New Jersey Route 33
[[File:|300px|alt=]] | ||||
Route information | ||||
Maintained by NJDOT | ||||
Length | 42.03 mi[1] (67.64 km) | |||
Existed | 1927–present | |||
Major junctions | ||||
I-295 in Hamilton Twp US 130 in Washington Twp I-95/NJTP in East Windsor NJ 133 in East Windsor US 9 in Freehold Twp NJ 34 in Howell GSP in Tinton Falls NJ 18 in Neptune Twp | ||||
Location | ||||
Country | United States | |||
State | New Jersey | |||
Highway system | ||||
|
Route 33 is a state highway in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The highway extends 42.03 miles, from Trenton at an intersection with U.S. Route 1 and Route 129 to an intersection with Route 71 in Neptune Township. The speed limit on Route 33 differs in zones. The highest is 55 mph (85 km/h) in Zone 9.[2] There are several intersections on 33 with future developments.
Route 33 begins in Trenton on a two-lane road. It soon merges with U.S. Route 130 in Washington Township. It leaves Route 130 and becomes a local town road. In East Windsor, it becomes an avenue with four lanes. It becomes a freeway after passing the route's bypass. The road crosses the Garden State Parkway's Exit 100 in Tinton Falls and Route 18 in Neptune. Route 33 ends at Route 71 in Neptune. It has two concurrencies along the route, one with Route 34 and the second with Route 130.
Route description
On its way across central New Jersey, Route 33 traverses three counties: Mercer, Middlesex, and Monmouth.[1] Beginning in Trenton, Route 33 is a two-lane road, with one lane in each direction. Once it merges with U.S. Route 130 in Washington Township, Route 33 has two lanes in each direction.[1] After crossing into East Windsor Township, Route 33 veers off and becomes a local road going into Hightstown. After passing through the center of town, Route 33 again enters East Windsor Township, crossing the border at its interchange with the New Jersey Turnpike. After the overpass for the turnpike interchange, Route 33 becomes an avenue with a total of at least four lanes with two lanes in each direction.[1] Route 33 then crosses into Monroe Township, where it is slowly becoming a residential access road for new communities. It then continues into Millstone Township as a rural avenue. Continuing into Manalapan Township, the avenue again becomes a residential access road. At the ramp for Route 33 Business, the avenue turns into a freeway bypass, known as the Freehold Bypass. Route 33 bypasses Freehold Borough to the south staying within Freehold Township. Within Freehold Borough, Route 33 Business is the original alignment of Route 33 before the bypass was built.
Communities[3] |
---|
The bypass of Freehold is the partial alignment of what would have been a Route 33 freeway from Neptune to Trenton. As time went on, a scaled back version of just a bypass was agreed upon. The western start of the freeway is just east of County Route 527, and was built from Route 33 Business to U.S. Route 9 in the 1970s. The next section was built from U.S. Route 9 across Route 79 to Halls Mill Road (County Route 55), and this remained its terminus from the late 1980s until January 17, 2003, when the final leg of the bypass was opened. East of Halls Mills Road, it is a two-lane freeway with a westbound entrance at Howell Road, and full access from Brickyard Road.
The Howell Road eastbound exit ramp has been closed since the bypass opened because of safety concerns. The interchange was originally planned to be a partial cloverleaf, but residents near Howell Road were concerned by sprawl and forced the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) to scale back the plans. Instead, a diamond interchange was built. This forced drivers wishing to head northbound on Howell Road to make a left turn, which proved to be dangerous because of the limited sight distance caused by the overpass. Now because the NJDOT does not want to pay to fix the problem, the exit has been barricaded since the freeways extension was opened. The ramp has guardrails blocking access and the NJDOT intends to bulldoze what is left.[4][5]
History
Route 33 originally was part of the 1920s New Jersey Route 1 in parts of the road south of Hightstown and as Route 7 from Hightstown to its terminus at Route 71. Both roads were changed into Route 33 in the 1927 New Jersey state highway renumbering.[6]
Route 33 was originally planned as a freeway from U.S. Route 1 in Trenton across New Jersey to Route 18 in Neptune. However, in 1967, the NJDOT scaled back proposals to the current seven-mile Freehold Bypass. The bypass from near County Route 527 in Manalapan to Halls Mills Road in Freehold was completed and opened in segments from 1971-1988; however, the remainder of the bypass east to Fairfield Road in Howell was not completed until 2003. For such a small freeway, the Route 33 bypass has more abandoned segments then any other state freeway in New Jersey. Comparatively, Routes 15, 18, 21 and 24 each only have one abandoned portion to them. Here are the three segments on Route 33, in eastbound order.
The cloverleaf ramp from Route 79 southbound to Route 33 freeway eastbound has been mostly destroyed, to make way for a new reverse jughandle for U.S. Route 9 northbound to Schanck Road. The merging part of the ramp still remains abandoned along the right side of the eastbound freeway.[7] The original alignment for the freeway east of Halls Mills Road (CR 55) can be seen now as an NJDOT maintenance shed. The new alignment curves to the left after the interchange, in order to avoid what the NJDOT believed to be a suspected (but never identified) turtle bog habitat. The pavement is accessible from the eastbound on-ramp, but is fenced off.[8] Howell Road was never given access from Route 33 eastbound and thus the ramp still remains barricaded off, slowly decaying.[9]
Future improvements
There are many future developments for Route 33. Heavy traffic and recent studies hint at a possible widening of Route 33 all the way to Route 34 in Wall Township, however this is still only in the proposal phase. Monmouth County is performing a corridor study on Route 33 to determine if any action should be taken. The Collingwood Circle is scheduled for replacement with a smaller roundabout, starting Fall 2006. The idea is to slow the traffic down before it enters the new intersection, but with such heavy traffic on both Route 33 and Route 34. It doesn't seem likely that this will solve the congestion issue and the NJDOT will likely reconstruct it a decade from now like the former Route 35 and Route 36 Circle in Eatontown.[10] There is a planned Route 33 bypass of Washington Township that will run from Washington Boulevard and link up with U.S. Route 130 at South Gold Drive. The former alignment of Route 33 will likely become a Main Street for the new Washington Town Center.[11] Route 33 is being widened from Route 35 to Route 71 in Neptune to provide a center turning lane as well as shoulders. Signals will be modified to provide proper movements.[12]
On December 31, 2006, the Turnpike Authority released its proposals regarding Interchange 8. The current Interchange 8 would be demolished and replaced with a new interchange. The new Exit 8 would end at the intersection with Route 33, Milford Road, and the 133 bypass (on the east side of the expressway, instead of the west). This new Exit 8 would grant direct access to the bypass (without going through any traffic lights), as well as to 33, using grade-separated interchanges. The new toll gate would feature a total of 12 booths at the toll gate.[13] Monmouth County recently gave a tour to DOT officials and stressed the need to improve the Wemrock Road exit off the Route 33 freeway. They also wanted the intersection with Business 33 to be rebuilt. County officials believe that both projects would help with future traffic flow emanating from the planned Freehold Raceway Mall connector road.[14]
Major intersections
NJ 33 Freeway (Mileposts 0.0 - 29.5)
NJ 33 (Mileposts 26.6 - 30)
County | Location | mi[1] | km | Destinations | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Monmouth | Freehold Township | 25.68 | 41.33 | Wemrock Road – Monmouth Battlefield State Park | Parclo interchange |
26.59 | 42.79 | County Route 537 To U.S. Route 9 North – Smithburg, Freehold, The Amboys, Newark | Parclo interchange, no access from NJ 33 eastbound to CR 537 westbound or from CR 537 eastbound to NJ 33 westbound | ||
27.54 | 44.32 | U.S. Route 9 South – Lakewood | Parclo interchange, access from NJ 33 only | ||
27.69 | 44.56 | Route 79 – Freehold | No exit eastbound, use US 9 exit. | ||
29.04 | 46.74 | County Route 55 (Halls Mills Road) | Cloverleaf interchange | ||
29.89 | 48.10 | County 527 | |||
Howell Township | 30.04 | 48.34 | Howell Road | Half diamond interchange; eastbound exit and westbound entrance, although eastbound exit is closed | |
30.64 | 49.31 | Fairfield Road | Half diamond interchange; eastbound exit and westbound entrance; Route 33 Business completes missing movements | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi |
NJ 33 (Milepost 34.7 - 42.3)
County | Location | Mile | Destinations | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Monmouth | Howell Township | Western terminus of NJ 33/ NJ 34 concurrency | ||
34.70 | Route 34 | |||
Wall Township | Eastern terminus of NJ 33/ NJ 34 concurrency | Collingwood Circle. | ||
35.85 | Route 34/County Route 547 | |||
Tinton Falls Boro | 37.16 | Route 66 | ||
37.47 37.58 |
Garden State Parkway | GSP Exit 100 | ||
Neptune Township | 40.02 | Route 18 | NJ 18 Exit 8 | |
41.38 | Route 35 | |||
42.03 | Route 71 | End of Route 33 |
Related routes
References
- ^ a b c d e New Jersey Route 33 Straight Line Diagram from the New Jersey Department of Transportation
- ^ Speed Limits for Route 33
- ^ Motor Carriers' Road Atlas (Map) (Deluxe ed.). Rand McNally. 2007. p. 67. § T13, J10, J11, J12, J13, and J14.
{{cite map}}
:|access-date=
requires|url=
(help) - ^ Baratta, Kathy (2004-02-11). "Howell Road exit from bypass will stay closed". News Transcript. Retrieved 2006-12-18.
- ^ "State should bite the bullet on bypass exit". News Transcript. 2004-03-03. Retrieved 2006-12-18.
- ^ Route 33 Straight Line Diagram from 2005
- ^ Mapquest View of Route 33/Route 79 interchange
- ^ Mapquest View of Route 33/County Route 55 interchange
- ^ Howell Road interchange
- ^ Bartin, Bekir. ""MODELING AND SIMULATION OF UNCONVENTIONAL TRAFFIC CIRCLES" (PDF). Retrieved 2006-12-18.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|coauthors=
ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - ^ FY 2006-08 Statewide Transportation Improvement, accessed October 9, 2006.
- ^ FY 2005-07 Statewide Transportation Improvement, accessed December 18, 2006.
- ^ Pike plan raises concern, The Trenton Times, January 1, 2007.
- ^ Route 33 & Wemrock improvement from Mall connector, News Transcript, January 24, 2007.