Atlantic City – Brigantine Connector

	Atlantic City – Brigantine Connector
	Route 446X; Maintained by the South Jersey Transportation Authority
Length:	2.3 mi (3.7 km)
Formed:	2001
South end:	AC Exwy. in Atlantic City
Major; junctions:	US 30 in Atlantic City
North end:	Route 87 near Brigantine
Counties:	Atlantic County, New Jersey
System:	Atlantic City Expressway
	New Jersey State Highway Routes
	Spur of Route 446

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The Atlantic City – Brigantine Connector, also known as the Atlantic City Expressway Connector or simply the Brigantine Connector, is a highway connector in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It connects the Atlantic City Expressway with Route 87, which leads into Brigantine, a beach resort along the Atlantic Ocean. The connector is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long and is maintained by the South Jersey Transportation Authority. It is considered to be a state highway and is assigned the route number Route 446X; however, the route number is not displayed among any of the road's signage. The connector consists of lettered exits from A to I in south to north order and features 10 bridges and 15 ramps throughout its length.

The Atlantic City – Brigantine Connector was initially planned in 1995 to provide a direct connection between the Atlantic City Expressway and the Brigantine area. Construction of the road was completed in 2001 at a total cost of $330 million (equivalent to $397 million in 2009). Before the Atlantic City – Brigantine Connector was planned, Mirage Resorts president Steve Wynn acquired a piece of land near the northern end of the proposed connector and planned for a direct exit ramp to a proposed casino called Le Jardin. Donald Trump, the chief executive officer of Trump Organization, who owned the nearby Trump Marina, took legal action against the state for the proposed ramp to Wynn’s casino. Despite the legal concerns, construction on the connector began in 1998. Wynn’s proposed casino was canceled following the acquisition of Mirage Resorts by MGM Grand Inc., which, as the MGM Mirage company, proposed the Borgata casino. Meanwhile, Trump’s casino received a direct ramp from the connector.

[edit] Route description

The Atlantic City – Brigantine Connector begins near the eastern terminus of the Atlantic City Expressway on the edge of Atlantic City, adjacent to the Rail Terminal.^[2]^[3] The speed limit is 35 mph (56 km/h) for its entire length. The exact route of the connector differs between maps by the South Jersey Transportation Authority (SJTA) and the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT). The SJTA considers the Connector to be 2.3 mi (3.7 km) long,^[1] which is measured from the Atlantic City Expressway interchange to the end of the northbound-only freeway extension to Route 87 towards Brigantine, New Jersey.^[4] NJDOT considers to the route to be 1.98 mi (3.19 km) long, measured from the Atlantic City Expressway interchange to the at-grade intersection with U.S. Route 30. The northbound highway extension to Brigantine is denoted as a ramp by NJDOT and is not considered part of the main route nor calculated in its total mileage.^[5]

The connector begins from Exit 1 on the Atlantic City Expressway, and heads north along the edge of the island. Exit A off of the connector is featured at the end of highway for southbound traffic, providing access to the Midtown and Downbeach neighborhoods of Atlantic City via Mississippi Avenue.^[4] The road has an at-grade intersection with the Atlantic City Line, adjacent to the city's Rail Terminal. Past the railroad line, it comes to Exit B for Bacharach Boulevard, which provides access to the Atlantic City Convention Center. After the Bacharach Boulevard interchange, the connector continues north along Beach Thorofare, running through a tunnel under a park.^[2]^[3] Upon emerging from the tunnel, Ramp D provides access to the connector from southbound Route 87 and Brigantine as well as southbound access from points served by the northbound direction of the connector such as the Borgata, Trump Marina, and Harrah's Atlantic City casinos further to the north.^[4]

The freeway northbound as it approaches the tunnel

The freeway heads east to Exit E, a northbound exit and southbound entrance that provides access to and from Route 187 and U.S. Route 30. This interchange marks the beginning of the southbound direction of the connector by way of the southbound entrance from US 30.^[2]^[3] From Exit E, the connector continues to the northeast as a northbound-only road with four separate exits. Exit F of the Atlantic City – Brigantine Connector is a northbound U-turn that provides access to the southbound direction for motorists coming from eastbound U.S. Route 30. From here, the road turns north and Exit H serves Renaissance Pointe and the Borgata casino. Exit G is for Route 87 (Huron Avenue), which provides access to Farley Marina and Trump Marina. Past this exit, the connector parallels NJ 87, with Exit I serving Harrah's Atlantic City. Past Harrah’s, the road merges into Route 87, which heads north to Brigantine.^[2] Throughout its length, the connector features 10 bridges and 15 ramps.^[6]

[edit] History

In 1995, the South Jersey Transportation Authority and the New Jersey Department of Transportation planned the construction of a four-lane connector highway and tunnel running from the Atlantic City Expressway north to the Marina district and Brigantine to better serve attractions in Atlantic City.^[7] Before the State of New Jersey announced plans for the connector project, the Atlantic City government requested bids for the sale of a property in the northern section of the city near the marina, which at one time served as the city's landfill. Mirage Resorts president Steve Wynn won the bid against Donald Trump, the chief executive officer of the Trump Organization.^[8] Wynn had intentions of constructing a new casino project on the property, known as Le Jardin, with an exit ramp from the connector leading directly to his new property.^[9] The exit to Le Jardin was referred to as a "driveway" to the casino, which caused Trump to take legal action against the state, as he felt that the easy access to Wynn's new property would create an unfair business advantage against Trump Marina, a Trump-owned property in the same area.^[10]^[11] The proposal for the grade crossing of New Jersey Transit's Atlantic City Line initially drew criticism from both the Delaware Valley Association of Rail Passengers and the Federal Railroad Administration because of the high amount of road and railroad traffic that would pass through the crossing. However, it was built because it was $24 million cheaper than building a grade-separated crossing and would allow for an interchange with Bacharach Boulevard.^[12]

Exit F traveling northbound

In 1997, Governor Christine Todd Whitman approved the project, and construction began on November 4, 1998.^[13] After construction on the freeway began, Wynn's interests were purchased by MGM Grand Inc., thus creating the MGM Mirage company, and plans for Le Jardin were canceled.^[14] Despite the fact that Le Jardin was canceled and MGM Mirage's new casino, Borgata, was not scheduled to open until 2003, Trump still fought against the project's plans to build the exit directly to the new casino. Eventually, in January 2000, Trump dropped his case after an exit ramp leading to the Trump Marina was added to the project.^[10]^[15]

On July 27, 2001, the Atlantic City – Brigantine Connector was completed after a 32-month construction period. The grand opening ceremony was open to the public, which featured various festivities, including a pedestrian tunnel walk.^[10] However, the connector was not opened to traffic until four days later due to a last-minute failure of the tunnel communications system.^[6]^[10] Although the connector itself was open to traffic, the exit ramps leading to the Borgata were still under construction along with the resort itself, and the ramps did not open up until October 2003.^[13] The total cost of the project was $330 million (equivalent to $397 million in 2009)^[16] and was funded by various state-operated agencies, while one-third of the cost was privately-funded by MGM Mirage.^[10]

[edit] Exit list

The entire route is in Atlantic City, Atlantic County. Unsigned NJ Route 446X runs a total length of 1.98 miles. Of this length, 1.59 miles of the route are on the freeway, with the remainder of the route on an at-grade road. Freeway exits are lettered from A–G, skipping C, with D being a southbound entrance. At mile marker 1.59, the freeway splits into two ramps — Exit E (left) and Exits F, H, and G (right). Connector continues at-grade via Exit E.

Mile^[3]	Exit letter	Destinations	Notes
0.00		AC Exwy. to G.S. Pkwy.	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; southern terminus of Atlantic City – Brigantine Connector
0.00	A	Midtown, Downbeach	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
0.54	B	Bacharach Boulevard – Convention Center
1.40	D	Route 87	Southbound entrance
1.59	E	US 30 – Uptown, Absecon	Left exit off of freeway; southbound exit and northbound entrance
1.59	Ramp E to Exits F, H, and G (northbound only)
	F	To AC Exwy. – Convention Center, Midtown, Downbeach	U-turn ramp for traffic entering from US 30 east
	H	Renaissance Pointe, Borgata	Splits from freeway ramp prior to Exit G
	G	Farley Marina, Trump Marina, Harrah's, Brigantine	Exit splits into two ramps — Brigantine Boulevard, Harrah's (left ramp) and Farley Marina, Trump Marina (right ramp). Left ramp merges onto NJ 87 (Brigantine Boulevard) following Harrah's exit via Ramp I.
Connector continues at-grade from Exit E towards US 30 at mile marker 1.98.