Misplaced Pages

Route 71
Route information
Maintained by NJDOT
Length	16.7 mi (26.9 km)
Existed	January 1, 1953–present
Major junctions
South end	Route 35 in Brielle
Major intersections	Route 35 in Belmar Route 33 in Neptune Route 36 in West Long Branch
North end	Route 35 in Eatontown
Location
Country	United States
State	New Jersey
Counties	Monmouth
Highway system
New Jersey State Highway Routes Interstate US State Scenic Byways
← Route 70 → Route 72

Route 71 is a state highway in New Jersey that runs 16.7 miles (26.9 km) near the shore in Monmouth County. It begins at Route 35 in Brielle just north of the Manasquan River and the Ocean County line and heads north to Route 35 in Eatontown with a four block concurrency with Route 35 in Belmar. Monmouth University is located off Route 71 in West Long Branch.

Route 71 is the former alignment of State Highway Route 4 and Route 35. In 1927, the alignment became the designation of State Highway Route 4-N. This alignment remained intact until the state highway renumbering in 1953, when it became Route 71. The route has remained virtually unchanged since. Route 71 was also to serve as the eastern terminus of Route 33 in Neptune, but this never came to be.

Route description

Route 71 begins at large grade-separated interchange with Route 35 in the community of Brielle. The route heads northward through Brielle as Union Avenue, passing through the commercial district and residential after the intersection of Union Lane. Route 71 continues northward through Brielle as a two-lane highway before beginning a parallel with NJ Transit's North Jersey Coast Line. After entering Manasquan, the highway enters a large commercial district and crosses over the Stockton Brook before curving onto 7th Avenue. After the intersection of Sea Girt Avenue (CR 49), Route 71 enters Sea Girt. The route continues north through Sea Girt until the intersection of 8th Avenue (CR 20), where it briefly enters Wall Township. There, the route crosses over the North Branch of the Wreck Pond and enters Spring Lake Heights. Route 71 quickly passes the Spring Lake Golf Club and the nearby Spring Lake Train Station before entering the downtown area of Spring Lake Heights.

Most of Spring Lake Heights is residential, with a large condominium complex surrounding the southbound direction on Route 71. The highway continues northward, intersecting with Allaire Road (CR 524) and passes Marucci Park. Route 71 intersects with 18th Avenue (CR 30), where the highway enters Belmar. After crossing the intersection of 16th Avenue (CR 18), Route 71 enters the downtown area of Belmar, intersecting with River Road (Route 35). There, Route 35/Route 71 runs concurrently through Belmar, passing the local Belmar Train Station. At the intersection of 8th Avenue, Route 71 turns off to the east while Route 35 continues north on River Road and crosses parallel to Route 35 over the Shark River and enters Avon-by-the-Sea, becoming Main Street. There, the two routes continue to parallel, with Route 71 becoming a divided one-way street through Avon-by-the-Sea. The route continues northward through the residential seashore community, crossing the Sylvan Creek and entering Bradley Beach. Through Bradley Beach, Route 71 intersects with Brinley Avenue (CR 2), which serves access to the Bradley Beach Train Station. The highway continues northward through the residential district, and enters Neptune. There, Route 71 intersects with the eastern terminus of the cross-state Route  at Corlies Avenue before entering the large city of Asbury Park.

Through Asbury Park, Route 71 intersects with several local streets at traffic lights as Main Street. The route intersects with Asbury Avenue (CR 16). After crossing through Sunset Park, Route 71 approaches Deal Lake, where the highway turns to the east along Deal Lake Drive. Route 71's right-of-way on Main Street becomes CR 15 and Route 71 continues through the lakeshore community as a two-lane arterial. Soon after, Route 71 turns north on Park Avenue, crosses over Deal Lake and enters Loch Arbour. However, the highway heads northward into Allenhurst soon after. Route 71, now known as Norwood Avenue, crosses out of Allenhurst after an intersection of Cedar Avenue, entering Deal. Before the intersection of Roseld Avenue, the highway becomes a divided one with a center median. The route continues this way through the residential portions of Deal, crossing into the Ocean Township-Deal border. There, the route comes back together, crossing over the North Jersey Coast Line once again near the Elberon Train Station. Route 71 continues along the Ocean Township–Long Branch border until entering the West Long Branch-Long Branch border near Whale Pond Brook. At that point, Route 71 serves as the main road to access Monmouth University. At the intersection of Cedar Avenue, Norwood Avenue ends, and Route 71 northbound turns westward along Cedar Avenue, fully entering West Long Branch. The route crosses through Monmouth University and enters the residential area of West Long Branch, intersecting with Locust Avenue/Monmouth Road (CR 15) and Wall Street (CR 32) within a mile of each other. At the intersection of Locust Avenue/Monmouth Road (CR 15), Route 71 turns to the northwest through a residential area.

Route 71 parallels the Glenwood Cemetery before intersecting with Route 36. Here, Route 71 continues northwestward on Monmouth Road through large commercial complexes and the local country club. The highway continues northward, bordering Eatontown to the southwest and Oceanport, where it enters a local residential area and intersects with Eatontown Boulevard (CR 547), which become concurrent. Route 71 and CR 547 fully enter Eatontown as Broad Street, heading westward as CR 547 splits from Route 71 by turning southwest on Wyckoff Road. The highway continues into the commercial district of Eatontown, where it intersects with Main Street (Route 35) once again but Route 71 terminates.

History

Route 4N
Location	Brielle–Eatontown
Existed	1927–1953

From Long Branch to Deal Lake, the road was maintained as part of the Long Branch and Deal Turnpike, which also stretched north along Norwood Avenue and Branchport Avenue. Route 71 originates as part of the Jersey Coast Way, an auto trail running from the Staten Island Ferry to Cape May. This was later an alignment of State Highway Route 4 in the 1920s, which ran from Absecon in Atlantic County northward to Rahway in Union County. Route 4 remained intact through the 1927 state highway renumbering, when Route 4 was realigned onto the current alignment of Route 35 most of its length. The older alignment from Belmar to Eatontown was re-designated as State Highway Route 4 N by the New Jersey State Highway Department. Route 4-N was one of four routes that used the -N suffix from the original numbering. Route 35 was designated on the southern portion, but this got reversed, allowing the designation to be extended to Brielle. The highway department originally planned for maintenance of this section to revert to local maintenance, but years of campaigning by locals prompted the highway department to restore the state highway in 1931. The route remained intact for the next 22 years, until the second state highway renumbering in 1953. Route 35 remained on its basic alignment, but State Highway Route 4-N was renumbered to Route 71. Route 71 has remained virtually unchanged since the 1953 renumbering in terms of its alignment from Brielle to Eatontown. During the time of the proposed Route 33 Freeway from Trenton to Neptune, the intersection with Route 33 in Neptune was to be upgraded to a grade-separated interchange, but this portion was never built after being canned in 1967.

Major intersections

The entire route is in Monmouth County.

Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
Brielle	0.0	0.0	Route 35 – Pt. Pleasant, Seaside Hts.	Southern terminus, interchange
Spring Lake Heights	3.7	6.0	CR 524 west (Allaire Rd) to G.S. Parkway – Allaire Ludlow Ave	Eastern terminus of CR 524
Belmar	5.1	8.2	Route 35 south (River Rd)	Southern end of the concurrency with Route 35; no access to Route 35 southbound from Route 71 northbound
	5.4	8.7	Route 35 north (River Rd)	Northern end of the concurrency with Route 35
Neptune Township	7.6	12.2	Route 33 west (Corlies Ave) to Route 18 / G.S. Parkway Broadway	Eastern terminus of Route 33, access to Jersey Shore University Medical Center
West Long Branch	14.7	23.7	Route 36 to G.S. Parkway – Long Branch, Tinton Falls
Eatontown	15.5	24.9	CR 547 north (Eatontown Blvd) – W Long Branch, Long Branch	Southern end of the concurrency with CR 547
	15.7	25.3	CR 547 south (Wyckoff Rd) to G.S. Parkway	Northern end of the concurrency with CR 547
	16.7	26.9	Route 35 (Main St) – Asbury Pk, New York Lewis St	Northern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

See also

• U.S. Roads portal
• New Jersey portal

References

1. ^ "Route 71 straight line diagram" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Transportation. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
2. "New Route Markers Go Up Next Month" (PDF). The Hackettstown Gazette. December 18, 1952. p. 17. Retrieved September 26, 2018.
3. ^ Microsoft; NAVTEQ (2009). "Overview map of Route 71" (Map). Bing Maps. Microsoft. Archived from the original on March 9, 2010. Retrieved December 29, 2009.
4. ^ Sketch Map Showing Approximate Locations of State Highway Routes (Map). New Jersey Highway Department. 1927. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved June 23, 2009.
5. ^ 1953 renumbering, New Jersey Department of Highways, archived from the original on June 28, 2011, retrieved July 31, 2009
6. State of New Jersey, Laws of 1927, Chapter 319.
7. ROUTE No. 4—NORTH (1917). EATONTOWN TO BELMAR, via Long Branch, Asbury Park and Bradley Beach.
8. "Route 4 Taken Back By State Highway Board". Asbury Park Press. January 21, 1931. p. 1. Retrieved August 20, 2022.
9. New Jersey Department of Transportation (2007). New Jersey Official Road Map (Map). New Jersey Department of Transportation.
10. Transportation 1985: A Regional Plan. Tri-State Transportation Commission. 1966.
11. New Jersey Highway Facts. New Jersey Department of Transportation. 1967.

External links

• New Jersey Route 4 Straight Line Diagram from the New Jersey Department of Transportation
• NJ State Highways: 55–74 – Route 71
• New Jersey Roads: Route 71
• Speed Limits for State Roads: Route 71

• Transportation in Monmouth County, New Jersey
• State highways in New Jersey