View source for Lehigh Street

{{Use American English|date=May 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox street
|marker_image=
|name=Lehigh Street
|alternate_name=
|maint=
|map=
|length_mi=
|length_round=
|length_ref=
|length_notes=
|established=
|decommissioned=
|direction_a=South
|terminus_a=State Avenue in [[Emmaus, Pennsylvania|Emmaus]]
|junction={{jct|state=PA|I|78|PA|309}} in [[Allentown, Pennsylvania|Allentown]]
|direction_b=East
|terminus_b={{jct|state=PA|PA|145}} in [[Allentown, Pennsylvania|Allentown]]
|location=[[Allentown, Pennsylvania]], U.S.
|system=
}}
'''Lehigh Street''' is a major road that connects [[Emmaus, Pennsylvania]] in the west to [[Allentown, Pennsylvania]] in the east in the [[Lehigh Valley]] region of eastern [[Pennsylvania]]. The road is one of six roads that enter and depart Allentown, the third-largest city in Pennsylvania.

Lehigh Street is one of several major Allentown-area exits off [[Interstate 78 in Pennsylvania|Interstate 78]], which runs from [[Interstate 81 in Pennsylvania|Interstate 81]] in [[Lebanon County, Pennsylvania|Lebanon County]] in the west to the [[Holland Tunnel]] and [[Lower Manhattan]] in the east.

Lehigh Street also serves as a major commercial center for the Lehigh Valley. The Auto Mile, which includes approximately a dozen new and used automobile dealerships, is located on Lehigh Street's western border with Emmaus. As the road enters Allentown from the west, it passes [[Allentown Queen City Municipal Airport|Queen City Airport]], an Allentown airport used primarily by small, privately owned aircraft. [[South Mall]], an enclosed shopping mall in [[Salisbury Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania|Salisbury Township]], is located on Lehigh Street.

The Emmaus side of Lehigh Street is the location of Shangy's, a beer distributor with the largest selection of domestic and global beers in the nation, including over 3,000 selections overall.

==History==
===Revolutionary War===
Over the evening of December 25 and 26, 1776, [[George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River|George Washington secretly led his troops across the Delaware River]]. On the [[New Jersey]] side of the Delaware on December 26, [[George Washington|Washington]] and his [[Continental Army]] troops then launched a successful surprise attack on [[Hessian (soldier)|Hessian troops]] at the [[Battle of Trenton]].

Following the victory at Trenton, Washington and his Continental Army staff proceeded to [[Allentown, Pennsylvania|Allentown]], where they passed up Lehigh Street, then called Water Street, where they stopped at the foot of the street at a large spring on the property that is the present-day Wire Mill. There, Washington and staff rested and watered their horses, and then went their way to their post of duty.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lehighvalleyhistory.com/allentown-city|title=Allentown City – Lehigh Valley History|website=lehighvalleyhistory.com|access-date=October 23, 2017}}</ref>

===20th century===
In 1941, from [[Cedar Crest Boulevard]] in [[Emmaus, Pennsylvania|Emmaus]] to  S. 6th Street and Auburn Street at present-day [[Pennsylvania Route 145|PA Route 145]] in [[Allentown, Pennsylvania|Allentown]], Lehigh Street was designated as [[Pennsylvania Route 29]].<ref>{{Cite FTP |url=ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_PDF_FILES/Maps/Type_10_GHS_Historical_Scans/Lehigh_1941.pdf|server=[[Pennsylvania Department of Highways]]|url-status=dead|title=1941 Lehigh County Map|access-date=2007-07-31}}</ref> In 1960, the designation was removed and it was called Lehigh Street.<ref>{{Cite FTP |url=ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_PDF_FILES/Maps/Type_10_GHS_Historical_Scans/Lehigh_1960.pdf|server=[[Pennsylvania Department of Highways]]|url-status=dead|title=1960 Lehigh County Map|access-date=2007-07-31}}</ref>

==Route description==
[[File:Lehigh Street SB at 29th Street.jpg|thumb|Lehigh Street southbound at 29th Street in [[Allentown, Pennsylvania|Allentown]]]]
Lehigh Street is a continuation of State Avenue near [[South Mall]] in the northern sections of [[Emmaus, Pennsylvania|Emmaus]]. After crossing the [[Allentown, Pennsylvania|Allentown]] border with Emmaus, it widens to a four-lane road with a center left-turn lane. From there, Lehigh Street runs northward traversing one of the busiest commercial districts in the city.

North of 29th Street SW, Lehigh Street interchanges the overlap of [[Interstate 78 in Pennsylvania|Interstate 78]] and [[Pennsylvania Route 309]], continuing through an underpass east of [[Allentown Queen City Municipal Airport]]. The street runs away of the airport in its northward progression. At Lehigh Street's intersection with Jefferson Street, Lehigh Street narrows to two-lanes and turns slightly in a northeast course. North of 12th Street in Allentown, the street does not have the center left-turn lane.

A few blocks from South 12th Street, Lehigh Street intersects several Allentown-area roads and passes south of [[Bicentennial Park (Allentown)|Bicentennial Park]], an outdoor athletic stadium At Wyoming Street, Lehigh turns east and widens to three-lanes with two southbound lanes and one northbound lane and continues west past South 8th Street and Allentown's [[Albertus L. Meyers Bridge]]. It then heads eastbound as Saint John Street up to South 6th Street, also known as [[Pennsylvania Route 145|PA Route 145]].

Lehigh Street westbound splits at the intersection with [[Pennsylvania Route 145|PA Route 145]] at South 6th and Auburn Streets four blocks from [[Center City Allentown]]. The one-way roadway merges with Saint John Street, which then becomes Lehigh Street eastbound. North of this, PA 145 follows two-way Lehigh Street north, intersecting with Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive. Lehigh Street ends at the intersection with Union Street in Center City Allentown, where PA 145 splits into a one-way pair along that street.<ref>{{cite map|publisher=[[PennDOT]]|title=Tourism and Transportation Map|cartography=Geographic Information Division Bureau of Planning and Research|year=2007|section=W8<!--|access-date=2007-07-31-->}}</ref>

== Major intersections ==
{{PAinttop|county=Lehigh}}
{{PAint
|location=Emmaus
|mile=
|road=State Avenue
|notes=Southern terminus
}}
{{PAint
|location=Allentown
|lspan=3
|mile=
|road={{jct|state=PA|I|78|PA|309|city1=Harrisburg|city2=Tamaqua|city3=Bethlehem|city4=Quakertown}}
|notes=Exit 57 (I-78/PA 309).
}}
{{PAint
|mile=
|road={{jct|state=PA|PA|145|name1=South 6th Street/Auburn Street}}
|notes=South end of PA 145 overlap
}}
{{PAint
|mile=
|road={{jct|state=PA|PA|145|name1=Union Street}}
|notes=Northern terminus
}}
{{PAintbtm}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Lehigh Street| ]]
[[Category:Emmaus, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Streets in Allentown, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Transportation in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania]]