New Jersey Route 55

Communities
	Maurice River Township; Millville; Vineland; Franklin Township; Deptford;

	Route 55;
	Cape May Expressway; Maintained by NJDOT
Length:	40.54 mi (65.24 km)
Formed:	1967
South end:	NJ 47 in Port Elizabeth
Major; junctions:	NJ 49 in Millville; NJ 47 in South Vineland; NJ 56 in Vineland; US 40 in Malaga; US 322 in Harrison Twp
North end:	NJ 42 in Deptford Twp
	New Jersey State Highway Routes
< NJ 54	NJ 56 >

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Route 55 is a state highway in New Jersey, United States, built to freeway standards. It runs from an intersection with Route 47 (Delsea Drive) in Port Elizabeth (within Maurice River Township) north to an interchange with Route 42 in Deptford Township. The highway sees routine traffic congestion every morning a mile or more before its end, where all traffic merges onto northbound Route 42.^{[citation needed]} For most of its length, the highway has a wide median with natural, untouched vegetation growing in it.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Route description

Route 55 south at the southern of two crossings of Route 47 in Millville.

State Route 55 begins at an intersection with State Route 47 in the township of Maurice River.^[1] Approximately .07 miles later, an onramp to Route 47 leaves to the left at a traffic light. After this, the route becomes a divided highway. Schrooner Landing Road (Exit 21) is the first interchange on the 55 freeway, intersecting at 21.49 miles (34.58 km). Soon after Exit 21, the 55 freeway moves into the city of Millville. Gorton Road passes under at 23.36, during a three-mile (5 km) stretch of exit-less freeway. At 24.59 miles (39.57 km), Exit 24 interchanges for State Route 49 in Millville. Cumberland County Route 684 and the spur route of County Route 552 cross under soon after.

In the city of Vineland, County Route 555 (Exit 26) interchanges with the 55 freeway.^[1] 55 re-enters Millville and intersects with State Route 47 at Exit 27. 55 again re-enters Vineland and interchanges with County Route 552 at Exit 29. 55 crosses over New York Avenue at 30.98 miles (49.86 km). Landis Avenue, also known as State Route 56 interchanges at Exit 32. Several more county routes pass under after Exit 32. At 35 miles (56 km), Exits 35A-B interchange for Cumberland County Route 674.

Route 55 south between interchanges with CR 553 and US 322 in Gloucester County.

In Gloucester County, Route 55 enters the town of Franklin and intersects with U.S. Route 40 at Exits 39A and B.^[1] Pleasant Valley Road interchanges at 43.50 miles (70.01 km) for exit 43. In Elk Township, County Route 553 intersects with Route 55 at Exit 45. In the borough of Glassboro, Gloucester CR 641 interchanges at Exit 48. Route 55 enters Harrison Township and interchanges with U.S. Route 322 at Exit 50. County Route 536 is also present at this interchange. In Mantua Township, CR 553 intersects once again, this time at Exit 53B. An interchange is present at 56.37 miles (90.72 km) in Deptford for Route 47. The final exit on 55 is Exit 58, which is for Deptford Center Road. Route 55 comes to end in Deptford at State Route 42.

[edit] History

[edit] Planning

The highway was planned in the late 1960s along with several southern New Jersey freeways that were never built, including Route 60. Initially titled the Cape May Expressway, it was first proposed as a toll highway very similar in concept to the Atlantic City Expressway. Eventually those plans fell through, and the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) began studies for a state freeway instead. The freeway was built in sections from 1967 to the 1990s.^{[citation needed]} For a time, Route 55 was merely a bypass of Millville and Vineland before it was connected to Route 42; the whole route runs parallel to Route 47.

Original plans would have continued Route 55 to the Garden State Parkway near exit 13 in the vicinity of Sea Isle City. Construction of this section of the highway has been stalled because of the protected wetlands along the route. The lower few exits of the freeway have non-standard signage that is irregularly small for a 65 mph (105 km/h) freeway.

Route 55 is the longest continuous state route freeway in New Jersey at 40.5 miles (65.2 km) long, with Route 18 following in a close second at 40.2 miles (64.7 km) long.^[1]^[2]

[edit] Impact on community

The freeway has been instrumental in bringing economic development to southern New Jersey, Vineland in particular. The most common use of the highway is a commuting route from Vineland, Glassboro, and Deptford Township north to the cities of Camden and Philadelphia. Despite the fact that the southern extension has been held up for decades, it may be revisited due to the disturbing images of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita in the Gulf states. The Cape May Peninsula and surrounding area does not have a proper evacuation route and Route 55 may get built to accommodate that.^[3]

[edit] Removal of call boxes

The freeway, like many other highways in New Jersey, once had solar powered emergency call boxes every 1.0-mile (1.6 km), however with the advent of cell phones the usage of these call boxes became extremely limited. So to save on maintenance costs the NJDOT removed these call boxes in 2005, and with difficulty replacing parts, they are disappearing from many other freeways such as I-195, I-280, I-295, I-78, I-80, NJ 208.^[4]^[5]

[edit] Expected developments

Alternate Route signage for the incomplete NJ 55

The freeway will be milled and repaved from milemarker 61.00-51.00 in both directions and is slated for completion in 2007.^[6]

The freeway will be milled and repaved from milemarker 40.00-34.00 in both directions and is slated for completion in 2007.^[6]

The interchange with Route 49 (Exit 24) will be reconstructed and improved to relieve congestion.^[6]

Though the NJDOT is not officially planning the extension of Route 55 yet, there are still efforts and studies being done to finish the remaining 20 miles (32 km) of the missing freeway. As a result, construction of this section is not expected to begin for years.^[7]^[8]^[9]^[10]

Plans are in place to possibly add a PATCO Rail Line down the median of Route 55. If the alternative were constructed Park & Rides would give access to the commuter line. Phase I would run to Glassboro (Rowan University), and Phase II would extend down to the Millville area and service the Cumberland Mall area.^[11]

[edit] Exit list

County	Location	Mile^[1]	#^[12]	Destinations	Notes
Cumberland	Maurice River Township	20.00		NJ 47 (Delsea Drive)	At-grade intersection
	Maurice River Township	21.49	21	Schooner Landing Road
	Millville	24.59	24	NJ 49 (Cumberland Road) – Millville, Bridgeton
	Vineland	26.88	26	CR 555 (Main Road/Wheaton Avenue) – Vineland, Buena
	Millville	27.79	27	NJ 47 (Delsea Drive) – Vineland, Millville
	Vineland	29.75	29	CR 552 (Sherman Avenue) – Bridgeton, South Vineland
		32.69	32A-B	NJ 56 (Landis Avenue) – Vineland, Rosenhayn
		35.01	35	CR 674 (Garden Road) – Brotmanville, North Vineland	Signed as exits 35A (east) and 35B (west) southbound
Gloucester	Franklin Township	39.36	39A-B	US 40 – Malaga, Elmer
	Franklin Township	43.50	43	Little Mill Road - Franklinville, Clayton
	Elk Township	45.36	45	CR 553 (Monroeville-Glassboro Road) – Clayton, Glassboro, Centerton
	Glassboro	48.84	48	CR 641 (Ellis Mill Road) – Glassboro, Ferrell
	Harrison Township	50.50	50A-B	US 322 / CR 536 – Glassboro, Richwood, Mullica Hill
	Mantua Township	53.48	53	CR 553 (Woodbury-Glassboro Road) – Pitman, Wenonah	Signed as exits 53A (south) and 53B (north) southbound
	Deptford Township	56.4	56A	NJ 47 south (Delsea Drive) to NJ 41 – Hurffville, Glassboro
		56.4	56B	NJ 47 north (Delsea Drive) – Woodbury, Westville
		58.90	58	To CR 621 to NJ 41 (Deptford Center Road) – Deptford Township, Almonesson^[13]
		60.54		NJ 42 north – Camden, Philadelphia	No access to NJ 42 south; all traffic must use NJ 41 to access NJ 42 south