Pennsylvania Route 283

Dauphin County

PA 283 reassurance marker

PA 283 begins at an intersection with Eisenhower Boulevard near Highspire that provides access to Pennsylvania Route 230. PA 283 is one of few Pennsylvania routes to end at a road without a signed route designation. From there, PA 283 intersects Interstate 283 at a cloverleaf interchange, which also connects to the Harrisburg East interchange of Interstate 76 (Pennsylvania Turnpike). East of I-283, the median widens and the road continues to the east. In Lower Swatara Township, PA 283 meets the Airport Connector freeway at an interchange which also provides access to PA 441. To the east, the freeway intersects North Union Street, indirectly connecting to Fulling Mill Road. After crossing the Swatara Creek and entering Londonderry Township, PA 283 meets Vine Street and curves south-southeast. In Middletown, PA 283 passes over the Pennsylvania Turnpike and PA 341 with no connection to either road, curving to the east. The next interchange connects to both PA 341 and PA 230. The freeway enters a rural area for about 5 miles (8.0 km) before crossing the Conewago Creek and entering Lancaster County.

Lancaster County

Westbound on US 30 approaching the beginning of westbound PA 283

After entering Lancaster County, PA 283 continues in an east-southeast direction and meets PA 743 near Elizabethtown. The road then passes under PA 241 with no connection before passing Elizabethtown to the northeast and meeting Cloverleaf Road. In Rapho Township, PA 283 interchanges with PA 772. The next exit is split up into two interchanges that lead to the eastern terminus of PA 230 on Harrisburg Pike.

After the PA 230 interchange, the median narrows to a Jersey barrier with no shoulder as it enters the outermost suburbs of Lancaster. PA 283 continues east-southeast, interchanging with Spooky Nook Road and PA 722. In Manheim Township, the freeway meets PA 741 and PA 72. Just inside Lancaster city limits, PA 283 finally reaches its eastern terminus at an interchange with US 30 which also provides access to Fruitville Pike.^[3][4]

Berks County

PA 283 was first designated in 1928 on an approximately 1-mile (1.6 km) road connecting PA 83 (today PA 724) to US 422 across the Schuylkill River in Berks County. The route was decommissioned in 1946.

Eisenhower Boulevard

In 1961, the designation was revived in the suburbs of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It was designated on a section of Eisenhower Boulevard between then-US 230 and the temporary end of Interstate 83 (the site of the Eisenhower Interchange today), replacing the retired US 230 Bypass route.^[5] This was only temporary designation, however, as an interstate highway connector between the Pennsylvania Turnpike and Interstate 83 was being built. The new interstate was built parallel to Eisenhower Boulevard. In 1969, two years ahead of its opening^[6], it was designated Interstate 283, and the PA 283 designation on Eisenhower Boulevard was deleted.^[2]

Harrisburg to Lancaster

In 1949, the section of what is now PA 283 between the current Mount Joy (PA 230) and Manheim Pike (PA 72) opened to traffic as part of US 230.^[7] Construction began in 1951, concluding the following year, to extend the expressway past the current eastern terminus of PA 283 at US 30 to US 222 (Oregon Pike). With the decommissioning of US 230 in 1967, this section became PA 230.^[7]

Also in 1967 was the beginning of construction between Elizabethtown and Mount Joy at the end of the then-US 230 expressway.^[2] The remaining section between Eisenhower Boulevard and Elizabethtown started construction in 1969, the same year the PA 283 designation was removed from Eisenhower Boulevard. The following year, the short section of road between Eisenhower Boulevard and I-283 opened as a connector between the two roads. With the opening of the section between Elizabethtown and Mount Joy in 1971, the PA 283 designation was revived along this section, extending eastward along the former PA 230 expressway to end at US 30, truncating PA 230 to its current eastern terminus.^[2] Finally, the section between I-283 and Elizabethtown opened in 1972, completing the route.^[2][8]

In 1987, when the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed a law reorganizing the Commonwealth's legislative routes into the Location Referencing System (LRS), Interstate 283 gained the LRS designation SR 0283. However, because two distinct traffic routes in the Commonwealth cannot share the same LRS designation, Pennsylvania Route 283 was given the LRS designation SR 0300.

The aging section of the route between Chiques Creek and PA 741 was reconstructed starting in 1994 and concluding in 1995.^[9] The section between PA 741 and US 30 was reconstructed as part of a US 30 reconstruction project, concluding in 2000.^[10]

A project is currently underway to totally reconstruct 6 miles (9.7 km) of PA 283 between Eisenhower Boulevard and PA 341.^[11] As part of the project, the ramp from westbound PA 283 to northbound I-283 will be widened to two lanes, and the loop ramp from westbound PA 283 to the Pennsylvania Turnpike will be removed and replaced with a left turn and a traffic signal. This will eliminate the problem of traffic weaving between the aforementioned loop ramp and the heavily-traveled loop ramp from southbound I-283 to eastbound PA 283. The project is projected to be completed in late 2020.^[11]