New Jersey Route 70

New Jersey Route 70

Route 70 is a state highway located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It extends 59.84 mi (96.30 km) from an interchange with Route 38 in Pennsauken Township, Camden County to an intersection with Route 34 and Route 35 in Wall Township, Monmouth County. Route 70 cuts across the middle of the state as a two-lane highway through the Pine Barrens in Burlington and Ocean counties. The western section in Cherry Hill and Marlton is a four to eight-lane divided highway that serves as a major suburban arterial; as such, it is congested. It is locally known as the Marlton Pike. The eastern section in Monmouth and Ocean counties is also a multilane divided highway that runs through suburban areas. Route 70 is officially known as the John Davison Rockefeller Memorial Highway its entire length in honor of John Davison Rockefeller.

The portion of the current route between Whitesbog and Lakehurst became a part of pre-1927 Route 18 in 1923. In 1927, Route 40 was legislated to run from Camden to Lakewood; the termini were eventually moved to the Airport Circle in Pennsauken and the Laurelton Circle in Brick Township. Route 40 became Route 70 in 1953 in order to avoid conflicting with U.S. Route 40; in addition, the western terminus was cut back to its current location to avoid a concurrency with Route 38 and the eastern terminus was moved to the Brielle Circle, replacing a portion of Route 34 between the Laurelton Circle and the Brielle Circle.