state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either Route number, numbered or maintained by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

Atlantic City Expressway The Atlantic City Expressway, officially numbered, but Unsigned highway, unsigned, as Route 446 and abbreviated A.C. Expressway, ACE, or ACX, and known locally as the Expressway, is a Controlled-access highway, controlled-access toll roa ...

Black Horse Pike The Black Horse Pike is a designation used for a number of different roadways that had been part of a historic route connecting the Camden area to the area of Atlantic City, New Jersey. Roadways now bearing the Black Horse Pike designation includ ...

Gloucester Township Gloucester Township is a township in Camden County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township was the state's 22nd-most-populous municipality,Runnemede, Bellmawr, and

Mount Ephraim Mount Ephraim (), or alternatively Mount of Ephraim, was the historical name for the central mountainous district of Israel once allotted to the Tribe of Ephraim (), extending from Bethel to the plain of Jezreel. In Joshua's time (), approximatel ...

. It intersects and interchanges many major roads, including the Route 42 freeway in Gloucester Township, Route 41 in Runnemede, the

New Jersey Turnpike The New Jersey Turnpike (NJTP) is a system of controlled-access highway, controlled-access toll roads in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The turnpike is maintained by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA).The Garden State Parkway, although ma ...

and

I-295 Interstate 295 is the designation for the following eight Interstate Highways in the United States, all of which are related to I-95: *Interstate 295 (Delaware–Pennsylvania), a bypass of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania * Interstate 295 (Florida), a be ...

in Bellmawr, Route 76C (an access ramp to

I-76 Interstate 76 or I-76 may refer to: Transportation * Interstate 76 (Colorado–Nebraska) (I-76), US * Interstate 76 (Ohio–New Jersey) (I-76), running through Pennsylvania, US Other uses * ''Interstate '76'', a vehicular combat video game for W ...

and I-676) in Haddon Township, and US 130 in Camden. What is now Route 168 runs along the Black Horse Pike, a turnpike established in 1855 that was to run from Camden to

Atlantic City Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of the Atlantic City- Hammonton metropolitan sta ...

. In 1927, Route 42 was designated along this portion of road as part of its route between Camden and McKee City. In the 1940s, a

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

was proposed for Route 42 between Turnersville and the Camden area; construction began on this freeway in the 1950s. After this freeway was entirely completed in 1959, the Route 42 designation was moved to it and the former alignment of Route 42 along the Black Horse Pike north of Turnersville became Route 168.

Route description

Route 168 begins at an interchange with the west end of the

Atlantic City Expressway The Atlantic City Expressway, officially numbered, but Unsigned highway, unsigned, as Route 446 and abbreviated A.C. Expressway, ACE, or ACX, and known locally as the Expressway, is a Controlled-access highway, controlled-access toll roa ...

, which feeds into Route 42 in the Turnersville section of Washington Township, Gloucester County; the North–South Freeway begins at that interchange, carrying Route 42 and through traffic from Atlantic City towards Camden. Meanwhile, Route 168 continues on

Black Horse Pike The Black Horse Pike is a designation used for a number of different roadways that had been part of a historic route connecting the Camden area to the area of Atlantic City, New Jersey. Roadways now bearing the Black Horse Pike designation includ ...

as a four-lane

divided Division is one of the four basic operations of arithmetic. The other operations are addition, subtraction, and multiplication. What is being divided is called the ''dividend'', which is divided by the ''divisor'', and the result is called the ...

surface road, with the route officially beginning at the intersection of Hurff Lane. Access from Route 168 south to Route 42 is provided via a one-way ramp continuing from the southern terminus of Route 168. However, northbound traffic from Route 42 must take the ramp to the freeway and exit immediately from the collector/distributor road onto northbound Sicklerville Road ( CR 705) to access Route 168. From here, Route 168 continues north through commercial areas before crossing the

Big Timber Creek Big Timber Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 stream in southwestern New Jersey. The creek was called Tetamekanchz Kyl by Lenape tribes prior to E ...

into

Gloucester Township Gloucester Township is a township in Camden County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township was the state's 22nd-most-populous municipality,Camden County, where it becomes a three-lane road with a

center left-turn lane A reversible lane, also known as variable lane, dynamic lane, and tidal flow, is a managed lane in which traffic may travel in either direction, depending on certain conditions. Typically, it is meant to improve traffic flow during rush hours, ...

and immediately intersects with College Drive ( CR 673), which provides access to

Camden County College Camden County College (CCC) is a Public college, public community college in Camden County, New Jersey. Camden County College has its main campus in the Blackwood, New Jersey, Blackwood section of Gloucester Township, New Jersey, Gloucester Tow ...

. The road heads west of the Gloucester Premium Outlets and passes through suburban areas of homes and businesses, coming to the intersection of Lakeland Road ( CR 747). From here, the route heads through the

Blackwood Blackwood may refer to: Botany * African blackwood (''Dalbergia melanoxylon''), a timber tree of Africa * African blackwood ('' Erythrophleum africanum''), (''Peltophorum africanum'') also Rhodesian blackwood, trees from Africa * Australian blac ...

section of Gloucester Township, where it intersects with Church Street ( CR 534). The route leaves the Blackwood area and comes to an intersection of Alomnesson Road/Erial Road ( CR 706). The road passes businesses past this intersection as a three-lane road with two southbound lanes and one northbound lane before coming to an interchange with Route 42. At this interchange, there is full access between northbound Route 42 and Route 168 and between southbound Route 42 and Route 168. Past the interchange with Route 42, the route intersects with Old Black Horse Pike ( CR 676) and narrows to two lanes as it heads through commercial areas of Hilltop. It gains a center left-turn lane again before it crosses the intersection of Lower Landing Road ( CR 681) and the North Branch of the Big Timber Creek. Route 168 comes to the intersection of Chews Landing Road ( CR 683) and enters the Glendora section of Gloucester Township, where it heads into residential and commercial areas. Here, the route intersects with Station Avenue ( CR 682). At the intersection of Evesham Road ( CR 544), the road crosses into Runnemede and becomes a two-lane road. Route 168 crosses the intersection of Clements Bridge Road ( Route 41/CR 573) and heads through the center of Runnemede. The center-left turn lane along the route returns before it comes to a double

trumpet interchange In the field of road transport, an interchange (American English) or a grade-separated junction (British English) is a road junction that uses grade separations to allow for the movement of traffic between two or more roadways or highways, usi ...

with the

New Jersey Turnpike The New Jersey Turnpike (NJTP) is a system of controlled-access highway, controlled-access toll roads in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The turnpike is maintained by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA).The Garden State Parkway, although ma ...

on the border of Runnemede and Bellmawr. Past here, Route 168 passes more businesses and crosses the intersection of Browning Road ( CR 659). A short distance later, the route comes to an interchange with

I-295 Interstate 295 is the designation for the following eight Interstate Highways in the United States, all of which are related to I-95: *Interstate 295 (Delaware–Pennsylvania), a bypass of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania * Interstate 295 (Florida), a be ...

, where it becomes a four-lane undivided road. The route forms the border between

Mount Ephraim Mount Ephraim (), or alternatively Mount of Ephraim, was the historical name for the central mountainous district of Israel once allotted to the Tribe of Ephraim (), extending from Bethel to the plain of Jezreel. In Joshua's time (), approximatel ...

to the west and Haddon Heights to the east past this interchange and intersects with Prospect Ridge Boulevard ( CR 654) and Bell Road ( CR 658). At the intersection with the latter, Route 168 entirely enters Mount Ephraim and crosses CR 551 Spur. Past this intersection, the road enters a mix of residential and commercial areas and comes to the intersection of Valley Road ( CR 660). Upon crossing Audubon Lake, Route 168 forms the border between Haddon Township to the west and

Audubon The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such org ...

to the east and becomes a divided highway again with several

jughandle A jughandle is a type of ramp or slip road that changes the way traffic turns left at an at-grade intersection (in a country where traffic drives on the right). Instead of a standard left turn being made from the left lane, left-turning traffic ...

s. The route crosses the intersection of Nicholson Road ( CR 635), where it becomes the border of Haddon Township and Audubon Park as a six-lane divided highway. An interchange with Route 76C provides access to

I-76 Interstate 76 or I-76 may refer to: Transportation * Interstate 76 (Colorado–Nebraska) (I-76), US * Interstate 76 (Ohio–New Jersey) (I-76), running through Pennsylvania, US Other uses * ''Interstate '76'', a vehicular combat video game for W ...

, I-676, and the

Walt Whitman Bridge The Walt Whitman Bridge is a single-level suspension bridge spanning the Delaware River from Philadelphia in the west to Gloucester City in Camden County, New Jersey in the east. The bridge is named after American poet and essayist Walt Whi ...

to and from the southbound direction of Route 168. Immediately past this interchange, Route 168 narrows to four lanes and intersects with Kendall Boulevard ( CR 650), crossing the Newton Creek, where it forms the border between Camden to the west and Haddon Township to the east. Here, the route crosses the channelized intersection of Crescent ( US 130). After crossing over the channelized intersection of US 130, Route 168 drops the Black Horse Pike designation and becomes Mt Ephraim Avenue as is runs between the Fairview section of Camden and the West Collingswood Extension section of Haddon Township. Here, the route narrows to a two-lane undivided road and passes through urban areas. It crosses over the intersection of Collings Road/Collings Avenue ( CR 630) before it becomes a three-lane road with a center left-turn lane and entirely enters Camden. The road crosses the North Branch of the Newton Creek, where it forms the border between Camden to the west and Woodlynne to the east. It becomes a four-lane undivided road that passes through industrial sectors before crossing

Conrail Shared Assets Operations Conrail Shared Assets Operations (CSAO) is the commonly used name for modern-day Conrail (reporting mark CRCX), an American railroad company. It operates three networks, the North Jersey, South Jersey/Philadelphia, and Detroit Shared Assets Are ...

' Beesleys Point Secondary railroad line and heading past more urban development. Route 168 ends at the intersection of Ferry Avenue ( CR 603), where Mt Ephraim Avenue continues north as CR 605 to Downtown Camden, ending at an intersection of Haddon Avenue ( CR 561).

History

The predecessor to today's Route 168 was a set of

Lenni Lenape The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. The Lenape's historical territory included present-day northeastern Del ...

trails that followed the Timber Creek. In 1855, the Camden and Blackwoodstown Turnpike Company was established by entrepreneurs who had helped create the White Horse Pike to build a gravel road that would run from Camden south to Blackwoodtown and eventually to

Atlantic City Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of the Atlantic City- Hammonton metropolitan sta ...

; this road became the Black Horse Pike. The creation of the Black Horse Pike led to the development of several towns along the route. The Black Horse Pike was transferred from the turnpike company to the county in 1903, at a time where many private turnpikes would become public roads. In the

1927 New Jersey state highway renumbering In 1927, New Jersey's state highways were renumbered. The old system, which had been defined in sequence by the legislature since 1916, was growing badly, as several routes shared the same number, and many unnumbered state highways had been ...

, this portion of the Black Horse Pike was designated as part of a new route, Route 42, that was to run from Ferry Avenue in Camden south to Route 48 (now

US 40 U.S. Route 40 or U.S. Highway 40 (US 40), also known as the Main Street of America (a nickname shared with U.S. Route 66), is a major east–west United States Highway traveling across the United States from the Mountain States to the Mid- ...

) in McKee City.State of New Jersey, Laws of 1927, Chapter 319. This portion of road retained the Route 42 designation in the

1953 New Jersey state highway renumbering On January 1, 1953, the New Jersey Highway Department renumbered many of the State Routes. This renumbering was first proposed in 1951 in order to reduce confusion to motorists. A few rules were followed in deciding what to renumber: *No state ...

. In the late 1940s, a

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

was planned to bypass this portion of Route 42, with right-of-way acquisition and construction starting in the 1950s. This new freeway, called the North–South Freeway, opened between Bellmawr and the Black Horse Pike in Blackwood in 1958 and from Blackwood to Turnersville in 1959. With the opening of the freeway, the Route 42 designation was moved to the North–South Freeway and the Black Horse Pike between Turnersville and Camden became Route 168.

Major intersections

References

External links

Speed Limits for State Roads: Route 168
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168 Year 168 ( CLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Apronianus and Paullus (or, less frequently, year 921 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 168 for thi ...

Route description

History

Major intersections

See also

References

External links