oakwood. US 222 turns to the northeast and runs through fields and woods with some development, passing to the southeast of the Rock Springs Generation Facility in Rock Springs before it comes to the Mason–Dixon line, which marks the border between Maryland and Pennsylvania.Upon crossing the Mason–Dixon line, US 222 enters Fulton Township in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and heads north as Robert Fulton Highway, passing between woodland to the west and farm fields to the east. The route turns to the north-northwest and runs through agricultural areas with some trees and homes, passing through New Texas Lyles. The road continues through rural areas and curves to the north, heading into Wakefield and coming to an intersection with PA 272. At this point, PA 272 turns north for a concurrency with US 222 along Robert Fulton Highway, running through a mix of farms and homes. PA 272 splits from US 222 in Penn Hill by heading northwest, and US 222 continues northeast through wooded areas. The road heads into a mix of fields and woods and reaches Goshen, where it turns to the north. The route runs through farmland with some woods and homes, curving northeast before heading back to the north and passing to the east of the Robert Fulton Birthplace. US 222 continues north-northeast through rural land and passes through Bethel, where it crosses into Little Britain Township. The road heads north and enters East Drumore Township, continuing through farmland with some trees and residences and passing through the communities of Unicorn and Mechanics Grove. The route passes east of Solanco High School and bends to the north-northwest as it runs through more rural land.
US 222 enters the borough of Quarryville and becomes South Church Street, heading north past homes. The route comes to an intersection with PA 372, at which point it turns west-southwest to join that route on West State Street, running through more residential areas. US 222 splits from PA 372 by heading northwest onto West 4th Street, passing between businesses to the southwest and homes to the northeast before running through more residential areas, cutting through a corner of East Drumore Township before heading into Providence Township. At this point, the route enters the Pennsylvania Dutch Country of eastern Lancaster County, which is home to many Amish farms. In Providence Township, the route becomes Beaver Valley Pike and passes under the Enola Low Grade Trail before it runs through a mix of farmland, woodland, and residential and commercial development. The road crosses the Big Beaver Creek into Strasburg Township and heads northwest through more rural land with some development, with the creek parallel to the southwest. The creek bends away to the west and US 222 continues into agricultural areas with occasional homes, passing through Martinsville and turning to the west-northwest. The route passes to the northeast of Refton and curves northwest, crossing the Pequea Creek into West Lampeter Township. The road heads north through farmland and bends northwest to reach an intersection with PA 741. Here, PA 741 becomes concurrent with US 222 and the two routes curve to the west-southwest, passing between farm fields to the north and residential and commercial development to the south and heading into Willow Street, where the road comes to an intersection with PA 272, which is split into a one-way pair at this point.
At this point, US 222 splits from PA 741 by turning north to join PA 272 along Willow Street Pike, a one-way pair which carries two lanes in each direction. PA 272 becomes unsigned along the US 222 concurrency. Both directions of Willow Street Pike rejoin and it continues north as a two-lane undivided road past commercial development before it runs through wooded residential areas, passing through Hollinger. US 222/PA 272 crosses Mill Creek and heads through Lyndon. The road briefly gains a center left-turn lane as it continues through wooded areas of development and passes to the west of a golf course. US 222/PA 272 splits into a one-way pair, with two lanes in each direction, and crosses the Conestoga River into Lancaster Township.
Lancaster to Reading
After crossing the Conestoga River, northbound US 222/PA 272 becomes Highland Avenue and southbound US 222/PA 272 is called South Prince Street. The southbound direction intersects PA 324 in Engleside before the two routes continue into the city of Lancaster, heading into urban residential and commercial areas. A short distance after entering Lancaster, northbound US 222/PA 272 intersects the end of one-way northbound PA 324 and heads onto South Queen Street. The two routes continues past urban rowhouses along South Queen Street northbound and South Prince Street southbound, with South Queen Street passing to the west of Woodward Hill Cemetery. Northbound US 222/PA 272 splits from South Queen Street by heading northeast onto Church Street, which carries three lanes of one-way traffic, while northbound PA 72 starts along South Queen Street. Just south of downtown Lancaster, the northbound direction of the route turns north onto South Lime Street, which carries two lanes of one-way traffic. US 222/PA 272 heads into the commercial downtown of Lancaster and crosses eastbound PA 462 at King Street. Past this, the route becomes North Lime Street northbound and North Prince Street southbound, crossing eastbound PA 23 at Chestnut Street and westbound PA 23/PA 462 at Walnut Street. The two routes leave the downtown area and run through urban areas of homes and businesses. The northbound direction passes to the east of Lancaster General Hospital between East James and East Frederick streets while the southbound direction passes to the east of Penn Medicine Park, home of the Lancaster Stormers baseball team, north of the Harrisburg Avenue/West James Street intersection. At the intersection with Liberty Street, northbound US 222/PA 272 shifts west a block onto four-lane undivided North Duke Street, a two-way road, while the one-way pair continues into Manheim Township. A block later, at McGovern Avenue, both directions of US 222/PA 272 rejoin along North Duke Street. Southbound US 222/PA 272 follows McGovern Avenue west between North Duke Street and North Prince Street, forming the border between a portion of the city of Lancaster that is home to the Lancaster station along Amtrak's Keystone Corridor railroad line to the north and Manheim Township to the south. The roadway is a three-lane road with two westbound lanes that carry southbound US 222/PA 272 and one eastbound lane. McGovern Avenue reaches an intersection with northbound PA 72 at North Queen Street, where northbound PA 72 turns west to join southbound US 222/PA 272 along the road. At North Prince Street, southbound US 222/PA 272 turn south while PA 72 becomes two-way heading north.Both directions of US 222/PA 272 continue north along four-lane undivided North Duke Street and the road reaches the Thaddeus Stevens Bridge over Amtrak's Keystone Corridor, where it becomes the border between Manheim Township to the west and Lancaster to the east. At Keller Avenue/Marshall Avenue, the road name changes to Lititz Pike and it fully enters Manheim Township, running through commercial areas as a five-lane road with a center left-turn lane. Northbound US 222 and PA 272 head northeast onto Oregon Pike, with PA 272 becoming signed again, while southbound US 222 and PA 501 continue north along Lititz Pike. The two routes continue northeast as a three-lane road with a center left-turn lane and runs past businesses and a few homes before it comes to an interchange with the US 30 freeway. Here, US 222 splits from PA 272, which becomes signed again, by heading east concurrent with US 30 on an eight-lane freeway, passing near developed areas. US 222 splits from US 30 at a trumpet interchange and heads north onto a four-lane freeway. The route curves northeast and runs through a mix of farmland and residential and commercial development. The freeway comes to a northbound exit and entrance with Butter Road, which provides access to PA 272 via Jake Landis Road, and a southbound exit and entrance with PA 272. Past this interchange, US 222 continues through a mix of farm fields and woodland, passing through a corner of Warwick Township before crossing the Cocalico Creek into West Earl Township.
The route passes near farmland before heading near homes and businesses, reaching a partial cloverleaf interchange with PA 772 north of Brownstown. Past here, the freeway runs northeast through agricultural areas. Farther along, US 222 curves to the north and comes to a diverging diamond interchange with US 322 southeast of the borough of Ephrata, at which point it crosses into Ephrata Township. The route passes near businesses at the interchange before it turns northeast and runs through wooded areas with some nearby residential development and farm fields. The freeway heads into East Cocalico Township and runs through more woodland before it passes to the southeast of Reamstown. US 222 passes through farmland and comes to a diamond interchange with Colonel Howard Boulevard, which heads west to provide access to PA 272 and east to provide access to the Pennsylvania Turnpike at the Reading interchange. Following this, the route passes over the Pennsylvania Turnpike and crosses into Brecknock Township, running through a mix of farm fields and woods with some nearby residential and commercial development as it runs to the southeast of the borough of Adamstown.
The US 222 freeway enters Brecknock Township in Berks County and continues north, passing a northbound weigh station before coming to a partial cloverleaf interchange serving the northern terminus of PA 272 and the western terminus of PA 568. Past this interchange, the route crosses into Spring Township and runs through wooded areas with some fields and homes, curving to the northeast and reaching a diamond interchange at Mohns Hill Road to the west of Gouglersville. Here, the freeway crosses into Cumru Township and runs north-northeast through more rural areas, coming to a diamond interchange that connects to Grings Hill Road west of the borough of Mohnton.