and NJ 33/CR 539

Frog Pond Road in Tuckerton and somewhere else along the route, both courtesy Scott Colbert.


NB at CR 530 just outside Whiting, where 530 jogs up via 539 onto NJ 70 for a little bit. Click for closeup.


Still Scott, and stranger. Apparently there should be a WEST above the left shield, and the arrow should be closer to the right shield. Actually, a JCT 530 with right/straight arrows may work just as well (read: much, much better).


SB at Range Road, which circumscribes Fort Dix. The gate is wide open, and the roads are mere feet apart (paved feet, too), and late at night, since this sign has lost all reflectivity, drivers who miss that CR 539 curves left may very well end up westbound on Range Road. Or, as my family accidentally did, we started off on CR 545 NB, into the Fort, without any checkpoints, and ended up on Range Road thinking we were still on 545... and then came out at this point onto 539. I took this photo just after clinching (driving the length of) this route, and as I remember it from my family's adventure, it has a special place in my heart twice over now.

Ancient NB LGS at CR 528.


NB (first two photos) and SB (last photo) at CR 537.


Just north of CR 537 is this state-built bridge, and as you can see from the southbound side, it was assigned a state highway number! But no state highway ever went here. What's underneath the guiderail?


Over to the northbound side of the bridge, we now learn it was constructed in 1940 as part of some proposed highway that never was.


Oh, you should know my ways by now. Saving the best for last, NJ 37 and NJ 38 were originally proposed to cross in the middle of the state. 38 would have gone from the end of the divided highway (which was, for many years, the end of 38 and the beginning of CR 530) northeast to the eastern end of what is now I-195; NJ 138 was renumbered in 1988 from being a discontiguous segment of 38, a remnant of that plan. 37 would have headed northwest from its current end, obviously right over this bridge, and ended up at the western end of I-195. Clearly, 195 was built as the compromise route, leaving a lot of traffic on NJ 70 as the only way across the Pinelands. Had 37 and 38 been built as proposed, especially as freeways when that proposal was modified (or perhaps this bridge was built as half of the proposed freeway), the trip across South Jersey would be a lot different. Thanks to Lou Corsaro for finding this bridge and holding a flashlight on it in the dead of night.


Someone brought this Italian sign back to their home near Davis Station Rd. in Cream Ridge, courtesy Lou Corsaro.


NB at the beginning of the Allentown multiplex, and then SB at the opposite end of it. Everything in-between can be found on the CR 524 page, big link below.


Southbound at the end of the CR 571 duplex, and then just beyond that, a hand-assembled shield. By people with cricks in their necks. On Friday at 4:58 PM.


Just as bad northbound, courtesy Lou Corsaro.


CR 539 NB/CR 571 WB join NJ 33 EB, but I don't see any shield for the latter.


The short Hightstown NJ 33 multiplex has been state-maintained for well over 50 years, as you can see. I've never before seen two of these signs at the same crossing of the same body of water. The rustier one is to the south.


Looking south into downtown from the lake.


The first photo greets WB and SB travelers as NJ 33 meets CR 539, and just looks like a decorative stone wall. Take the time to walk around it, and the truth emerges: this is a bridge abutment. The other one is across Rocky Brook, paralleling NJ 33/CR 539 with the old span. This once belonged to a railroad.


Views to the east (NJ 33/CR 539/Peddie Lake) and west (Rocky Brook) from there.


Switching sides to the lake, this looks west at the current and former stone bridges.


This new vantage point is the perfect place to watch water cascade from the lake into the brook.


Another falls view from the south(east) side.


This is also the perfect place to enjoy the scenery of the lake, and for roadgeeks, there's the special bonus of a truss bridge in the background on Ward St.


Made it through all that? Let's say goodbye to NJ 33, courtesy Charlie O'Reilly.


These are NB, SB, and SB, still in Hightstown but north of NJ 33.


CR 539 ends at US 130, but that doesn't stop Middlesex County from posting it on Hightstown Road up to CR 535. (This is a northbound shield.)

Onto CR 524 and CR 539/524
Onto NJ 33 alone

Onto CR 528
Onto CR 537
To existing NJ 37
Onto CR 571
Over to the Ward St. bridge, Hightstown
Back to New Jersey Roads
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