U.S. Route 209

U.S. Route 209
US 209 highlighted in red, US 209 Bus. in blue
Route information
Auxiliary route of US 9
Maintained by PennDOT, NYSDOT, NPS, and JIBC
Length	211.74 mi[1][2] (340.76 km)
Existed	1926[3]–present
Major junctions
South end	PA 147 in Millersburg, PA
Major intersections	I-81 near Tremont, PA I-476 / Penna Turnpike NE Extension near Weissport, PA PA 33 in Snydersville, PA I-80 in Stroudsburg, PA US 206 near Milford, PA US 6 from Milford, PA to Port Jervis, NY I-84 in Matamoras, PA Future I-86 / NY 17 in Wurtsboro, NY US 44 / NY 55 near Kerhonkson, NY NY 28 in Kingston, NY
North end	US 9W / NY 199 in Ulster, NY
Location
Country	United States
States	Pennsylvania, New York
Counties	PA: Dauphin, Schuylkill, Carbon, Monroe, Pike NY: Orange, Sullivan, Ulster
Highway system
United States Numbered Highway System List Special Divided
Pennsylvania State Route System Interstate US State Scenic Legislative
New York Highways Interstate US State Reference Parkways
← PA 208 PA → PA 210 ← NY 208 NY → NY 210

U.S. Route 209 (US 209) is a 211.74-mile (340.76 km) long U.S. Highway in the states of Pennsylvania and New York. Although the route is a spur of US 9, US 209 never intersects US 9, coming within five miles of the route and making the short connection via New York State Route 199 (NY 199). The southern terminus of the route is at Pennsylvania Route 147 (PA 147) in Millersburg, Pennsylvania. The northern terminus is at US 9W north of Kingston in Ulster, New York, where the road continues east as NY 199.

In Pennsylvania, the highway travels through the length of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, along the southern part of the Poconos in Monroe and Carbon counties through Jim Thorpe and along parts of the defunct historic Lehigh Canal and Lehigh Valley Railroad then over the divide near Nesquehoning into the Schuylkill Valley along Panther Creek. For part of its route in New York, US 209 runs alongside the defunct Delaware and Hudson Canal, which ran from Port Jervis to Kingston,^[4] in each case, following the old land road connections connecting the anthracite coal fields of Northeastern Pennsylvania with the industries and heating customers in New York City.

US 209 is one of the original highways in the 1926 U.S. Highway System plan. The route was initially an intrastate highway contained entirely within Pennsylvania. It began at an intersection with US 11 (now US 22 / US 322) in Clarks Ferry (east of Duncannon) and ended at US 6 in Milford.^[3] US 209 was extended northward to US 9W in Kingston, New York, in April 1935 and truncated to Millersburg, Pennsylvania, by 1938.^[5] The portion of US 209 in New York north of Port Jervis was previously designated as US 6 from 1926 to 1928, U.S. Route 6N from 1928 to 1933,^[6] and New York State Route 279 from 1933 to 1935.^[7][8]

US 209 was realigned onto limited-access highways in two locations along its routing during the 1950s. The first is in the Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, area. Originally just a bypass of Stroudsburg, a portion of this expressway is now also part of Interstate 80 (I-80) while another portion is now also part of PA 33, with the southern end and the portion between I-80 and PA 33 still just US 209. The second is in the Kingston, New York, area. Serving as a bypass of Kingston that connects to the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge, the highway begins west of Kingston along US 209 south of NY 28 in Ulster and ends north of Kingston, at a cloverleaf interchange with US 9W and NY 199, still in Ulster. This also serves as the current northern terminus of US 209, replacing the old terminus at US 9W in Downtown Kingston. When the expressways were finished, US 209's former routing through downtown Stroudsburg was redesignated as US 209 Business, and NY 28 was extended over US 209’s former alignment through downtown Kingston.^[9][10]