New Jersey Route 52
Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox road Route 52 is a state highway in the southern part of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The highway runs Template:Convert from 9th Street in Ocean City, Cape May County north to U.S. Route 9 (US 9, New Road) in Somers Point, Atlantic County. It is composed mostly of a series of four-lane divided bridges forming a causeway across Great Egg Harbor Bay from Ocean City to Somers Point known as the Howard S. Stainton Memorial Causeway, also known as the 9th Street Bridge. The remainder of the route is a surface road called MacArthur Boulevard that runs from the causeway to US 9. This section of the route formerly included the Somers Point Circle, now a traffic light, where Route 52 intersects County Route 559 (CR 559) and CR 585.
Route 52 was originally designated on June 1, 1937 to run from the Somers Point Circle northwest to Mays Landing. This routing never came about and in 1953, Route 52 was designated onto its current alignment. CR 585 ran concurrent with the route south of the Somers Point Circle until 1971, when it was truncated to end at the Somers Point Circle. The circle was removed in 2010 as part of the bridge reconstruction. In 2006, construction began on the replacement of the Route 52 causeway that was built in the 1930s over the Great Egg Harbor Bay, beginning with guardrail repairs that reduced traffic to two lanes. In 2008, the northbound lanes of the causeway were opened to traffic. Construction on the southbound lanes was completed in late 2009. The entire project was completed in 2012, including other improvements such as the construction of fishing piers, boat ramps, bike paths, walking trails, gateways, and a new Ocean City Visitor Center. In addition, improvements were made to MacArthur Boulevard that included the addition of a center left-turn lane and the replacement of the Somers Point Circle with a traffic light.
Route descriptionEdit
Route 52 begins in the Jersey Shore resort city of Ocean City, Cape May County. The highway is a continuation of 9th Street, a Template:Convert road that terminates at the Ocean City Boardwalk along the Atlantic Ocean. Designation for Route 52 begins at a point Template:Convert west of the intersection of 9th Street at CR 656 (Bay Avenue), where it continues to the northwest as a four-lane divided highway.<ref name="sld"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="google">Template:Google maps</ref> Immediately after beginning, Route 52 becomes the 9th Street Bridge, officially the Howard S. Stainton Memorial Causeway, a four-bridge causeway across Great Egg Harbor Bay. The route crosses over Great Egg Harbor Bay on a high-level bridge and then the longer Rainbow Harbor Channel. In between these two channels is an island where the Roy Gillian Welcome Center is located, with access from the southbound lanes. After crossing the Rainbow Harbor Channel, the road runs along another island, with a fishing pier adjacent to the southbound lanes, before crossing over the Great Egg Harbor Thoroughfare (part of the Intracoastal Waterway) and then a ship channel on another high-level bridge, where the route enters Somers Point in Atlantic County.<ref name="sld"/><ref name="google"/>
After the ship channel, Route 52 crosses onto the mainland and intersects with CR 559 (Mays Landing Road) and CR 585 (Shore Road), formerly at the Somers Point traffic circle.<ref name="sld"/> In October 2010, the circle was eliminated and replaced by a traffic light.<ref name=pressac3>Template:Cite news</ref> Beyond the former Somers Point Circle, Route 52 becomes a five-lane road with a center left-turn lane known as MacArthur Boulevard that heads north through commercial areas, soon narrowing to three lanes. The road curves northwest as a two-lane divided highway and enters residential areas.<ref name="google"/> Route 52 comes to an end at an intersection with US 9 (New Road). The road continues northwest as Laurel Drive for Template:Convert, which heads through a residential neighborhood before terminating at a partial interchange with the Garden State Parkway, with access to the northbound parkway and access from the southbound parkway.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
HistoryEdit
Prior to 1914, access to the island city of Ocean City was only available by horse and buggy, ferry, or railroad. With the growing usage of the automobile, plans for a causeway to support automotive traffic were announced in 1912.<ref>Template:Cite report</ref> The causeway opened on April 11, 1914 as the Somers Point Boulevard Bridge, connecting 9th Street in the northern part of Ocean City with the mainland town of Somers Point via a set of four bridges.<ref name="Miller">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp The causeway was later replaced in 1933, with a new set of bridges that were four lanes wide without shoulders.<ref name=Inquirer>Template:Cite news</ref>
Route 52 was designated on June 1, 1937,<ref name="nj52created" /> to run from the Somers Point Circle northwest to Route 48 (now US 40) and Route 50 in Mays Landing.<ref name=nj1937>State of New Jersey, Laws of 1937, Chapter 86.</ref> However, Route 52 was never built to run to Mays Landing.<ref name="mwm">Template:Cite map</ref> In the 1953 New Jersey state highway renumbering, Route 52 was designated to run from the Ocean City side of the causeway, north to US 9 in Somers Point.<ref name="nj1953">Template:Cite journal</ref>
With the creation of the 500-series county routes in New Jersey in 1952, CR 585 was designated to run along Route 52 between the southern terminus and the Somers Point Circle as part of its route between Route 109 in Lower Township and US 30 and Route 157 in Absecon.<ref name="chevron">Template:Cite map</ref>
Eventually, the southern terminus of CR 585 was truncated to the Somers Point Circle.<ref name="sld"/>
In 1983, the causeway was officially named the Howard S. Stainton Memorial Causeway, after the Ocean City entrepreneur and philanthropist, who died in 1979.<ref name="Miller"/>Template:Rp
The causeway underwent a minor renovation in 1988. This saw the operator room expanded, equipment replaced, and controls modernized.<ref>https://nj-dot.nj.gov/transportation/works/environment/pdf/Historic_BR_CapeMay.pdf</ref>
On January 16, 2006, the New Jersey Department of Transportation reduced traffic on the bridges from four lanes to two lanes to limit the weight on the old structures. The highway was reopened to four lanes of traffic after guardrail repairs were made on May 17, 2006, with a new speed limit of Template:Convert.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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Between 2006 and 2012, a new $400 million causeway was built to replace the 1933 causeway over the Great Egg Harbor Bay. The original causeway was in need of replacement due to deteriorating conditions of the bridges, increasing automobile and marine traffic on the Great Egg Harbor Bay, flooding from storms, and a high accident rate due to narrow lanes and a lack of shoulders.<ref name=njdot>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The causeway also contained two drawbridges, which led to traffic jams during the summer months.<ref name=Inquirer2/> After years of delays, construction began on the new bridge in September 2006. Crews began the project by clearing a staging area on Garrets Island near the Ocean City side.<ref name=pressac>Template:Cite news</ref> The northbound bridge was completed in April 2008 and the southbound bridge was completed in April 2009.<ref name = Inquirer/><ref name=njdot2>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=njdot3>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> During the bridge construction, excavated sand was removed from the bay and deposited onto Malibu Beach Wildlife Management Area, as part of environmental mitigation.<ref>Template:Cite conference</ref> In May 2012, construction of the causeway was completed, with all four lanes opened to traffic.<ref name=Inquirer2>Template:Cite news</ref>
_at_Atlantic_County_Route_585_(Shore_Road)_and_Atlantic_County_Route_559_(Mays_Landing_Road)_in_Somers_Point,_Atlantic_County,_New_Jersey.jpg){kind=link}
In addition to the new causeway, the project also called for the construction of fishing piers, boat ramps, bike paths, walking trails, and gateways at each end of the causeway, including a new visitor center with a scenic overlook on the Ocean City side.<ref name=Inquirer/> Also, other improvements were made to the MacArthur Boulevard portion of Route 52 including the addition of a center left-turn lane and the replacement of the Somers Point Circle with a traffic light, which was eliminated in October 2010.<ref name=pressac3/><ref name=Inquirer/><ref name=njdot/> As a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 signed into law by President Barack Obama on February 17, 2009, $70 million, or about 8 percent of the money allocated to New Jersey in the bill, went to the construction of the second half of the Route 52 causeway project.<ref name=pressac2>Template:Cite news</ref>
From 2012 to 2014, annual average daily traffic (AADT) on the causeway went from 18,584 to 22,116, an increase of 19 percent. The latest AADT of the MacArthur Boulevard section, from 2012, is 11,540.<ref name="sld"/>
On July 19, 2021, a pilot made an emergency landing on the bridge after encountering engine problems shortly after takeoff; the plane was undamaged, and traffic was briefly halted.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Major intersectionsEdit
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See alsoEdit
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- New Jersey Route 152 - Nearby state highway connecting barrier islands with the mainland