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Atlantic City–Brigantine Connector

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Route 446X marker
Route 446X
Map
Atlantic City–Brigantine Connector highlighted in red
Route information
Auxiliary route of Route 446 (A.C. Expressway)
Maintained by SJTA
Length2.3 mi[1] (3.7 km)
Existed2001–present
Major junctions
South end A.C. Expressway in Atlantic City
Major intersections US 30 in Atlantic City
North end Route 87 in Atlantic City
Location
CountryUnited States
StateNew Jersey
CountiesAtlantic
Highway system
Atlantic City Expressway
← Route 446Route 446X→ Route 495

The Atlantic City–Brigantine Connector, also known as the Atlantic City Expressway Connector,[2] is a 2.3-mile-long (3.7 km) freeway connector and tunnel in Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States. It is an extension of the Atlantic City Expressway, connecting it to State Route 87, which leads into Brigantine via the Marina district of Atlantic City, owned and operated by the South Jersey Transportation Authority. The connector is a state highway with the unsigned designation of Route 446X.

Proposals for a connector roadway between Atlantic City and Brigantine date to 1964; planning began in 1995 after businessman Steve Wynn proposed a new casino in the city's Marina district. The goals were to reduce traffic on Atlantic City streets and improve access to the district and Brigantine. It was supported by New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman and Atlantic City Mayor Jim Whelan, but faced major opposition during its planning. Residents whose homes were to be destroyed for the tunnel construction fought the project, and competing casino owner and future president Donald Trump filed lawsuits to prevent its construction.

Construction took almost three years and opened in July 2001 at a total cost of $330 million. Since its opening, the connector has served up to 25,000 vehicles daily, and helped bring business to the casinos in the Marina district.

Route description

A three-lane freeway at an exit junction, with two green highway directional signs in the foreground and a skyline of hotels in the background.
The connector's southern terminus near the Atlantic City Expressway and exit A. Exits are designated by letter along the connector, rather than conventional exit numbers.

The Atlantic City–Brigantine Connector is located entirely within Atlantic City, New Jersey, connecting the eastern terminus of the Atlantic City Expressway (ACE) in the city's Midtown district and Route 87 in the Marina district near Brigantine. The route begins near the eastern terminus of the Atlantic City Expressway with a southbound-only exit to the Midtown and Downbeach districts (exit A). It then turns north along the western shore of Atlantic City with a railroad grade crossing adjacent to the Atlantic City Rail Terminal, followed by an interchange with Bacharach Boulevard (exit B). At milepost 0.88 (1.42 km), the connector enters a 1,957-foot-long (596 m) tunnel under the Westside neighborhood. North of the tunnel, the connector has a southbound on-ramp from Route 87, followed by an exit to U.S. Route 30 (US 30) via State Route 187 (exit E). After exit E, the connector continues for northbound traffic only for an additional 0.8 miles (1.3 km), with an exit that serves as a U-turn to the southbound connector (exit F), an exit to Renaissance Pointe, Borgata, and The Water Club (exit H). A last exit (exit G) leads to the Farley Marina and Golden Nugget.[a] The northbound connector terminates as it merges onto Route 87 northbound, which continues into Brigantine via the Brigantine Bridge.[3][4]

The connector is a toll-free extension of the ACE,[3][5] a 44-mile (71 km) toll road linking Atlantic City with the Garden State Parkway and continuing to the Philadelphia metropolitan area.[6] It is owned and operated by the South Jersey Transportation Authority (SJTA). It is a freeway with an average two lanes per direction and a speed limit of 35 mph (56 km/h).[3] Its total route length is 2.3 miles (3.7 km);[1] the northernmost 0.8-mile (1.3 km) section of the connector serves northbound traffic only, whereas southbound traffic travels along the parallel Route 87.[3] The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) classifies it as a state highway, unsigned Route 446X. NJDOT alternatively measures the route length as 1.98 miles (3.19 km) from its southern terminus to its exit ramp junction with US 30, disregarding the northbound-only section of the connector.[7]

History

Initial proposals

A five-lane highway with an exit ramp on the left side and two green highway directional signs.
US 30 eastbound at its interchange with the connector. The connector was first proposed in the 1960s to connect US 30 with the Atlantic City Expressway.

A connector road between the ACE and the Marina district was first proposed in 1964 by the Atlantic City Planning Board, as the Route 30 Connector, linking the end of the expressway with US 30. The goal was to lessen congestion in Midtown Atlantic City and improve access to the Marina district and the neighboring city of Brigantine. Because of a lack of funds and environmental concerns about construction near the adjacent wetlands, the connector project remained dormant until 1990 when plans for the road were included in a report by the city's Transportation Executive Council.[8] A 1991 study found the project was environmentally feasible, and a route was proposed with a one-mile (1.6 km) elevated highway over the wetlands. Construction costs were estimated at $80 million,[9] but due to a continuing lack of funds and the complexity of constructing above the wetlands, the project was again postponed.[10]

Planning

Plans for the connector reemerged in 1995 following a proposal from real estate businessman and Mirage Resorts president Steve Wynn. The city of Atlantic City issued a request for qualifications to developers interested in developing H-Tract, a former landfill site in the Marina district.[11] Wynn obtained the property from the city following his proposal to construct a $1 billion casino resort.[12] He would only build if better road access was provided directly to the site, which prompted state officials to revive the connector plans.[10]

New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman created a transportation task force in September 1995 to consider options.[11] It studied 11 alternative routes, including elevated highways, tunnels, and improvements to existing streets.[13] In March 1996 the task force determined that the best alternative was the Westside Bypass route, which included a highway along the western shore of the city with a tunnel under the Westside neighborhood.[11] Whitman formally adopted the task force's recommendation in July 1996, ensuring that alternative would be built.[11]

The goals of the project were to improve access to the Atlantic City Convention Center, the Marina district, Brigantine, and traffic flow along the city's streets.[14] The tunnel was designed to have as little impact on the surrounding environment as possible; its design included both portals on opposite ends of the community, with landscaping added between the construction site and adjacent homes.[15] Nine existing homes along Horace J. Bryant Jr. Drive would be demolished for the construction of the tunnel.[16] Funding for the project, formally known as the Atlantic City–Brigantine Connector,[14] was approved in January 1997.[3] The total cost of the project was $330 million (equivalent to $582 million in 2023).[17] Mirage Resorts agreed to pay $110 million, with the remainder coming from state funds from the SJTA ($60 million), the Transportation Trust Fund ($95 million), and the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority ($65 million).[18]

Controversies

A view of a highway in an open cut traveling into a tunnel with a green milemarker in the foreground reading SOUTH / MILE 1.3.
A view of a two-lane highway inside a tunnel.
The connector features a 1,957-foot (596 m) tunnel that travels under the Westside residential neighborhood. The tunnel was controversial during the planning stages, as several homes had to be destroyed for its construction.

The project was controversial, as tunnel construction would displace homes in the Westside neighborhood, and local residents vowed to fight it.[16] Its opponents described the project as an effort to destroy a community, while supporters claimed it was necessary to reduce traffic and create new jobs at the planned casino.[19] Atlantic City Mayor Jim Whelan, a supporter, felt the project would benefit the city.[20] Mirage offered each affected property owner on Horace J. Bryant Jr. Drive $200,000 for their homes, an offer five of the nine accepted. A lawsuit was filed against the company and the city, claiming the tunnel construction would require the demolition of "their stable, black neighborhood" and thus violate their rights.[16][21]

Donald Trump, who was chairman of Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts at the time and would be elected president 16 years later, was also opposed to the connector, and paid the Westside residents' legal bills.[22] Knowing that Wynn's casino would not be built without the connector, Trump also filed lawsuits against the use of state funds for the project.[23] According to Whelan, Trump "didn't want the competition" with his three existing Atlantic City casinos,[20] including Trump Marina, next to the site of Wynn's future casino at H-Tract.[12] Trump criticized the connector as a state-funded "private driveway" to Wynn's casino, and denounced the funding as "corporate welfare" that unfairly favored an out-of-state company (Mirage) over those that had previously made business investments in the city.[20][24][25] He claimed that the tunnel would have "immense environmental impacts",[16] and urged the state's Department of Environmental Protection to deny construction permits.[26] Mirage and Wynn retaliated by filing an antitrust lawsuit against Trump Hotels alleging that the company's only goal was to prevent the Mirage resort from being built.[22] The feud between Trump and Wynn over the connector was later the subject of the 2012 book The War at the Shore, by former Mirage director Richard "Skip" Bronson.[23]

According to the Las Vegas Sun, "more than a dozen" lawsuits were filed over the connector project.[24] The lawsuit by the Westside homeowners was eventually dismissed by a federal judge in February 1998.[16] Trump's legal battles against the project lasted four years; he dropped them in February 2001 in exchange for a settlement that would include a new exit ramp from the connector to the Trump Marina. Trump agreed to pay half the ramp's $12 million cost.[27] A group of New Jersey mayors who also opposed the project and filed suit to block an "an inappropriate use of state funds".[24] Their lawsuit was also dismissed; the court found the construction of the connector necessary whether the casino was built or not.[12]

Construction

Construction bids for the design–build contract of the Atlantic City–Brigantine Connector were submitted to the SJTA in July 1997.[18] The winning bid was the joint venture of Yonkers Contracting Company and Granite Construction who led the design and construction phases of the project.[28] At that time, the connector was the largest design–build project performed by the State of New Jersey and the largest public–private partnership project in the United States.[29][30] Permits were granted in October 1998,[26] and the groundbreaking ceremony took place on November 4.[1] Completion was originally scheduled for May 2001.[16]

Excavation of the tunnel, using the cut and cover method, began in May 1999.[16] The nine homes were demolished and a 2,200-foot-long (670 m) trench was dug down to 35 feet (11 m) deep.[30] A total 160,000 cubic yards (120,000 m3) of dirt was removed,[16] most of which was reused to construct ramps at other sites on the connector.[31] 100,000 cubic yards (76,000 m3) of reinforced concrete was poured to form the tunnel walls,[31] and a five-foot-thick (1.5 m) concrete roof was constructed on top of the tunnel where the homes once stood; the site was later turned into a neighborhood park.[32][33] Since the tunnel runs adjacent to the Penrose Canal, groundwater was present just five feet (1.5 m) below the bottom of the trench, requiring a dewatering process to complete the construction.[34] Intelligent transportation system technology was installed to monitor traffic flow and control the tunnel ventilation, automatically triggering jet fans if carbon monoxide levels became too high.[32][35]

In addition to the tunnel, the connector required building 16 bridges, 15 ramps, and 23 retaining walls, plus landscaping, drainage, and variable-message signs.[36] It was also necessary to move public utility infrastructure, and demolish a sewer pumping station, portions of a power station and a warehouse.[29] A promenade at Trump Marina was leveled to make way for new ramps, and 37 ornamental lampposts were dismantled and later shipped to the nearby Tuckerton Seaport, which opened in 2000.[37] To avoid disruptions in the neighborhood, deliveries of construction materials took place by barge, and construction vehicles did not travel along any local streets.[15] Over 1,800 workers were involved.[30]

During construction, Wynn sold Mirage Resorts to MGM Grand Inc. in a $6.4 billion deal in 2000, forming the MGM Mirage company. Wynn's plans for his Atlantic City casino resort were cancelled, prompting critics to dismiss the project as the "road to nowhere".[16] MGM Mirage took over the H-Tract site, renaming it Renaissance Pointe,[38] and developed plans for Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, which opened in 2003 after three years of construction.[39]

Opening

Two large bronze-colored hotel towers with a parking garage in front, pictured under a cloudy blue sky.
The opening of the connector helped establish Borgata, the city's high-grossing casino, which opened in 2003.

A shortage of materials and delivery delays in late 2000 delayed the connector's opening from May to July 2001.[40] The grand opening ceremony took place on July 27, with festivities including a pedestrian tunnel walk.[41] The connector was expected to open to traffic that evening but due to last-minute malfunctions with the tunnel's emergency radio communications system, it did not open to vehicles for four days.[2] Upon opening, the road was formally named the Atlantic City Expressway Connector.[3] Exit ramps to Borgata and Trump Marina were completed and opened in 2003.[1]

Once the connector opened, travel times between the Midtown and the Marina districts fell to four minutes from 15.[42] A year after its opening, 18,000 to 20,000 vehicles traveled it daily, higher than the SJTA's expected annual average daily traffic volume of 14,000 to 17,000. Following the opening of Borgata in 2003, the connector served 25,000 vehicles a day.[43]

The connector also affected the city's casino industry, shifting business from boardwalk casinos to those at the marina. Transportation analyst and former SJTA executive Anthony Marino agreed that the connector "[wa]s no doubt a factor in the difficulties experienced by Boardwalk casinos."[16] The eight casinos along the boardwalk in 2001 were down to four by 2016. State records that year showed that the three marina casinos had an average annual gross revenue of $134 million, compared to $70 million for the boardwalk casinos. Whelan said "the impact of the [connector] project is undeniable", in improving traffic flow in the city and road access to Brigantine.[16] He also credited the project for bringing Borgata, which has since become the city's top-grossing casino.[16]

Exit list

The entire route is in Atlantic City, Atlantic County.

mi[3]kmExitDestinationsNotes
0.000.00–
 A.C. Expressway to G.S. Parkway
0.310.50AMidtown, DownbeachSouthbound exit and northbound entrance; access via Mississippi Avenue
0.550.89BBacharach Boulevard – Convention Center
0.88–
1.24		1.42–
2.00		Tunnel below Westside neighborhood
1.482.38E US 30 – Uptown, Hard Rock Beach, Resorts, Ocean BeachNorthbound exit and southbound entrance; southbound roadway begins here
1.662.67F
 To A.C. Expressway – Convention Center, Midtown, Downbeach		Northbound exit only; U-turn ramp to southbound lane
1.772.85HRenaissance Pointe, Borgata, The Water ClubNorthbound exit only
1.832.95G[a]Farley Marina, Golden NuggetNorthbound exit only; access via Route 87 (Huron Avenue)
2.303.70–
 Route 87 north (Brigantine Boulevard) – Harrah's, Brigantine		Northbound roadway terminates here
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Exit G is located after exit H, out of alphabetical sequence.

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Atlantic City Expressway: History & Milestones". South Jersey Transportation Authority. Retrieved July 4, 2009.
  2. ^ a b Wittkowski, Donald (July 31, 2001). "Atlantic City Expressway Connector opens". The Press of Atlantic City. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Atlantic City–Brigantine Connector Grand Opening July 27, 2001" (PDF) (Press release). South Jersey Transportation Authority. July 19, 2001. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 15, 2004. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
  4. ^ Atlantic City–Brigantine Connector Mile Post and Ramp Designation (PDF) (Map). South Jersey Transportation Authority. 2001. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 29, 2004. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
  5. ^ "Atlantic City Expressway: Exit 1". South Jersey Transportation Authority. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  6. ^ "Atlantic City Expressway: Safe and Convenient". South Jersey Transportation Authority. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  7. ^ Atlantic City-Brigantine Connector (South to North) (PDF) (Map) (2015 ed.). New Jersey Straight Line Diagrams. New Jersey Department of Transportation. June 2015. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
  8. ^ Wittkowski, Donald (October 13, 1990). "Expressway, Rte. 30 Link Resurrected". The Press of Atlantic City. p. B1. Retrieved December 25, 2019 – via Newsbank.
  9. ^ Wittkowski, Donald (June 14, 1991). "Transit Plan Says Route 30 Link Will Ease Atlantic City Traffic". The Press of Atlantic City. p. C1. Retrieved December 25, 2019 – via Newsbank.
  10. ^ a b c d Lillian E. Bryant, et al., vs. The City of Atlantic City, et al., 309 N.J. Super. 596 (N.J. Super. App. Div. 1998).
  11. ^ a b c McClure, Sandy; Ingle, Bob (2008). The Soprano State: New Jersey's Culture of Corruption. St. Martin's Press. pp. 269–70. ISBN 1429925736 – via Internet Archive. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |last-author-amp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ DeAngelis, Martin (February 2, 1996). "Creativity, Cooperation, Construction". The Press of Atlantic City. p. C1. Retrieved December 25, 2019 – via NewsBank.
  13. ^ a b "Atlantic City tunnel construction begins". The Press of Atlantic City. November 4, 1998. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  14. ^ a b Heneghan, Daniel (February 10, 1996). "Mirage: Options Bought on Most Tunnel Homes". The Press of Atlantic City. p. D5. Retrieved December 25, 2019 – via NewsBank.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Huba, Nicholas (July 31, 2018). "How the Expressway Connector Rewrote Atlantic City". The Press of Atlantic City. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  16. ^ Johnston, Louis; Williamson, Samuel H. (2023). "What Was the U.S. GDP Then?". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved November 30, 2023. United States Gross Domestic Product deflator figures follow the MeasuringWorth series.
  17. ^ a b "Bids received on A.C./Brigantine Connector project" (Press release). South Jersey Transportation Authority. July 8, 1997. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
  18. ^ Wittkowski, Donald; Peele, Thomas (February 21, 1996). "The Mirage Casino Tunnel Controversy". The Press of Atlantic City. p. A1. Retrieved December 31, 2019 – via NewsBank. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |last-author-amp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ a b c Brunetti Post, Michelle (June 26, 2016). "Trump v. Wynn, and Other Atlantic City Battles". The Press of Atlantic City. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  20. ^ Roura, Phil (November 3, 1996). "To Stop Tunnel, Foes Dig In". New York Daily News. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  21. ^ a b Wagner, Angie (February 24, 2000). "Mirage, Trump agree to dismissal of lawsuits". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
  22. ^ a b "The War at the Shore: Kirkus Review". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
  23. ^ a b c Curran, John (July 26, 2001). "Casino Tunnel Opening as Debate Continues". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  24. ^ Curran, John (April 23, 1997). "Trump–Wynn Feud Leads to Call for Probe". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  25. ^ a b "Atlantic City Tunnel Clears Final State Hurdle". The Press of Atlantic City. October 27, 1998. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
  26. ^ "Trump Agrees to Tunnel Settlement". The Press of Atlantic City. February 22, 2001. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  27. ^ "Granite, Yonkers Win $190.6-Million Project". Los Angeles Times. Bloomberg News. October 17, 1997. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
  28. ^ a b Delaney, Joseph (2016). Construction Program Management. CRC Press. pp. 108–9.
  29. ^ a b c "Alternative Project Delivery: Atlantic City/Brigantine Connector". Yonkers Contracting Company. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  30. ^ a b "Workers begin digging actual Atlantic City tunnel". The Press of Atlantic City. May 18, 1999. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  31. ^ a b Sokolic, William H. (July 19, 2001). "A.C. tunnel to open next week". Courier-Post. Cherry Hill, NJ. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  32. ^ "Views; Light at the End of the Tunnel is Brigantine". The New York Times. January 1, 2001. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  33. ^ "Case Studies: Atlantic City-Brigantine Connector". Moretrench. July 20, 2019.
  34. ^ "Atlantic City Brigantine Connector (ACBC): Central Monitoring & Control Software (CMCS) System" (PDF). Kapsch TrafficCom. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  35. ^ "Project Profile: Atlantic City-Brigantine Connector". Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  36. ^ Volpe, Gregory J. (January 20, 2000). "A Bit of A.C. Night Life Comes to Tuckerton Seaport". The Press of Atlantic City. Retrieved June 13, 2011 – via NewsBank.
  37. ^ Warner, Susan (February 10, 2002). "Again, a Time of Uncertainty in Atlantic City". The New York Times. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  38. ^ "Metro Business; Atlantic City Casino Has Groundbreaking". The New York Times. Bloomberg News. September 22, 2000. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
  39. ^ "Tunnel grand opening now delayed until July". The Press of Atlantic City. December 15, 2001. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  40. ^ Peterson, Iver (July 28, 2001). "Atlantic City Car Tunnel Opens Briefly, for Pedestrians". The New York Times. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  41. ^ Legato, Frank; Shermer Pack, Jennifer; Verdini, David (2005). Atlantic City: In Living Color. Indigo Custom Publishing. p. 96. ISBN 978-0-9725951-6-2. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
  42. ^ Karmel, James R. (2015). Gambling on the American Dream: Atlantic City and the Casino Era. Routledge. p. 169. ISBN 978-1-317-31462-2. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
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