History
What is now Route 44 was originally legislated as Route 17S in 1923, a route that was to run from Penns Grove to Westville. By 1927, however, the only portion of Route 17S that had existed was a road that ran from Penns Grove south to Salem. In the 1927 New Jersey state highway renumbering that occurred that year, Route 44 was designated to run from Penns Grove to Westville, replacing what had been legislated as Route 17S. By the end of the 1930s, Route 44 was extended south from Penns Grove to Salem and US 130 was also designated along with Route 44 north of Penns Grove by 1941.
Prior to 1953, several spurs of Route 44 existed or were planned. Route S44 was designated in 1939 as a connection from Route 44 in Bridgeport to the ferry across the Delaware River to Chester, Pennsylvania, and was concurrent with US 322. The S44 designation was removed in 1953 to avoid the concurrency with US 322. In 1974, the Commodore Barry Bridge was built, bypassing the ferry, and the old alignment of US 322 became Route 324. Route S44A was planned in 1938 as an eastern bypass of Camden from Route 45 in Brooklawn to Route 40 (now Route 70) and Route 41 in Delaware Township (now Cherry Hill), mostly along what is now CR 551. The bypass was never built, although part of what would have been the bypass north of Haddonfield is now Route 41. Route 44T was planned in 1938 as an approach to a never-built tunnel under the Delaware River near Paulsboro. Originally, the route was to run from the tunnel east to the intersection of Route 41 and Route 47 in Deptford Township. In 1939, the planned route was extended east to Route 42 between Blackwood and Williamstown.
In the 1953 New Jersey state highway renumbering, Route 44 was replaced by US 130 north of the Delaware Memorial Bridge approach in Deepwater and by Route 49 south of there. However, US 130 was moved to new freeway alignments around Carneys Point and between Bridgeport and Westville. The bypassed alignments of US 130, originally unnumbered, eventually became Route 44. After I-295 was built in the 1960s, it bypassed the portion of the US 130 freeway in Bridgeport and was designated along the US 130 freeway north to Westville and around Carneys Point. US 130 was moved back onto its old alignment in Carneys Point, replacing that portion of Route 44.
Read more about this topic: New Jersey Route 44
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