Pennsylvania Route 378
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| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by PennDOT | ||||
| Length: | 9.555 mi (15.377 km) | |||
| Existed: | 1971 (1968 as Interstate 378) – present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end: |
 PA 309 in Upper Saucon Township
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 PA 412 in Bethlehem
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| North end: |
 US 22 in Bethlehem |
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| Location | ||||
| Counties: | Lehigh, Northampton | |||
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| Location: | Bethlehem |
| Existed: | 1968–1971 |
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Pennsylvania Route 378 (PA 378) is a north-to-south road in Lehigh and Northampton counties. The southern terminus is at PA 309 in Center Valley. Its northern terminus is at U.S. Route 22 (US 22) in Bethlehem. The route heads north from PA 309 as a two-lane undivided road through Upper Saucon Township and Lower Saucon Township before crossing South Mountain into the city of Bethlehem. Here, PA 378 follows city streets through Bethlehem's South Side, intersecting the northern terminus of PA 412. The route crosses the Lehigh River and becomes a four-lane freeway that continues north to US 22. PA 378 is the only highway from US 22 to Center City Bethlehem, and a quick route for visitors traveling to the Sands Casino Resort on the city's South Side.
The portion of PA 378 south of Bethlehem was originally numbered as PA 12 in 1928 and renumbered to PA 191 in 1961. Construction on the freeway from West Broad Street to US 22 began in 1966 and finished two years later. This freeway was numbered Interstate 378 (I-378) and served as a spur of I-78, which formerly ran along the US 22 freeway. When I-78 was rerouted from US 22 to south of the city, the spur became disjointed from its parent. I-378 was downgraded to state route status in 1971. Three years later, the PA 378 designation replaced PA 191 from Center Valley to Third Street in Bethlehem. The state did not remove the exit tabs for the freeway section, making PA 378 one of only a few state freeways with exit numbers (another one is PA 309 in Wilkes-Barre). The exit numbers also go in the wrong direction: Exit 3 is south of Exit 1, most likely due to the freeway being built when Pennsylvania still practiced sequential exit numbering. In 2009, the portion north of the Lehigh River was named the Fred B. Rooney Highway.
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