Pennsylvania Route 191 - History

History

In the 1920s and 1930s, the first 191 number was designated from the Baltimore Pike in Clifton Heights to Penrose Avenue in southwest Philadelphia. The first state highway numbers to be assigned on the modern PA 191 were Pennsylvania Route 12 and Pennsylvania Route 90. PA 90 was designated from Stroudsburg to the New York-Pennsylvania border. PA 12 was designated from Center Valley to Stockertown. From the 1920s to the 1940s, the designation between Stockertown and Stroudsburg had no signed traffic route. When both routes were commissioned, several spurs were as well. For Route 90, the following spurs were assigned in The Poconos region: Pennsylvania Routes 190, 290, 390, 490, 590, and 690. For Route 12, the following spurs were assigned in The Poconos and Lehigh Valley regions: Pennsylvania Routes 212, 312, 412, 512, 612, and 712.

By 1950, PA 90 was designated on the missing non-numbered gap between Stroudsburg and Stockertown. In 1961, PA 191 was commissioned from the New York state line to U.S. Route 309 in Center Valley. The route replaced the entire designations of PA 12 and PA 90. In Bethlehem, PA 191 was designated onto Wyandotte Street, crossed the Lehigh River, went onto Main Street, turned onto Elizabeth Avenue, and turned onto Linden Street or Nazareth-Bethlehem Pike north of the city.

By 1970, when Pennsylvania Route 378 was commissioned, PA 191 moved designations slightly in Bethlehem. Southbound 191 came from Nazareth, as Linden Street, and in Bethlehem, it turned west onto Union Boulevard. After it passed underneath I-378, the route turned south onto 3rd Street then onto the I-378 freeway. I-378 terminated at the bridge that crosses the Lehigh River and it continued as PA 191 (Wyandotte Street). By 1976, PA 191 was truncated to end at its current location and Pennsylvania Route 378 (formerly I-378) replaced its former routing from the Lehigh River bridge to Pennsylvania Route 309 in Center Valley.