{{Short description|State highway in Pennsylvania, US}} {{Use American English|date=May 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox road |state=PA |type=PA |route=903 |map={{maplink-road}} |map_custom=yes |length_mi=17.733 |length_round=3 |length_ref=<ref name="PennDOT SLD">{{cite report|author=Bureau of Maintenance and Operations|url=http://www.penndot.gov/ProjectAndPrograms/ResearchandTesting/RoadwayManagementandTesting/Pages/RMS-Annual-SLDs-By-County.aspx#.VrD1GVIVSSo|title=Roadway Management System Straight Line Diagrams|date=January 2015|edition=2015|publisher=Pennsylvania Department of Transportation|accessdate=June 30, 2015}} * [http://www.dot.state.pa.us/public/Bureaus/BOMO/RM/RITS/Annual%20Electronic%20SLDs%20by%20County/District%205/Carbon%20Without%20Pipes.pdf Carbon County] (PDF) *[http://www.dot.state.pa.us/public/Bureaus/BOMO/RM/RITS/Annual%20Electronic%20SLDs%20by%20County/District%205/Monroe%20Without%20Pipes.pdf Monroe County] (PDF) </ref> |established=1928 |direction_a=South |terminus_a= {{jct|state=PA|US|209}} in Jim Thorpe |junction= {{plainlist| *{{jct|state=PA|I|476|PANE}} in Penn Forest Township *{{jct|state=PA|PA|534|US-Truck|209|dab2=Kresgeville-Brodheadsville}} in Kidder Township }} |direction_b=North |terminus_b= {{jct|state=PA|PA|115|US-Truck|209|dab2=Kresgeville-Brodheadsville}} in Tunkhannock Township |counties=Carbon, Monroe |previous_type=PA |previous_route=902 |next_type=PA 1926 |next_route=904 }} '''Pennsylvania Route 903''' ('''PA 903''') is a {{convert|17.7|mi|km|adj=mid|-long}} state highway located in Carbon and Monroe counties in Pennsylvania. The southern terminus is at U.S. Route 209 (US 209) in Jim Thorpe. The northern terminus is at PA 115 in Tunkhannock Township. The route runs through rural areas of the Pocono Mountains, with an interchange with the Pennsylvania Turnpike Northeast Extension (Interstate 476, I-476) in Penn Forest Township and a junction with PA 534 in Kidder Township. PA 903 is a two-lane undivided road nearly its entire length, besides the I-476 intersection. The route was designated in 1928 between US 209/US 309 in present-day Jim Thorpe, and a connecting road, now PA 115, south of Blakeslee. The highway was fully paved in the 1930s. Between 2008 and 2015, an E-ZPass-only interchange was constructed with I-476.

==Route description== thumb|left|PA 903 northbound in Penn Forest Township PA 903 begins at an intersection with US 209 in the borough of Jim Thorpe in Carbon County, heading northeast on two-lane undivided North Street. The road immediately comes to a bridge over the Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad's Lehigh Division line, the Lehigh River, and Norfolk Southern's Lehigh Line. After this bridge, the route heads into residential areas. PA 903 continues past more homes with some businesses before turning east into forested areas as an unnamed road.<ref name=gm/><ref name=PennDOTCarbon/>

The road heads into Penn Forest Township, running northeast through more forests with some residences and agricultural clearings. The route heads through forested areas with some wooded residential subdivisions, running through Christmans and reaching a diamond interchange with I-476 (Pennsylvania Turnpike Northeast Extension). PA 903 heads through more dense forests, crossing through a portion of Hickory Run State Park before passing to the west of the residential development of Towamensing Trails. The road crosses into Kidder Township and intersects PA 534.<ref name=gm/><ref name=PennDOTCarbon/>

The route heads north at this point and passes through a mix of woods and fields with some development before continuing back into dense forests and turning northeast near the Big Boulder ski resort and Big Boulder Lake to the south of the community of Lake Harmony.<ref name=gm>{{google maps|url=https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=US+209+and+PA+903&daddr=PA+115+and+PA+903&hl=en&sll=40.962425,-75.64451&sspn=0.251478,0.676346&geocode=FbKUbwId8Vh8-ylZEZPjobLFiTG82GwNOZNFmA%3BFUd-cgIdKil_-yk5-kthuPnEiTF7NzxfnDyvPQ&vpsrc=0&mra=ltm&t=h&z=11|title=overview of Pennsylvania Route 903|accessdate=December 12, 2011}}</ref><ref name=PennDOTCarbon>{{Cite FTP |title=Carbon County, Pennsylvania Highway Map|url=ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_pdf_files/Maps/GHS/Roadnames/carbon_GHSN.PDF|year=2011|server=PennDOT|url-status=dead|accessdate=December 12, 2011}}</ref> PA 903 enters Tunkhannock Township in Monroe County and runs parallel to the Tunkhannock Creek located to the northwest as it continues to its northern terminus at PA 115.<ref name=gm/><ref name=PennDOTMonroe>{{Cite FTP |title=Monroe County, Pennsylvania Highway Map|url=ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_pdf_files/Maps/GHS/Roadnames/monroe_GHSN.PDF|year=2011|accessdate=March 4, 2011|url-status=dead|server=PennDOT}}</ref>

==History== thumb|right|PA 903 northbound in Kidder Township PA 903 was originally called the Huffman Trail.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1970-12-03|title=TT|pages=15|work=Standard-Speaker|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28400160/tt/|access-date=2021-12-22}}</ref> When Pennsylvania first designated legislative routes with the Sproul Road Bill in 1911, the present-day alignment of PA 903 was not given a legislative route number.<ref name="PennDOT 1911">{{Cite FTP |title=Map of Pennsylvania Showing State Highways|url=ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_pdf_files/Maps/Statewide/Historic_OTMs/1911.pdf|year=1911|accessdate=January 1, 2014|url-status=dead|server=Pennsylvania Department of Highways}}</ref> PA 903 was designated in 1928 to run from US 209/US 309 in present-day Jim Thorpe northeast to an unimproved connecting road south of Blakeslee. At this time, all the route was unpaved except for a small portion to the northeast of Mauch Chunk.<ref name="PennDOT 1928">{{cite map|publisher=Pennsylvania Department of Highways|title=Map of Pennsylvania| url=http://www.mapsofpa.com/art9pics/1928-1131-2.jpg|year=1928|accessdate=May 7, 2015}}</ref> By 1930, the route was paved southwest to East Mauch Chunk while the state highway was under construction northeast to Christmans.<ref name="PennDOT 1930">{{Cite FTP |title=Tourist Map of Pennsylvania|url=ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_pdf_files/Maps/Statewide/Historic_OTMs/1930fr.pdf|year=1930|accessdate=June 24, 2010|url-status=dead|server=Pennsylvania Department of Highways}}</ref> The entire length of PA 903 was paved during the 1930s, at which point PA 115 was designated along the intersecting road at the northern terminus.<ref name="PennDOT 1940">{{Cite FTP |title=Official Road Map of Pennsylvania|url=ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_pdf_files/Maps/Statewide/Historic_OTMs/1940fr.pdf|year=1940|accessdate=June 24, 2010|url-status=dead|server=Pennsylvania Department of Highways}}</ref>

In 1990, plans were made to build an interchange with the Pennsylvania Turnpike Northeast Extension in Carbon County. A bill authorizing construction of this interchange was signed into law by Governor Robert P. Casey in July of that year.<ref name=mc71390>{{cite news|title=Harrisburg News: Casey Signs Interchange Bill|work=The Morning Call|location=Allentown, PA|date=July 13, 1990|page=B03}}</ref> The proposal for this interchange was cancelled by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission in 1995.<ref name=mc82495>{{cite news|last=Braden|first=Tyra|title=Carbon Turnpike Project Canceled - Commission Scraps Penn Forest Interchange Talks, Irks Legislator|work=The Morning Call|location=Allentown, PA|date=August 24, 1995|page=B03}}</ref> In 2006, plans for the interchange between I-476 and PA 903 were resurrected, with the proposed interchange to be all-electronic, in that it will only accept E-ZPass.<ref name=mc42806>{{cite news|last=Parker|first=Chris|title=E-ZPass slip ramps on Turnpike in Pocono area garners support ** Plan would build them off Northeast Extension in Carbon. |work=The Morning Call|location=Allentown, PA|date=April 28, 2006|page=B5}}</ref> Construction on the $23 million interchange began in the middle of 2008.<ref name=mc101110>{{cite news|last=Hartzell|first=Dan|title=Long road ahead to Poconos access from Turnpike|work=The Morning Call|location=Allentown, PA|date=October 11, 2010|page=A5}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Constructing a New EZ Pass Only Interchange Exit #87 on the NE Extension at Route 903|publisher=Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission|url=http://www.paturnpike.com/constructionprojects/Rt903AEI/|accessdate=January 9, 2015|archive-date=January 9, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150109034225/http://www.paturnpike.com/constructionprojects/Rt903AEI/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The interchange opened to traffic on June 30, 2015.<ref>{{cite web|last=Michlowski|first=Bill|title=New Turnpike Interchange Opens in Carbon County|publisher=WNEP-TV|location=Scranton, PA|date=June 30, 2015|url=http://wnep.com/2015/06/30/new-turnpike-interchange-opens-in-carbon-county/|accessdate=June 30, 2015}}</ref>

The original bridge carrying PA&nbsp;903 over the Lehigh River was constructed in 1953 and located {{convert|940|ft|m}} downstream of the current bridge. It was replaced in July 2016 as the original bridge was structurally deficient. The new bridge, connecting at its north end directly to the intersection of North Street and Front Street, is formally named Sgt. Andrew J. "AJ" Baddick Bridge.<ref name=JTBridge1>{{cite news |url=https://www.mcall.com/business/transportation/mc-route-903-bridge-in-jim-thorpe-reopens-20160702-story.html |title=New Route 903 bridge in Jim Thorpe opens |date=July 2, 2016 |newspaper=The Morning Call |author=Faust, Eileen |accessdate=November 22, 2022}}</ref><ref name=JTBridge2>{{cite web |url=https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/li/uconsCheck.cfm?yr=2014&sessInd=0&act=124 |title=2014 Act 124 |publisher=Pennsylvania General Assembly |date=July 9, 2014 |accessdate=November 22, 2022}}</ref> Prior to the construction of the new bridge, PA&nbsp;903 traveled along parts of River Street and Front Street on the north bank of the river.

==Major intersections== {{PAinttop|length_ref=<ref name="PennDOT SLD"/>}} {{PAint |county=Carbon |cspan=3 |location=Jim Thorpe |feet=0 |road={{jct|state=PA|US|209|name1=Lehigh Avenue|city1=Lehighton|city2=Nesquehoning|city3=Tamaqua}} |notes=Southern terminus }} {{PAint |type=etc |location=Penn Forest Township |feet=55486 |road={{jct|state=PA|I-Toll|476|PANE|city1=Scranton|city2=Allentown}} |notes=Exit 87 on I-476 / Penna Turnpike NE Extension; former PA 9 }} {{PAint |location=Kidder Township |type=concur |feet=72521 |road={{jct|state=PA|PA|534|US-Truck|209|dab2=Kresgeville-Brodheadsville|dir2=south|location1=Hickory Run State Park|city2=Kresgeville}} |notes=Southern end of US 209 Truck concurrency }} {{PAint |county=Monroe |location=Tunkhannock Township |ctdab=Monroe |type=concur |feet=93629 |road={{jct|state=PA|PA|115|US-Truck|209|dab2=Kresgeville-Brodheadsville|dir2=north|to3=yes|I|80|city1=Blakeslee|city2=Wilkes-Barre|city3=Brodheadsville}} |notes=Northern terminus; northern end of US 209 Truck concurrency }} {{Jctbtm|keys=concur,etc}}

==See also== *{{Portal-inline|U.S. Roads}} *{{Portal-inline|Pennsylvania}}

==References== {{Reflist|30em}}

==External links== {{AttachedKML|display=title,inline}} {{commons category}} *[https://www.pahighways.com/state/PA901-950.html#PA903 Pennsylvania Highways: PA 903]

903 Category:Transportation in Pennsylvania