Pennsylvania Route 72 (PA 72) is a north–south state route located in southeast Pennsylvania. The southern terminus of the route is at U.S. Route 222 (US 222)/PA 272 in Lancaster. The northern terminus is at PA 443 north of Lickdale in Union Township. PA 72 serves as a major road connecting Lancaster and Lebanon counties, serving East Petersburg, Manheim, Cornwall, Lebanon, and Jonestown. The route intersects several major roads including US 30 and PA 283 north of Lancaster, the Pennsylvania Turnpike (Interstate 76, I-76) south of Cornwall, US 322 along a concurrency on a freeway bypassing Cornwall, US 422 in Lebanon, US 22 near Jonestown, and I-81 via Fisher Avenue in Lickdale.
The portion of the road between Lancaster and Lebanon was chartered as two separate private turnpikes in the 1850s. PA 72 was designated in 1927 to run concurrent with US 230 between the Maryland state line and Lancaster, with US 222 replacing US 230 a year later. In 1928, PA 72 was extended north from Lancaster to PA 343 north of Jonestown. The concurrency with US 222 south of Lancaster was removed by 1930, cutting the southern terminus back to US 230 in Lancaster. PA 72 was extended south from Lancaster to US 222 in Wakefield in the 1930s, following US 222 to Willow Street before following a straight alignment south. The route was also rerouted to head north to PA 443 near Green Point.
A separate section of PA 72 existed in Luzerne County, running from US 11 in Larksville east to US 309 in Wilkes-Barre between the 1930s and the 1940s. The route was moved to its current alignment between Quentin and Lebanon in the 1950s, having previously followed US 322 along what is now PA 419 between Quentin and Cornwall and Cornwall Road north to Lebanon. PA 72 was also split into one-way pairs following Queen and Prince streets in Lancaster and 9th and 10th streets in Lebanon. The route around Cornwall was upgraded to a freeway bypass concurrent with US 322 in 1963. PA 72 was rerouted in 1969 to reach its northern terminus at PA 443 and PA 934 in what is now Fort Indiantown Gap, following Fisher and Clement avenues between Lickdale and the military reservation. The southern terminus was cut back to Lancaster in the 1960s, with PA 272 replacing the route between Wakefield and Willow Street. The north end was cut back to I-81 in Lickdale in the 1970s before being rerouted to its current location by 1997.
Route description
Lancaster County
Northbound PA 72 begins at an intersection with northbound US 222/PA 272 in the city of Lancaster in Lancaster County, heading north on South Queen Street, which carries two lanes of one-way traffic northbound. The road passes through urban areas of rowhouses and businesses before it reaches the commercial downtown of Lancaster. The route passes to the west of the Lancaster County Convention Center before it intersects King Street, which carries eastbound PA 462, at Penn Square, where the Soldiers and Sailors Monument is located. Northbound PA 72 continues through the downtown area along North Queen Street, crossing eastbound PA 23 at Chestnut Street and westbound PA 23/PA 462 at Walnut Street; the road passes west of the Queen Street Station serving RRTA buses between Chestnut and Walnut streets. The road leaves downtown Lancaster and continues through urban areas of homes and commercial establishments, passing to the west of Lancaster General Hospital between James Street and Frederick Street. The route crosses into Manheim Township at the Liberty Street intersection and comes to an intersection with southbound US 222/PA 272 at McGovern Avenue to the south of the Lancaster station along Amtrak's Keystone Corridor railroad line. At this point, the northbound direction of PA 72 turns west to run concurrent with southbound US 222/PA 272 on McGovern Avenue, forming the border between Manheim Township to the south and a part of the city of Lancaster to the north. McGovern Avenue is a three-lane road with two westbound lanes that carry southbound US 222/PA 272/northbound PA 72 and one eastbound lane.