U.S. Route 9 in New Jersey

infobox road
state=NJ
type=US
route=9
maint=NJDOT, DRBA, and NJTA
length_mi=166.34
length_ref= [http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/refdata/sldiag/00000009__-.pdf US 9] straight line diagram from the New Jersey Department of Transportation]
length_round=2
direction_a=South
direction_b=North
starting_terminus=Cape May-Lewes Ferry in North Cape May
ending_terminus=George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee
junction=)"
established=1926
previous_type=
previous_route=7
next_type=NJ
next_route=9
commons=category

U.S. Route 9 is a major U.S. highway in the northeast United States. US 9 runs from Laurel, Delaware, to the Canadian border near Champlain, New York, but plays a major role in the state of New Jersey, running from the southern tip of the state in Cape May to the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee.

The highway was immortalized by Bruce Springsteen, a native of Freehold, in the song "Born to Run": "Sprung from cages on Highway 9/ Chrome-wheeled, fuel-injected, and steppin' out over the line...".

Route description

There are two distinct sections of U.S. 9 south of the concurrency, with Toms River being the dividing point. South of there, the highway is mostly a two-lane surface road that often closely parallels, and twice joins, the Garden State Parkway. North of Toms River, it moves westward, much farther inland, to serve Freehold and central Monmouth County, becoming a four-lane commercial strip in the process.

Cape May to Toms River

Cape May County

From the Cape May-Lewes Ferry dock, US 9, now signed as a north-south route, continues its eastward course as Lincoln Boulevard along the south edge of North Cape May. It becomes Sandman Boulevard as it leaves town. At Cold Spring, it meets its first New Jersey state highway where Seashore Road heads off to the left. But drivers are not aware of this, since NJ 162 is not signed. At the next intersection, Sandman continues as NJ 109, the former route of US 9 into Cape May prior to the inclusion of the ferry link. 9 itself turns left along Shore Road to begin its northward trek through the low-lying, often swampy, terrain of the cape.

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The next state highway junction comes at Clermont, where NJ 83 splits off to the northwest. Five miles (9 km) further on, at Seaville, NJ 50 intersects. Development becomes more constant alongside the road as Route 9 reaches Marmora. In Marmora, through-traffic northbound on US 9 must turn right onto Roosevelt Boulevard and then get onto the Garden State Parkway to cross the Great Egg Harbor River on the similarly named bridge. Beyond Roosevelt Boulevard, US 9 continues as a local street (Shore Road) into Beesleys Point, where it draws closer to the Parkway to a dead end at the Beesley's Point Generating Station. In the past, Route 9 crossed the Great Egg Harbor River next to the bridge of the same name, into Atlantic County along the privately-owned and tolled Beesley's Point Bridge, which has been closed since 2004 because of a crumbling deck.

Atlantic County

On the other side of the Great Egg Harbor River, US 9 merges on and off the Garden State Parkway at Exit 29. Now called New Road, it intersects NJ 52 and goes through Somers Point, then Linwood and Northfield, suburbs of Atlantic City. At the next, Pleasantville, it intersects US 40/US 322, main surface routes to nearby Atlantic City. Almost a mile beyond comes its interchange with the Atlantic City Expressway, the toll road into the city.

The last major east-west artery from Atlantic City to the rest of the state, US 30 (White Horse Pike), crosses US 9 two miles ahead in Absecon. A mile north of here, NJ 157, US 9's former alignment into Absecon, comes in from the south as the route drops New Road for first East Wyoming Avenue and then North Shore Road. It at first trends eastward through greener surrounding country, coming further from the Parkway than it has yet and as close to the ocean as it ever will. Then, after Absecon Highlands, it begins a westerly curve once again, and resumes the New Road designation, then becoming North New York Road at Smithville. The land gets much more forested until, just before the flats around the Mullica River, US 9 merges onto the Parkway. This river crossing takes the two roads into Burlington County.

Pine Barrens

Shortly before crossing the smaller Bass River, 9 exits the Parkway. This section finds it on the eastern edge of the Pine Barrens, the vast natural area of the interior of South Jersey. While the land around the highway is consistently developed and populated, the presence of the scrubby pines that give the region its name is noticeable despite frequent clearings for buildings.

From the exit, it meanders eastward a few miles, then crosses a small creek into Little Egg Harbor Township in Ocean County. Two miles Farther, the roadway enters Tuckerton. After the latter, it resumes a straight north-northeast bearing, following the Parkway, Again into Little Egg Harbor Township and then into Eagleswood and Stafford Township. At Manahawkin, the next community along the route, NJ 72, the main route to Long Beach Island, crosses above at a cloverleaf interchange.

North of Manahawkin, US 9, now North Main Street, comes to first Barnegat, the small town named for the vast nearby bay. After Waretown, the road passes the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station, one of New Jersey's three nuclear power plants. The island and water around this stretch gave its name to the next town, Forked River. The land gets more built up into another Shore community, Lanoka Harbor, and US 9 takes the name Atlantic City Boulevard. At Bayville, US 9 turns left and heads more westerly into Beachwood, where another former routing, NJ 166, heads north. Continuing into South Toms River, it again rejoins the Parkway.

Toms River to US 1

Joined with the Parkway, US 9 intersects the busy regional artery NJ 37 at Exit 82, then leaves the Parkway again at the next exit, just before the Toms River toll barrier. This will be the last the two roads see of each other for 40 miles (64 km).

Route 9 heads north along Lakewood Road, trending westward, then resumes a due northward course into the intersection with NJ 70, main route between the Shore and the Philadelphia area. After this junction, it takes the name River Avenue as it gradually comes into Lakewood, where NJ 88 reaches its western terminus at the road. In Lakewood, Route 9 is known as Madison Avenue. Just past the busy downtown and shopping centers, US 9 enters Monmouth County when it crosses the North Branch of Metedeconk Creek.

The road widens to a four-lane divided route here, similar to those found elsewhere in New Jersey, in growing Howell Township. This strip is interrupted first by US 9's interchange with Interstate 195, where 9 begins a marked northwestward slant, then the interchange with the NJ 33 freeway and NJ 79 at Freehold, Monmouth's county seat.

Freehold Circle, the troublesome junction with Business 33, has been scaled back in recent years, like many of New Jersey's traffic circles. It is now a 6 lane road with traffic lights for Business 33, Manalapan Ave and the Freehold Raceway Mall. Past it, Route 9 runs west of Freehold and trends further west as development alongside the highway becomes almost constant, a sign it is entering the southern extents of the New York metropolitan area.

Manalapan and Marlboro give way, just before the junction with the NJ 18 freeway, to Middlesex County and Old Bridge. Route 9 begins running due north again as it picks up NJ 34 and comes into Sayreville, where the Parkway returns at its Exit 123. US 9 does not join it here, continuing instead for almost a mile to its junction with NJ 35, beginning a 1.5-mile (3 km) concurrency as it continues into South Amboy.

The twin spans of the Driscoll and Edison bridges loom ahead as 35 leaves at the former Victory Circle. US 9 continues via the Edison Bridge, just east of the Parkway again, over the Raritan River into Woodbridge. A complicated routing through the interchange with Interstate 287/NJ 440 has the Parkway's lanes in the middle of US 9's, until the latter breaks to the northeast after a mile. Following a cloverleaf junction with minor route NJ 184, the highway crosses over the Parkway-New Jersey Turnpike access road just east of the toll plaza and then the Turnpike itself. A mile (1.6 km) beyond, past several office parks and residential neighborhoods including the Woodbridge Center, US 9 reaches and joins US 1.

The US 1/9 concurrency

While concurrent with U.S. Route 1, the two highways run along the west side of Newark Liberty International Airport and over the Pulaski Skyway to Jersey City. From there, they run north on surface streets to Palisades Park and merge with an old freeway served by U.S. Route 46. The three U.S. highways run concurrently east from there to Interstate 95 and the George Washington Bridge toll plaza. US 46 ends at the state line in the middle of the bridge, whereas I-95 and US 1 and 9 continue over the bridge into New York. US 9 exits I-95 just after entering Manhattan to head north on Broadway.

History

The southern terminus of U.S. Route 9 has changed several times in its history. [ [http://www.geocities.com/usend0009/End009/end009.htm Endpoints of US Highways – US 9] ] When it was first designated in 1926, its terminus was at its junction with U.S. Route 30 in Absecon. In 1932, it was extended to Cape May, and the section near Absecon was rerouted. (The original alignment is now Route 157, and US 9's original southern terminus is now the terminus of Route 157.) From 1932 to 1979, US 9 followed what is now Route 109 to downtown Cape May, and terminated there. In 1979, US 9 was routed over the Cape May-Lewes Ferry – its original alignment into Cape May became Route 109, and U.S. Route 9 was extended west to Laurel, Delaware.

New York City did not sign U.S. Routes within its limits until 1934, [ [http://www.geocities.com/usend8089/End009W/index.htm Endpoints of US Highways – US 9W] ] which leads to some confusion regarding US 9's historical northern terminus. When the U.S. highways were first signed in 1926, US 9 east of the Hudson River in New York was signed as U.S. Route 9E. Because US 9E did not continue south through New York City to reconnect with US 9, the state of New Jersey signed its section of U.S. Route 9W as US 9, putting its northern terminus at the state line near Sparkill, New York at present day New York State Route 340. (In 1928, current US 9W was completed, and the northern terminus became the state line at Alpine, New Jersey.) In 1931, the state of New Jersey began signing U.S. Route 9 through the Holland Tunnel via present-day Route 139, putting its northern terminus at Jersey City (and extending US 9W south to Jersey City). In 1934, the City of New York began to sign U.S. Routes through the city, and signed US 9 along the George Washington Bridge, thus New Jersey shifted US 9 and US 9W onto their present alignments.

Major intersections

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-!colspan=6| continues northward through New Jersey

Related routes

There is one remaining bannered spur of US 9 in the state of New Jersey:
*U.S. Route 1-9 Truck in Jersey City

The following state highways were also formerly designated as bannered spurs of US 9:
*Route 139 in Jersey City was formerly "U.S. Route 1-9 Business".
*Route 166 in Toms River was formerly "U.S. Route 9 Alternate".

Additionally, the following state highways are former alignments of U.S. Route 9:
*Route 109 in Cape May
*Route 157 in Absecon
*Route 167 near Bass River Township

References

External links

* [http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/refdata/traffic_orders/speed/rt9.shtm Speed Limits for Route 9]