Editing New Jersey Route 42 (section)

==History==
In 1927, Route 42 was legislated to run along the [[Black Horse Pike]], a road that traces its origins back to 1855. In that year, 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, New Jersey|Camden]] south to [[Blackwood, New Jersey|Blackwoodtown]] and eventually to [[Atlantic City, New Jersey|Atlantic City]],<ref name=pressac>{{cite news|title=Answer Guy: How did the White Horse and Black Horse Pikes get their names?|newspaper=[[The Press of Atlantic City]]|date=August 31, 2008}}</ref>  from Ferry Avenue in Camden to [[New Jersey Route 48|Route 48]] (now [[U.S. Route 40 in New Jersey|US 40]]) in [[McKee City, New Jersey|McKee City]].<ref name=nj1927>State of New Jersey, Laws of 1927, Chapter 319.</ref><ref name="Map">{{cite map|url=http://www.jimmyandsharonwilliams.com/njroads/1920s/images/1927_routes.gif|title=1927 New Jersey Road Map|publisher=State of New Jersey|access-date=October 8, 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313112746/http://jimmyandsharonwilliams.com/njroads/1920s/images/1927_routes.gif|archive-date=March 13, 2016}}</ref>

By 1941, [[U.S. Route 322 in New Jersey|US 322]] was assigned to follow the routing of Route 42 between [[Williamstown, New Jersey|Williamstown]] and McKee City.<ref name="mwm">{{cite map|publisher=Mid-West Map Co.|title= Map of Pennsylvania and New Jersey |year=1941|cartography=[[H.M. Gousha]]|url=http://www.mapsofpa.com/roadcart/1941_1467m.jpg|access-date=March 29, 2009}}</ref>

[[Image:Route 42 Bridge.jpg|thumb|right|The [[New Jersey Route 54|Route 54]] bridge over the Black Horse Pike (US 322) in [[Folsom, New Jersey|Folsom]], showing the former Route 42 designation used before the 1953 renumbering]]
With the [[1953 New Jersey state highway renumbering]], which eliminated long concurrencies between U.S. Routes and State Routes, the southern terminus of Route 42 was cut back to Williamstown to avoid the concurrency with US 322.<ref name="nj1953">{{Cite journal|title=1953 renumbering|url=http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1953_New_Jersey_state_highway_renumbering|publisher=New Jersey Department of Highways|access-date=July 31, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628183145/http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1953_New_Jersey_state_highway_renumbering|archive-date=June 28, 2011}}</ref>

The North&ndash;South Freeway portion of Route 42 was originally planned as a [[parkway]] in 1932 that would run from the [[Ben Franklin Bridge]] in Camden to Atlantic City; however, this proposal never materialized.<ref name="1932plan">{{cite book|title=Regional Plan of the Philadelphia Tri-State District|publisher=Regional Planning Federation |year=1932}}</ref> In the late 1940s, the North&ndash;South Freeway was proposed by the [[New Jersey State Highway Department]] to run from the Ben Franklin Bridge to [[Turnersville, New Jersey|Turnersville]]. In the early 1950s, right-of-way for the freeway was acquired and actual construction of the freeway followed.<ref name="1957news">{{cite news|title=Philadelphia's New Shore Route|last=Weart|first=William J.|date=April 21, 1957|website=The New York Times}}</ref> The Route 42 freeway opened between [[Interstate 295 (Delaware–Pennsylvania)|I-295]] in [[Bellmawr, New Jersey|Bellmawr]] and the Black Horse Pike in [[Blackwood, New Jersey|Blackwood]] in 1958. It opened between the Black Horse Pike in Blackwood and Turnersville in 1959.<ref name="njhf">{{cite journal|title=New Jersey Highway Facts|publisher=New Jersey Department of Transportation|volume=1967}}</ref> With the completion of the North&ndash;South Freeway portion of Route 42, the Black Horse Pike north of Turnersville became [[New Jersey Route 168|Route 168]].<ref name="chevron">{{cite map|publisher=[[Chevron Oil Company]]|title= Map of New Jersey |year=1969|cartography=[[H.M. Gousha]]}}</ref>

In 1965, the freeway was widened to six lanes for most of its length with the northernmost part being widened to eight lanes due to the completion of the [[Atlantic City Expressway]] and its interchange with the road.

The route had its interchange with Route 55 open in 1985, when the Route 55 Freeway was opened from Route 42 to Route 41 to the south.<ref name="extramile">{{cite news|title=Going The Extra Mile For NJ Roads|date=February 18, 1987|website=The Philadelphia Inquirer}}</ref>

Between 1996 and August 1999, the route was widened to eight lanes between I-295 and [[New Jersey Route 55|Route 55]] in [[Deptford Township, New Jersey|Deptford Township]].<ref name="sjc">{{cite news|title=South Jersey Commuting Could Be Worse|last=Weisenfeld|first=Bernie|date=May 28, 1999|newspaper=The Courier-Post }}</ref>

In 2000, the interchanges with [[New Jersey Route 41|Route 41]] and [[County Route 544 (New Jersey)|CR 544]] in Deptford were rebuilt at a cost of $13 million to improve commuter travel the area.<ref name="relief">{{cite news|title=Relief Proposed for Traffic Headache|last=Laughlin|first=Jason|date=April 21, 2000|newspaper=The Courier-Post}}</ref>

In October 2003, the [[New Jersey Department of Transportation]] (NJDOT) installed exit tabs along the freeway portion of Route 42.<ref name="knot">{{cite news|title=New Jersey Promises To Untangle a Traffic Knot|last=Moroz|first=Jennifer|date=November 24, 2004|website=The Philadelphia Inquirer}}</ref>

On August 27, 2010, an interchange opened at CR 673 (College Drive), providing better access to Camden County College.<ref name=gct>{{cite web|url=http://www.nj.com/gloucester/index.ssf?/base/news-5/128298301120910.xml&coll=8|title=Camden County College celebrates an easier drive|last=Beym|first=Jessica|date=August 28, 2010|work=[[Gloucester County Times]]|access-date=August 28, 2010}}</ref> These replaced a pair of truck pullover areas.

NJDOT had planned a project to address the missing connections between I-295 and Route&nbsp;42 to provide an easier connection between the [[Delaware Valley]] and points south to [[Atlantic City, New Jersey|Atlantic City]] and vice versa. This project, dubbed the I-295/Route&nbsp;42 Missing Moves, would provide connections from I-295 northbound to Route&nbsp;42 southbound and Route&nbsp;42 northbound to I-295 southbound by constructing two ramps just south of the I-295/I-76/Route&nbsp;42 interchange. Construction began in March 2020, and the ramps opened to traffic on November 28, 2023.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Brandt |first1=Joe |title="Missing Moves" ramps connecting I-295, Route 42 finally open in NJ |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/philadelphia/news/i-295-route-42-connect-map-ramp-northbound-southbound-bellmawr-nj-missing-moves/ |access-date=November 28, 2023}}</ref>