text: pennsylvania route 39 pennsylvania route 39 ( pa 39 ) is a 17 . 83 miles ( 28 . 69 km ) state highway located in dauphin county , pennsylvania , united states . pa 39 begins at north front street near harrisburg and ends at u.s. route 322 and u.s. route 422 near hummelstown and hershey . the route passes through the northern and eastern suburbs of harrisburg and passes by hersheypark , giant center , as well as the primary production factory for the hershey company . between harrisburg and manada hill , it is known as linglestown road , from manada hill to hershey as hershey road and from hershey to near hummelstown and hershey as hersheypark drive . prior to the establishment of pa 39 in 1937 , pa 39 , had previously been designated as a route in northeastern pennsylvania during the 1920s . that designation was deleted when it was renumbered us 11 . as a result , pa 39 is one of a few routes which has a set of child routes which are no where near the primary route . the linglestown – manada hill portion of pa 39 was originally part of legislative route 140 , one of hundreds of unsigned legislative routes created by the sproul road bill in 1911 . lr 140 was later rerouted to bypass linglestown to the south , and the paxtonia – lower paxton township portion of its former routing became lr 140a . this legislative route was initially signed solely as pa 894 . pa 39 was assigned in the 1930s to the portion of lr 140a east of linglestown — overlapping pa 894 — and also to lr 22006 between the susquehanna river and manadahill . the pa 894 designation was later removed . pa 39 was extended southward to the vicinity of hummelstown in two stages . the first extension during the 1940s shifted pa 39 's eastern terminus to the junction of hershey road and allentown boulevard ( u.s. route 22 ) south of manadahill . its terminus was moved to its present location in the early 1960s . only local realignments and improvements have occurred since . route description pa 39 begins at an intersection with north front street on the east bank of the susquehanna river in the dauphin county township of susquehanna north of harrisburg . it heads northeast as linglestown road through a densely populated neighborhood and widens from two to four lanes as it approaches an interchange with u.s. route 22 and u.s. route 322 at the northern tip of wildwood lake . east of the exit , the highway reverts to two lanes and passes through the predominantly residential northern suburbs of harrisburg . it intersects north progress avenue prior to passing into lower paxton township . west of the village of linglestown , linglestown road intersects colonial road , and then continues east to linglestown , where it intersects north mountain road at a roundabout . outside of the village , the amount of development along the highway declines as the route passes through areas of forests and open fields . continuing east , the road becomes more developed as it approaches an interchange with interstate 81 at exit 77 . just east of the interchange , pa 39 intersects jonestown road and changes names from linglestown road to hershey road . unlike linglestown road , which followed a mostly east – west alignment , hershey road has a north – south orientation . it heads south from jonestown road to intersect us 22 , here an at - grade roadway named allentown boulevard , near skyline view . hershey road continues onward , snaking southeastward through a rural region of dauphin county to the vicinity of hershey . during this stretch , it passes through south hanover township and serves the communities of and union deposit . the route crosses into derry township after crossing over swatara creek , then intersects hersheypark drive near the creek 's southern bank . hershey road continues south from here as park boulevard , a service road for hersheypark , hersheypark stadium , hersheypark arena , the star pavilion , giant center and hershey 's chocolate world ; however , the route veers westward onto hersheypark drive and bypasses giant center to the north . this portion of the road is four lanes wide , the first significant portion of pa 39 to be that many lanes wide since the area surrounding i - 81 . pa 39 heads south bypassing the village of hershey to the north and west . it passes under a norfolk southern railway line , then enters a highly developed area east of the borough of hummelstown . here , the road intersects walton avenue , a local street connecting hersheypark drive to the village . this is the final junction along pa 39 as the route ends 0 . 3 miles ( 480 m ) later at a modified cloverleaf interchange with us 322 and u.s. route 422 . history legislative routes legislative route 140 , an unsigned legislative route extending from harrisburg in the west to pottsville in the east , was created on may 31 , 1911 , through the sproul road bill , which established the initial set of legislative routes throughout pennsylvania . lr 140 entered linglestown on north mountain road , then turned to follow modern pa 39 from linglestown to manadahill , where it veered onto jonestown road . lr 140 was realigned by 1926 to follow a direct route between paxtonia and manadahill via jonestown road . the portion of former lr 140 from paxtonia to the lower paxton – west hanover township line was then redesignated as lr 140a . all of lr 140a was designated as the signed pa 894 by 1930 . in the omnibus road bill act of 1931 , lr 22006 was established , spanning the portion of current pa 39 from the susquehanna river north of harrisburg to at the west hanover – south hanover township line , three miles north of union deposit . the remainder of current pa 39 north of swatara creek was a state - aid route designated a - 306 , which ran from south hanover township to union deposit . those sections of roads were paved in 1926 , in preparation for gaining state aid . designation and extensions pa 39 was assigned on may 1 , 1937 , by the pennsylvania department of highways to the portion of lr 22006 between the susquehanna river ( at north front street ) and manadahill and to the section of lr 140a east of linglestown , overlapping pa 894 along the latter . pa 894 was also extended northward along road to a junction with pa 443 near . the overlap between pa 39 and pa 894 was eliminated in the 1940s when the entirety of the pa 894 designation was removed . the first change to pa 39 's routing came in the 1940s . during this time , u.s. route 22 was rerouted through dauphin and lebanon county to follow allentown boulevard instead of jonestown road . as a result , pa 39 was extended a short distance southward along lr 22006 on what is now jonestown road , harper drive , and hershey road to meet the new alignment of us 22 south of manadahill . this section of pa 39 was rerouted in 1969 when a new road was constructed between jonestown road and manada view drive which directly connected linglestown road to hershey road . the alignment on jonestown road and what became harper drive was deleted . pa 39 was extended further southward on lr 22006 and a - 306 , as well as parts of legislative routes and , in 1961 , to a new terminus at u.s. route 322 and u.s. route 422 near hummelstown . at the time , it was routed on hanover street in the vicinity of union deposit . the portion of hanover street south of canal street had previously been part of pa 340 from the 1930s to the early - to - mid - 1950s . a new highway around the eastern fringe of union deposit was constructed in the late 1960s and opened to traffic as a realignment of pa 39 by 1970 . park boulevard in hershey was rerouted in 1973 to intersect the new bypass and provide a direct connection between hersheypark and pa 39 . rehabilitation projects in the early 1970s , the portion of pa 39 in susquehanna township from north sixth street to drive was converted from a two - lane roadway to a four - lane divided highway as part of the construction of the us 22 and us 322 bypass . the divided highway was extended west to north front street in the early 1990s . to the southeast , the segment of pa 39 south of west chocolate avenue near hummelstown was rebuilt as a divided highway ca . 1990 . all of hersheypark drive east to road was converted into a divided highway by 1995 . the piece of pa 39 near i - 81 was reconstructed into a four - line divided roadway ca . 1990 . in 2009 , pa 39 was widened to five lanes ( two lanes in each direction with a center turning lane ) when a new shopping center near the intersection of pa 39 and progress avenue was built . at the same time , west hanover township made improvements to the area surrounding pa 39 's interchange with interstate 81 . prior to the improvements , there was only one traffic light in the vicinity , located at jonestown road . several traffic lights and two additional lanes with a center concrete barrier was added to handle the increased truck traffic caused by the construction of warehouses nearby in 2003 and 2004 . pa 39 was also improved in linglestown square , when two roundabouts were installed between 2009 and 2011 . major intersections the entire route is in dauphin county .