U.S. Route 40 in New Jersey

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U.S. Route 40
Harding Highway
Black Horse Pike
Maintained by NJDOT and Atlantic County
Length: 64.28 mi[1] (103.45 km)
West end: I-295/US 40 at Delaware border on the Delaware Memorial Bridge
Major
junctions:
US 130/NJ 49 in Pennsville Twp
NJTP in Carneys Point Twp
NJ 55 in Franklin Twp
US 322 in Hamilton Twp
GSP in Egg Harbor Twp
US 9 in Pleasantville
ACE in Atlantic City
East end: Atlantic Avenue/Pacific Avenue in Atlantic City
New Jersey State Highway Routes
< NJ 39 NJ 41 >

U.S. Route 40 serves as a major east-west highway in southern New Jersey from Delaware and points south to the Jersey Shore. It runs from the Delaware border on the Delaware Memorial Bridge through three counties, Salem, Gloucester, and Atlantic, and ending concurrent with US 322 in Atlantic City. Along its trip through these counties, some of the small towns that depend on the traffic US 40 brings are Woodstown, Elmer, Newfield, and Buena. An eclectic mix of rural, suburban, and urban environs are experienced on this relatively-short lifeline across South Jersey.

US 40 also remains the preferred route to Atlantic City from Delaware, Maryland, and points south and west, due to the non-existence of other viable alternatives (the Atlantic City Expressway starts about 25 miles north of where US 40 enters New Jersey). This fact, along with the relatively rural lifestyle enjoyed by the people who live along this artery, has made for sticky situations in the summer, the peak of tourist season at the Jersey Shore.

Contents

[edit] Route description

US 40 is Interstate-standard as it enters the state concurrent with Interstate 295, and eventually the New Jersey Turnpike. It shortly exits off the Turnpike (as the last exit before the toll barrier) and proceeds onto Wiley Road, a 4-lane rural divided highway. The road continues for about 3 miles until it reaches the terminus of Route 48 in eastern Carneys Point Township. Until the concurrency of US 322 in Hamilton Township, the vast majority of the highway is two lanes.

The next concurrency happens in Woodstown, where Route 45 meets US 40 for about a half-mile through the downtown area. Then, US 40 continues through the countryside of Pilesgrove and Upper Pittsgrove townships to meet Route 77 at the Pole Tavern Circle; from there, US 40 makes a bee-line for Elmer, another small borough like Woodstown.

The next major junction is Route 55; this is where travelers heading for Cape May County beaches would exit US 40, as this freeway provides access to Route 47. Continuing on US 40, the next concurrency is Route 47 in Malaga; this concurrency only lasts for about a mile. From there, US 40 has one more concurrency with a primary New Jersey Route near Mays Landing with Route 50.

When US 40 meets US 322 in Hamilton Township, the highway finally returns to a 4-lane highway; this will last to its terminus in Atlantic City. The newly-joined US 40/322 continue through Egg Harbor Township, Pleasantville, and finally past Bader Field to end at Atlantic and Pacific avenues near the Boardwalk.

Some roadside attractions include the Cowtown Rodeo, Hamilton Mall, and Bernie Robbins Stadium. Numerous mom-and-pop restaurants, stores, and produce stands line the highway, as well as larger chains, most prominently Wawa Food Markets.

[edit] History

From its creation in 1926, US 40 has ended in Atlantic City, though it has come from Delaware in different ways. [2] For the first three decades, it utilized two different ferry routes at different times; one from Wilmington, Delaware to Penns Grove (along DE/NJ 48) from 1926 to 1936, then one from New Castle, Delaware to Pennsville from 1936 to the opening of the Delaware Memorial Bridge on August 16, 1951, which is the routing the road remains at today.

Originally completely concurrent with Route 48 for its length, over the years US 40 eventually became independent of the state route; first, from the rerouting of US 40 and US 130 to the ferry terminal in Pennsville in 1936, and finally with legislation in 1953 resulting in the truncation of Route 48 to its present terminus in eastern Carneys Point Township. [3]

[edit] Junction list

County Location Mile[1] Roads intersected Notes
Salem Carneys Point Township 0.00 I-295 Delaware Memorial Bridge
Continues into Delaware
0.95 New Jersey Turnpike Eastern end of concurrency
Western end of concurrency
1.17 US 130/Route 49  
1.70 New Jersey Turnpike Eastern end of concurrency
1.85 Route 140/CR 540  
5.42 Route 48
Pilesgrove Township 10.02 Route 45 Western end of concurrency
Woodstown 10.67 Route 45 Eastern end of concurrency
Upper Pittsgrove Township 14.57 CR 581  
16.52 Route 77 Pole Tavern Circle
21.82 CR 553  
Gloucester Franklin Township 25.54 Route 55  
26.71 Route 47 Western end of concurrency
27.20 Route 47 Eastern end of concurrency
30.21 CR 555  
32.67 CR 557 Western end of concurrency
Atlantic Buena 35.13 Route 54  
Buena Vista Township 35.26 CR 557 Eastern end of concurrency
38.19 CR 540  
Hamilton Township 45.17 CR 552  
46.35 Route 50 Western end of concurrency
46.97 Route 50/CR 559 Eastern end of concurrency
Western end of concurrency
47.30 CR 559 Eastern end of concurrency
51.73 US 322 Western end of concurrency
51.93 CR 575 Western end of concurrency
Egg Harbor Township 53.85 CR 575 Eastern end of concurrency
57.34 CR 563  
57.42 Garden State Parkway  
Pleasantville 59.09 US 9  
59.46 CR 585  
Atlantic City 62.12 Atlantic City Expressway Westbound entrance/
eastbound exit only
64.28 Atlantic Ave/Pacific Ave Eastern terminus of

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Straight Line Diagram from NJDOT for U.S. Route 40
  2. ^ US Highway Begin and End Table. US-Highways.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-25.
  3. ^ New Jersey Roads. AlpsRoads.net. Retrieved on 2008-02-25.


U.S. Route 40
Previous state:
Delaware
New Jersey Next state:
Terminus