During the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s, Berks County transportation planners proposed an extensive network of highways and parkways intended to improve travel around Reading. While several projects eventually became part of the region’s modern highway system, others were never completed.

One proposal was the Antietam and Northeast Parkway, a planned 6.6-mile, two-lane road connecting Route 422 with Pricetown Road around the eastern and northeastern sides of Reading. It appeared in the 1971 Reading Area Transportation Study (RATS) as Project No. 23, with construction tentatively scheduled for 1981–1985. But the idea dated to the late 1950s, and parts of its early transportation corridor had already received construction work.

1958: The original Antietam Creek Parkway proposal

In February 1958, the Central Berks Planning Commission received a comprehensive transportation plan prepared by planning consultant Russell VanNest Black. The plan envisioned expressways and scenic parkways around Reading, including corridors following local waterways and linking future recreation areas.

Among its proposals was an Antietam Creek Parkway extending from St. Lawrence to Skyline Drive. The concept was part of a larger effort to divert traffic around Reading, prepare for suburban development, and preserve open space along stream valleys. The early parkway was therefore envisioned as both a transportation improvement and a feature of a wider land-use plan.

1964: A $9 million highway proposal

By December 1964, the Antietam Valley Parkway had been included in a proposed $113 million countywide highway improvement program. The parkway was described as having three connections and an estimated cost of $9 million.

The program also included major proposals such as the Reading Outer Loop and extensions of the Warren Street Bypass. Although the detailed alignment was still evolving, the Antietam route was intended to create new transportation connections between the southeastern and northeastern portions of the metropolitan area.

1964–1966: The first parkway link was constructed

In October 1964, county officials approved a change to plans for the Bingaman Street–Antietam Creek connection in the Pennside–St. Lawrence area. Work included relocating a portion of Bingaman Street, providing a sweeping connection with Butter Lane, and improving access toward Harvey Avenue and the Boyertown Pike. An additional road section of approximately 500 feet was included in the revised proposal.

By July 1965, bids were being sought for a project estimated at approximately $100,000. It involved relocating the road between Butter Lane in Pennside and the Boyertown Pike, replacing narrow creek crossings with a new bridge, and improving the roadway approach. The work was explicitly described as the first link in the planned Antietam Parkway.

• Approximately 1,500 feet of roadway construction and realignment.
• A new bridge across Antietam Creek, replacing two narrow structures.
• Relocation of approximately 550 feet of Antietam Creek.
• Improved connections at Butter Lane, Harvey Avenue, and Bingaman Street.

In August 1965, G&E Construction Company of Lancaster submitted the apparent low bid of $94,843.78. By November, workers were installing prestressed concrete beams for the new bridge. The county allocated another $18,000 in liquid fuels funding in November 1966 for additional Bingaman Street improvements continuing toward St. Lawrence.

Project 70 and the proposed recreation corridor

Early parkway planning overlapped with proposals to protect recreational land along Antietam Creek. Project 70 was a Pennsylvania land-conservation program established in 1964 after voters approved a $70 million bond issue. It provided funding for acquisition of public parkland, recreational areas, conservation land, and historic resources before increasing development made such land more expensive to acquire.

The 1964 road-planning discussion referenced Project 70 alongside a proposed Valley Stream Parkway and park development. The connection reflects a wider effort to coordinate roads with stream-valley open space. It does not establish that Project 70 funds paid for the Bingaman Street work or the proposed parkway.

1967–1969: A second section was studied

In September 1967, plans for a replacement Parkview Road Bridge over Antietam Creek in St. Lawrence were affected by the proposed Section No. 2 of the Antietam Parkway. Officials favored temporary repairs rather than permanent bridge replacement until the parkway design was clearer. At that time, planners reported that one section had been built and another was being surveyed.

In May 1969, County Engineer C. Frank Minnich presented a preliminary alignment for a further 9,700-foot segment connecting the Boyertown Pike in St. Lawrence with the old police home at Shelbourne Road in Exeter Township. The estimated cost was $650,000.

The proposal specified a 24-foot roadway with shoulders and an 80-foot right-of-way. The cost estimate included engineering, land acquisition, inspections, and construction. County officials hoped to begin right-of-way acquisition and potentially complete the work in 1970. Planners also had to evaluate whether existing fill along a portion of the corridor would provide an adequate road foundation. The surviving description documents the proposal, not confirmation that this 9,700-foot segment was completed.

1970: Proposed land acquisition was deferred

In June 1970, the Berks County Park and Recreation Board deferred further action on a proposed acquisition of approximately 300 acres associated with the Antietam Parkway project. Board members were weighing this project against other recreational investments, including Gring’s Mill, and some questioned whether the county should pursue multiple major projects simultaneously.

The decision demonstrated that the Antietam corridor remained under active consideration, but also that recreation and land-acquisition plans faced competing county priorities. The available coverage does not establish whether this proposed acquisition was later completed.

1971: A 6.6-mile route from Route 422 to Pricetown Road

By October 1971, the parkway had become part of the Reading Area Transportation Study (RATS), a regional program of 31 highway projects totaling approximately 81.4 miles. The projects were categorized as high priority (1972–1980), medium priority (1981–1985), or low priority (1986–1990).

The study identified Project No. 23, the Antietam and Northeast Parkway, as a new two-lane parkway extending from Route 422 to Pricetown Road. It was assigned medium priority with construction tentatively anticipated in 1981–1985.

Unlike larger four-lane expressways in the study, the Antietam and Northeast Parkway was proposed as a two-lane highway. It would have created another connection around Reading’s eastern side, linking the Route 422 corridor to roads northeast of the city and complementing the planned bypass network. The proposed construction period was a planning target, not a guarantee that the route would be built.

1974: A longer alignment appeared in county planning

By April 1974, another planning description identified an approximately eight-mile Antietam Parkway corridor from Robeson Township, across the Schuylkill River into Exeter Township, and northwest toward Pricetown Road. This differed from the 6.6-mile project limits described in 1971.

The difference may have reflected a revised alignment or a broader description of the corridor, but the available accounts do not establish exactly why the length and endpoints changed. Officials were also considering whether planned highways conflicted with municipal development plans and whether some previously mapped corridors should be removed from future plans.

What happened to the parkway?

The complete Antietam and Northeast Parkway was never constructed. Its history nevertheless extended across more than 15 years of proposals, engineering work, bridge decisions, construction estimates, and recreation planning. The Bingaman Street relocation and new Antietam Creek bridge were actually built as the early link of a larger intended route.

Other proposed sections proceeded through surveying and preliminary alignment studies, while the 1971 RATS plan scheduled a continuous 6.6-mile parkway for the early-to-mid 1980s. The contemporary accounts reviewed do not document a definite date of cancellation or prove a single reason why the remaining sections were abandoned.

A partially realized highway plan

The Antietam and Northeast Parkway was not entirely a paper proposal: local road and bridge improvements were completed as its first link. But the larger envisioned roadway connecting Route 422 with Pricetown Road never emerged as a continuous highway.

The surviving plans show that transportation officials were seeking an additional north–south route east of Reading while coordinating parkland, local roads, and future bypass connections. Together, the early construction maps and the 1971 regional plan document how that vision developed—and how only part of it became reality.