New Jersey Roads - Former NJ 180/Old NJ 72

Former NJ 180 (Old NJ 72)

NJ 180 was Bay Ave. in Stafford and Manahawkin, the old alignment of NJ 72 out of Long Beach Island. When NJ 72 was dualized to handle shore traffic, the alignment wouldn't fit on the old two-lane, so NJ 72 went around the south of Stafford instead. NJDOT dropped 180 when they picked up the southern piece of NJ 35 into Island Beach State Park, in 1980. It's now Ocean County Road 50 in those two towns (County Roads reset across town lines, so there are other 50's, but this is the only one in the NJDOT Straight Line Diagrams).


You know me by now, I love finding these on old state highways, or old ones of these on state highways, some combination of those words. Anyway, NJ 180 for its twelve years of existence always had its west end at US 9, so in fact it's been almost 40 years, not just over 25, since this bridge served a state highway. It's just west of US 9 on what is now just a glorified ramp to NJ 72 WB (but still is Bay Ave.).


I daresay this sign served NJ 72 traffic in the 1960's, but it definitely served NJ 180 traffic in the 1970's, westbound on Bay Ave.

This is an old milepost, EB. There's a 5 on NJ 7, and that's about it.


The one-time WB beginning and EB end of NJ 180, now just the eastern end of County Road 50.

Modern NJ 72

Onto US 9
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