Mount Rose I-83 intersection: More comes together there than roads
Blink and a longtime landmark will come down around York County, Pa. This is the old Denny’s near Mount Rose Avenue and Haines Road. Few will lament its coming down, particularly when it means the unclogging of the congested Interstate 83 Mount Rose interchange. Also of interest: York County history mystery intersection: It’s one to avoid, wherever it is.
Maybe it’s not surprising that the Mount Rose intersection is so congested that it demands an extensive facelift.
A bunch of things come together there.
Like, for example, three townships – Springettsbury, Spring Garden and York Township.
Cliff Satterthwaite, who drew this twin barns scene years ago, believes they sat in the vicinity of the Kmart on Haines Road. If you can confirm this or can place this scene, please comment below.
And the roads.
Haines Road runs through the intersection and turns into Camp Betty Washington some distance to the south. And then Prospect Street in York turns into Mount Rose Avenue west of the intersection. And then at Longstown, it become East Prospect Road.
That intersection has always been a transportation hub that goes beyond the interstate and old roads. The Ma & Pa Railroad ran by there on its way from Baltimore and York. And the old York Airport with its runway and all sat just to the north of the intersection in the area of Misericordia Nursing Home.
So there’s a lot going on at Mount Rose, where Haines Acres and other older suburbs and newer York Township housing empty onto the interstate.
It’s a case study about how development – planned and unplanned – can cause a downstream impact. It’s the cost of population growth.
Here’s a recent York Daily Record/Sunday News story about what’s happening, with the demolition of old buildings and such:
The Yowza Spring Water site on Mt. Rose Avenue, a former gas station, is a pile of rubble.
The Denny’s restaurant on Haines Road, right before it becomes Camp Betty Washington Road, is a couple of walls away from being in the same condition.
Both buildings came down in preparation for PennDOT’s Interstate 83/Mount Rose Avenue interchange project. Several other buildings — which housed the Budget Host Inn, Par-Tee Mini Golf, Mexitaly, Pacific Pride commercial fueling and Nello Tire’s warehouse — also are slated for demolition.
“All of that is leading up to construction,” said Mike Crochunis, PennDOT District 8 press officer, Friday.
Crochunis said after the properties are cleared, construction on the new highway exchange will be put up for bid on Jan. 15, 2015.
Crochunis said the demolition is taking place well before construction “for safety purposes.”
He said PennDOT does not want the buildings to become structurally unsafe in the interim or subject to vandalism or inhabited by homeless squatters.
Crochunis said a sewer in the area also will need to be addressed before construction.
The revamped interchange and widening of Mount Rose Avenue is to alleviate ever-worsening traffic congestion in that area.
The old Denny’s is coming down.
Also of interest:
How a bird sees the Mount Rose Interchange
Where did Camp Betty Washington Road get its name
*Photo courtesy York Daily Record/Sunday News
