Pennsylvania Route 463

PA Route 463 marker

PA Route 463
Route information
Maintained by PennDOT
Length: 12.886 mi[1] (20.738 km)
Existed: 1928[2] – present
Major junctions
West end: PA 63 in Hatfield Township
 
PA 309 / US 202 Bus. in Montgomery Township
US 202 in Montgomery Township
PA 152 in Prospectville
East end: PA 611 in Horsham
Location
Counties: Montgomery
Highway system
← PA 462PA 464 →

Pennsylvania Route 463 (PA 463) is a 12.9-mile-long (20.8 km) route completely in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Its western terminus is at PA 63 (Welsh Road) in Hatfield Township and its eastern terminus is at PA 611 in Horsham. It runs through the northern suburban areas of Philadelphia and passes through the towns of Hatfield, Montgomeryville, and Horsham. The route intersects PA 309, U.S. Route 202 Business (US 202 Bus.), and US 202 in Montgomeryville and PA 152 in Prospectville. Through its length, the route carries the names Forty Foot Road, Cowpath Road, and Horsham Road. PA 463 was designated in 1928 and fully paved by 1940. In 2010, a portion of the route in Montgomery Township was widened.

Route description

PA 463 eastbound in Montgomery Township approaching the intersection with Stump Road.

PA 463 begins an intersection with PA 63 on the border of Hatfield Township and Towamencin Township, heading northeast on four-lane undivided Forty Foot Road into Hatfield Township. The road passes through commercial areas and farmland and narrows to two lanes. The route continues into residential areas with a few businesses and enters the borough of Hatfield, where it becomes West Broad Street. In Hatfield, the road continues northeast to the center of town. Here, PA 463 turns to the southeast on South Main Street and passes more residential and commercial development, crossing the Bethlehem Branch railroad line that is owned by SEPTA and operated by the Pennsylvania Northeastern Railroad. The road continues back into Hatfield Township and becomes Cowpath Road. The route crosses SEPTA's Lansdale/Doylestown Line near the Fortuna station and intersecting Broad Street in a commercial area.[3][4]

Heading past more homes, PA 463 enters Montgomery Township at the Line Street intersection. It reaches the community of Montgomeryville, where PA 463 widens into a four-lane divided highway and intersects PA 309 (Bethlehem Pike) and US 202 Bus. (Doylestown Road) at the Five Points intersection.[3][4]

PA 463 westbound in Horsham Township at the intersection with Babylon Road.

Past this intersection, the route takes on the name Horsham Road and passes near more businesses as it narrows into a three-lane road with a center left-turn lane and one travel lane in each direction. After crossing North Wales Road, the route carries five lanes total, with two travel lanes in each direction and a center left-turn lane, as it heads into residential areas. The road passes through commercial areas past the Upper State Road intersection and crosses US 202. Past Stump Road, PA 463 narrows to two lanes total and runs past residential areas and business parks. Farther southeast, the route becomes the border between Horsham Township to the southwest and Montgomery Township to the northeast.[3][4]

Upon crossing Lower State Road, PA 463 fully enters Horsham Township and becomes a three-lane road with a center left-turn lane as it heads past housing subdivisions. The route loses the turning lane and continues southeast to PA 152 in the village of Prospectville. At this intersection, PA 463 gains a center left-turn lane again and passes a few businesses before continuing past Deep Meadow Park and Kohler Park. The road intersects Keith Valley Road and passes near Samuel Carpenter Park. At the Babylon Road junction, the route becomes a five-lane road and runs past business parks before coming to Privet Road. At this point, PA 463 runs past the Horsham Air Guard Station to the northeast and homes and businesses to the southwest. The route reaches the edge of the air station property at the Maple Avenue intersection. PA 463 intersects Dresher Road, where the center left-turn lane ends and the road becomes four lanes, reaching its eastern terminus at PA 611 in the community of Horsham.[3][4]

History

When Pennsylvania first legislated routes in 1911, present-day PA 463 was not given a number.[5] In 1928, PA 463 was designated onto its current alignment from PA 63 in Hatfield Township to US 611/PA 2 in Horsham. At this time, the route was paved between PA 63 and Hatfield.[2] When first created, PA 463 intersected US 122/US 309/PA 12/PA 52 in Montgomery Township and PA 152 in Horsham Township. By 1930, PA 463 was paved in Horsham Township. At this time, it no longer intersected PA 12 and PA 52 and it now intersected PA 752 in Horsham Township.[6] The remainder of PA 463 was paved by 1940. Also by this time, US 122 became US 202 and PA 463 no longer intersected PA 752, the first of several changes to the routes that intersected PA 463.[7]

In 1968, the US 309 designation that the route intersected in Montgomeryville became PA 309.[8][9] The route at the eastern terminus of PA 463 changed from US 611 to PA 611 in 1972.[10][11] Construction began to widen the section of PA 463 between North Wales Road and General Hancock Boulevard into a five-lane road as part of the 202 Parkway project in 2009.[12] The widening project was completed a year later.[13]

Major intersections

The entire route is in Montgomery County.

Locationmi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
Hatfield Township0.0000.000 PA 63 (Welsh Road/Forty Foot Road) to I-476
Montgomery Township5.2578.460
PA 309 / US 202 Bus. (Bethlehem Pike/Doylestown Road) – Quakertown, Philadelphia, Doylestown
6.25110.060 US 202 – Doylestown, Norristown
Horsham Township9.16914.756 PA 152 (Limekiln Pike) – Chalfont, Philadelphia
12.88620.738 PA 611 (Easton Road)
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Bureau of Maintenance and Operations (January 2015). Roadway Management System Straight Line Diagrams (Report) (2015 ed.). Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  2. 1 2 Pennsylvania Highway Map (Philadelphia Metro) (Map). Gulf Oil. 1928. Retrieved November 8, 2007.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Google (February 10, 2011). "overview of Pennsylvania Route 463" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Montgomery County, Pennsylvania (Map) (18th ed.). 1"=2000'. ADC Map. 2006. ISBN 0-87530-775-2.
  5. ↑ Map of Pennsylvania Showing State Highways (PDF) (Map). Pennsylvania Department of Highways. 1911. Retrieved January 27, 2011.
  6. ↑ Tourist Map of Pennsylvania (PDF) (Map). Pennsylvania Department of Highways. 1930. Retrieved January 27, 2011.
  7. ↑ Official Road Map of Pennsylvania (PDF) (Map). Pennsylvania Department of Highways. 1940. Retrieved June 24, 2010.
  8. ↑ "U.S. Route 309 Will Become A State Highway This Month". Standard-Speaker (Hazleton, PA). February 5, 1968. Retrieved August 13, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ Official Map of Pennsylvania (PDF) (Map). Pennsylvania Department of Highways. 1970. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
  10. ↑ "Routes 611, 106 Will Be Changed". Standard-Speaker (Hazleton, PA). March 15, 1972. Retrieved August 13, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ Pennsylvania (Map). Cartography by General Drafting. Exxon. 1973.
  12. ↑ "2009 a year of change for local municipalities". The Reporter (Journal Register Company). January 1, 2010. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
  13. ↑ "Route 202 Parkway Construction Update" (PDF) (December 2010/January 2011 ed.). Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. January 2011. Retrieved February 10, 2011.

External links

Route map: Bing / Google

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pennsylvania Route 463.

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