Pennsylvania Route 41

Route description

PA 41 begins at the Delaware border in Kennett Township, Chester County, where the road continues into that state as DE 41 and heads towards Wilmington. From the state line, the route heads northwest on two-lane undivided Gap Newport Pike, passing through farmland with some development. The road enters New Garden Township and comes to an interchange with Limestone Road, which heads south to the Delaware border and becomes DE 7. PA 41 continues northwest through more rural areas with some homes and businesses. Then route heads into the borough of Avondale, where it crosses an East Penn Railroad line and comes to an intersection with Baltimore Pike. Here, the road becomes Pennsylvania Avenue and passes through wooded residential areas. PA 41 leaves Avondale for London Grove Township and becomes Gap Newport Pike again, passing near homes and farmland before Baltimore Pike heads to the west. The route continues through commercial areas before coming to an interchange with the US 1 freeway.

Following this, the road runs through agricultural areas with some woods and homes, reaching an intersection with PA 841 in the community of Chatham. PA 41 continues through more rural areas and enters Londonderry Township, where it comes to a junction with PA 926. A short distance later, the road reaches a junction with the northern terminus of PA 796. The route runs through more farmland with some woodland and residences, crossing into West Fallowfield Township. Here, PA 41 comes to the community of Cochranville, where it crosses PA 10. After Cochranville, the road heads through more open farmland with some patches of woods and homes. The route briefly passes through a corner of West Sadsbury Township before it enters the borough of Atglen and comes to an intersection with PA 372. Following this, PA 41 heads into wooded areas and comes to a bridge over Amtrak's Philadelphia to Harrisburg Main Line. The road curves northwest and crosses back into West Sadsbury Township, passing through a mix of farm fields and development.

PA 41 crosses Pine Creek into Sadsbury Township in Lancaster County and heads west past homes and businesses as it bypasses the borough of Christiana to the north. The road curves to the north-northwest and passes through a mix of farms and woods with some commercial development a short distance to the east of the Amtrak line. The route heads north and crosses into Salisbury Township, where it enters the residential community of Gap and comes to an intersection with the eastern terminus of PA 741. PA 41 heads into business areas and comes to its northern terminus at a junction with US 30 (Lincoln Highway), which provides access to Lancaster to the west.

History

On April 7, 1807, the state of Pennsylvania chartered the Gap and Newport Turnpike to run from the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike in Gap southeast towards Delaware, where it was to continue to the Christina River in Newport, Delaware. The continuation into Delaware was chartered on January 30, 1808. The turnpike was created to improve trade between Lancaster County and Wilmington, Delaware. When Pennsylvania first legislated routes in 1911, the Gap Newport Pike along with the road running from Gap west to Lancaster were designated as Legislative Route 215. PA 41 was first designated in 1926 to run from US 22/PA 3/PA 13 in Harrisburg to US 22/PA 3 and US 120/PA 13 in Reading, heading southeast through Middletown, Elizabethtown, and Mount Joy to Lancaster, where it turned northeast and passed through Ephrata on its way to Reading. PA 41 ran concurrent with US 230 between Harrisburg and Lancaster and US 222 between Lancaster and Reading.

In 1928, PA 41 was rerouted at Lancaster to head southeast to the Delaware border near Kaolin. The new alignment ran along US 222/PA 72 from Lancaster south and east to Lampeter, where PA 41 headed east through Strasburg to Gap. From Gap, PA 41 ran southeast along the Gap Newport Pike to the Delaware border. At this time, all of PA 41 was paved except for the portion between Strasburg and Gap. PA 240 replaced the PA 41 designation along the US 222 concurrency between Lancaster and Reading. By 1930, the western terminus of PA 41 was cut back to US 222 near Lampeter, removing the concurrences with US 230 and US 222, while the road from PA 41 in Gap north to US 30 was designated as PA 741. By this time, the route was paved from a point east of Strasburg east to Gap. The northern terminus of PA 41 was moved to its current location at US 30 by 1940, replacing PA 741. Meanwhile, PA 741 was designated onto the former alignment of PA 41 between US 222 near Lampeter and Gap. In 1954, PA 41 was rerouted to bypass Atglen and Christiana to the northeast along its current alignment, having previously followed Fallowfield Road, Main Street, Zion Hill Road, and Newport Avenue. By 1959, PA 41 was realigned to the east of Cochranville, having previously passed through the community on Cochran Street.