Route information | ||||
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Maintained by PennDOT | ||||
Length | 24.685 mi[1] (39.727 km) | |||
Major junctions | ||||
South end | PA 441 near Marietta | |||
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North end | US 22 in Grantville | |||
Location | ||||
Country | United States | |||
State | Pennsylvania | |||
Counties | Lancaster, Dauphin | |||
Highway system | ||||
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Pennsylvania Route 743 (PA 743) is a north–south state route located in central Pennsylvania. The southern terminus is at PA 441 in Marietta. The northern terminus is at U.S. Route 22 (US 22) near the East Hanover Township hamlet of Grantville though some signage has it continue north past Interstate 81 (I-81) to PA 443. The route runs north through Lancaster County, passing through Maytown before reaching Elizabethtown. Here, the route has concurrencies with PA 230 and PA 241 and comes to an interchange with the PA 283 freeway. PA 743 continues into Dauphin County and crosses PA 341 before reaching Hershey. In Hershey, the route follows Cocoa Avenue between US 322 and US 422, the latter which is known as Chocolate Avenue. PA 743 follows Park Avenue north past Hersheypark and Hersheypark Drive east before heading north on Laudermilch Road from Hershey to Grantville.
PA 743 was first designated by 1930 from US 22 (now US 422) east of Hershey north to PA 43 in Grantville along Lingle Avenue and Laudermilch Road. The road between Marietta and Maytown became the southernmost part of PA 241. By 1940, a portion of PA 340 was designated along the road between Marietta and Hershey while PA 743 was realigned to head southwest to US 422 and PA 340 in Hershey. The northern terminus was slightly shortened in the 1940s following a realignment of US 22. PA 743 was moved from Derry Road to Hersheypark Drive in the 1950s. In 1961, PA 743 was extended south from Hershey to Marietta, replacing that section of PA 340. In 2012, PA 743 was realigned at the intersection with US 422 in Hershey, eliminating a short concurrency.