, Secret NJ 446X
(That's the Brigantine Connector to you, Bub.)

All photos are courtesy Scott Colbert except two SB ones. The Connector, opened in 2003, is the only exit-lettered highway I know of, but for some reason NJDOT decided to skip C and D. (Yes, the South Jersey Transportation Authority built the highway and gave it exit signs, but NJDOT added the numbers. Riiiiight....) It might make sense to skip E (for East), but... rationale here? Were there two more exits planned to somehow be shoehorned in the north-south stretch west of northern Atlantic City and south of the tunnel? Now, according to Chris Mason, the letters are actually the ramp letters, not any exit numbering system. So the appearance of exit letters is a monumental goof (and he says it's the SJTA's fault, so I have two conflicting sources to deal with), and C and D are probably onramps.


N. North Carolina Ave. (yes, North North), which was cut off by the Connector in the background. It looks like at least one vehicle went down the embankment anyway. For my version of this photo see the NJ 187 page, link at bottom.

---

Northbound


The nonstandard, square-looking signage resembles SJTA signage on the ACE... at least in terms of gore signage. They're doing a little better on the main BGS nowadays (compare to the ACE, link below).


The NB entrance to the 2200' tunnel underneath northwestern AC.


Question #1: Why have sign lighting for new signs that clearly were never button copy? People's headlights will reflect well enough off the signs without them being lit. Question #2: Why doesn't the SJTA join the rest of NJ in having black squares behind its shields? Even the ACE's horribly square signs have them. Question #3: When will construction be finished on the Connector - it's been open since 2003, couldn't landscaping be done in 2004? Question #4: US 187? On a 2-digit shield, even? (That would be at the top of the Exit E ramp.) Question #5: Why was a new road designed with deservedly maligned left exits, effectively eliminating the fast lane? See the NJ 187 page (link at bottom) for the other side of this sign.


Demand #1: Pick a consistent green color. (Well, to be fair, Exit H is a bit newer, the casino not being open quite yet when the road was and all, even though the Borgata was one of the influences driving the Connector's construction.) Demand #2: When you draw a diagrammatic, make sure all lanes start and continue to be the same width. This means, give them all the same curvature. Demand #3: Don't build a U-turn ramp when there's absolutely no reason to have one. Traffic entering at any exit except A and E has the option of going northeast or southwest, and traffic near A desiring to go southwest can just get on the ACE WB (E traffic must go southwest, since NJ 87 and NJ 187 will take the area's traffic northward instead). Demand #4: Welcome people to a road sometime before the penultimate exit.


Although it's not signed at all, Exit G, for Brigantine, just happens to be, gee, NJ 87. That would also be Brigantine Boulevard. If NJDOT is going to have a fairly useless route sticking up out of the middle of AC, it should at least be signed from other roads.

---

Southbound


What you are witnessing here in one of my two photos on this page is the opposite of the Exit G/H split above. That's right, going southbound, you skip over six letters. H and G are onramps, F and E are northbound-only, and D and C don't exist. At least you get A this direction.


Now through the cut-and-cover tunnel on the west side of the city, my other photo on this page.


While I'm yelling at the SJTA over this road: Why have a railroad cross a new freeway at-grade?


At least the Brigantine Connector connects Brigantine to more than just the Expressway. The To should be a TO with small caps, and the Toll should be TOLL in a yellow square (scroll up to NB Exit F for a more, but not fully, correct way of doing it). By the way, speed limit is 35 MPH on the Connector, another very un-freeway-like characteristic.

---

Straight onto the Atlantic City Expressway
Exit E to US 30
Onto NJ 187
Northward onto NJ 87
To the Garden State Parkway
See more of Atlantic County
The Brigantine Connector on Steve Anderson's phillyroads.com
Back to New Jersey Roads
Back to Roads