This was once US 611, and one shield for that still remains, but on the NJ side of the Delaware River where 611 once briefly used the Columbia Bridge (NJ 94).


PA 611 SB south of Center City Philadelphia, once US 611 but nowhere near when this sign was made.


Northward look at Philadelphia City Hall, around which PA 611 (Broad St.) makes a neat little square.


Two of the three types of typical Philadelphia shields (the one at top is the third type).


Definitely not one of the old US 611 shields, this Philly-style mistake is courtesy Scott Colbert.


On the near and far eastern corners of US 1's exit ramps. The second sign was meant for NB through traffic (well, through from other surface streets) until something hit it.


SB over US 1, where the only way onto the highway to the north is by making a left on US 13 NB.


NB on the north side of the US 1 overpass. Guess that whole road isn't THE real thing after all.


Ancient sign for the SB US 1 onramp from PA 611. There's a different but also old one on Fox St.. I don't know which is older because they're so different - this one isn't even button copy.

NB.


Lou Corsaro made me eat my words - there are at least two US 611 shields. This one is on Easton Rd. EB in Upper Moreland Township, aka Willow Grove, and it looks like the JCT is even older than the shield - and the arrows even older still! I'm hoping that for once, instead of replacing the sign, the DOT people who read this will be kind enough to offer the old sign to me. Email works fine!

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Onto the Doylestown Bypass

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N. Smith Ave. NB at PA 611, on the south shore of the Lehigh River (gee, what is that famous valley named after?). PA 611 SB is a right turn here, and 611 NB is a right turn a long block later, across the Lehigh. Since 611 follows the Delaware River so closely, it comes in at the mouth of the Lehigh on both sides, like the nose of a face, and the tip of that nose is the bridge across the Lehigh. Smith Ave. is the end of a long path from I-78 Exit 75.


PA 611 NB, turning right in Mt. Bethel.


NB at the Columbia Bridge into NJ, courtesy Doug Kerr, PA 611 exits itself onto the old road (see link below). Back when it was US 611, it occasionally was routed over this bridge into NJ, up the Delaware Water Gap (an expressway once part of US 46, and now part of I-80 west of Exit 4), and back into PA.


1950's white sign on River Rd. NB at the onramp to the Portland-Columbia Bridge (and the offramp carrying PA 611 NB). Let's see... Columbia, reached via NJ 94, check. Newton, same route, check. Belvidere, now isn't that back south on River Rd.? I suppose you could cross here and follow US 46 (then NJ 6) toward Belvidere, but towns like Netcong or even Buttzville would make more sense in that spot. And finally, New York, from when 46 would have been the best way to get there, although taking the bridge toward I-80 is still a useful shortcut.


Columbia Bridge WB with a unique postal-abbreviation PA shield. Well, semi-unique, because there's one on the NJ side of the bridge. Consistent with the previous caption, this was once US 611 SB.


Just north of that turnoff in Portland - if this is a state highway, the speed limit sign should be up to state standards, but this smacks of a town job.


Through the Delaware Water Gap, where PA 611 is still routed on the original highway, apparently the barrier hasn't been repaired since the days when "coupé" had an "é" that actually meant something. To call it old would be like calling dinosaur meat stale. You get the idea. The first photo is of the NJ side of the gap.


NB over I-80, which is an old enough freeway that the overpasses have metal keystones embedded, into Stroudsburg, on the Business US 209/PA 611 duplex, which breaks up at the old traffic signals as PA 611 NB turns right from Business 209 SB. (The Bus. 209 page, linked below, has a different edit of the second photo.) Originally this duplex was US 209/US 611.


The state-name shields are NB in Stroud at a slip ramp that undercuts PA 611, which seems to hint at an early freeway predecessor of I-80, but in fact I-80 was opened at the same time between Exits 298 and 305 according to Jeff Kitsko. The third photo with it's RIDOT-style square shield (or even slightly rectanular?) is past there, at the end of PA 33, and is the way to I-80 East that the second photo refers to.


SB at the beginning of PA 196, courtesy Scott Colbert; PA 611 continues straight ahead.

The PA 611 Doylestown Bypass

Onto I-76
Onto I-95
Into Philadelphia
Onto US 13
Onto US 1
Follow the Columbia Bridge to US 46, I-80, or NJ 94
To I-380
Onto I-80
Onto PA 33
Onto Business US 209
To US 209
Onto PA 940
Former US 611 on Jeff Kitsko's PAHighways.com
Back to PA Roads
Back to Roads