The Department of Transportation this week designated parts of Creek Road and Routes 52 and 162 in Chester and Delaware counties as the Brandywine Valley Scenic Byway.

Pennsylvania's scenic byway designation covers 25 miles of roads that pass a number of attractions, including the Brandywine Battlefield State Park, Brandywine River Museum and Longwood Gardens. Pennsylvania's designation joins with a similar designation by the State of Delaware on its sections of Routes 52 and 100.

The Pennsylvania Byways Program, managed by the Department of Transportation, allows designated routes to qualify for federal funds to pay for such improvements as paved shoulders, interpretative signs and scenic plantings.

Pennsylvania now has 11 scenic byways--

· Route 3011, which connects Route 6 with Kinzua Bridge in McKean County (2001);

· Interstate 476, the Blue Route, in Delaware County (1993);

· Route 30, Exton Bypass, Chester County (1993);

· Routes 711 and 381, the Laurel Highlands Scenic Byway, Westmoreland and Fayette counties (1996);

· Route 40, the National Road, Washington, Fayette and Somerset counties (1996);

· Route 144, Sproul State Forest, Clinton and Centre counties (2002);

· Route 5 and Alternate Route 5, the Bayfront Parkway and Peninsula Drive (the Seaway Trail) in Erie County (2003);

· Grandview Avenue, McArdle Roadway and Sycamore Streets in Pittsburgh (2003);

· The Governor Robert P. Casey Highway, Lackawanna County (2004); and

· Route 120 in Clinton and Elk counties (2004).

5/27/2005