U.S. Route 11 (US 11) roughly parallels Interstate 81 (I-81) in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The route runs from the Maryland state line in Antrim Township, Franklin County, northeast to the New York state line in Great Bend Township, Susquehanna County. US 11 serves Harrisburg, Wilkes-Barre, and Scranton. Between Harrisburg and Scranton, US 11 follows the Susquehanna River, while I-81 follows a shorter route over the mountains further to the east.
Route description
US 11 enters Pennsylvania parallel to I-81 south of Greencastle in Antrim Township, Franklin County. The two routes head to the northeast, running parallel to each other as they pass through Chambersburg, where they intersect US 30, Shippensburg, and Carlisle. Northeast of Carlisle in Middlesex Township, US 11 has interchanges with the Pennsylvania Turnpike (I-76), and then I-81 roughly later. The stretch of US 11 between I-76 and I-81 is known as the "Miracle Mile" since it contains plenty of traveler services including restaurants, gas stations, lodging, truck stops, and shops. There is no direct interchange between the two Interstates, so travelers must use this stretch, or travel through downtown Carlisle, to get from one Interstate to the other.
US 11, now to the south of I-81, continues eastward into the western suburbs of Harrisburg as Carlisle Pike. This road serves a major arterial route in eastern Cumberland County. Rumored to have originally been a Native American trail, it is now a significant center of urban sprawl serving much of Harrisburg's western suburbs. The road passes through Middlesex Township, the small unincorporated village of New Kingstown, Silver Spring Township, and Hampden Township. Upon reaching Pennsylvania Route 581 (PA 581), US 11 splits from Carlisle Pike and runs concurrent with PA 581.
In Camp Hill, a close suburb of Harrisburg, US 11 stops paralleling I-81 and joins US 15 northward through the western suburbs of Harrisburg, crossing I-81 in this area. As the road exits the Harrisburg area, US 11 and US 15 begin to parallel the Susquehanna River as both head northward. They intersect US 22/US 322 near Duncannon and US 522 in Selinsgrove. The two routes remain overlapped to an intersection in Shamokin Dam, where US 15 branches off to the northwest, following the path of the West Branch Susquehanna River northward. US 11, in contrast, continues to parallel the main Susquehanna River, passing through municipalities such as Danville, Bloomsburg, and Berwick (where it crosses I-80) prior to reaching the Wilkes-Barre area.
North of Wilkes-Barre in Pittston, US 11 breaks from the Susquehanna River and begins to run parallel to I-81 once more. From Wilkes-Barre, the highway goes through nearby Scranton, becoming the North Scranton Expressway north of downtown. The North Scranton Expressway (officially the Congressman Joseph M. McDade Expressway) is a freeway north of downtown Scranton that carries US 11 and PA 307 north from the Mulberry Street Bridge over the Lackawanna River near downtown north to I-81, US 6, and US 6 Business. It carried unsigned State Route 3027 (SR 3027) until SR 0011 and SR 0307 were moved off their former routes to match the signed US 11 and PA 307 alignments (forming SR 6011 and SR 6307). SR 3027 still runs along Mulberry Street from Jefferson Avenue, where US 11 and PA 307 turn southwest, southeast to Harrison Avenue (SR 6011).
In the northwest corner of Scranton (referred to as the Notch), US 11 intersects US 6. US 6 joins US 11 westward to Factoryville, where US 11 separates from US 6 and resumes its northerly trek through Susquehanna County to the New York–Pennsylvania border in Great Bend Township. This stretch was originally built from 1918 to 1922 on the old route of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad and is called the "Lackawanna Trail". It parallels the current rail route between Scranton and Binghamton, New York, the Nicholson Cutoff, allowing views of the massive earthworks and the Tunkhannock Viaduct.