Weird Ramp On I-295 in NJ

[SteveG1988]

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&client=firefox-a&q=I-295+new+jersey&ie=UTF8&hq=I-295&hnear=New+Jersey&ll=39.964573,-74.91384&spn=0.009588,0.022724&t=h&z=16

On Marter Avenute, there appears to be a southbound enterance for I-295, yet on NJ38 there is a southbound enterance lane, which i have used a lot. any news on why there is a small entry lane off Marter Ave?

EDIT:I figured it out, it is for the east bound lanes of NJ38, i figured it out a few moments later, i only ever entered/exited it from the westbound lanes.

[Ian]

Probably because there is no other way to get from NJ 38 eastbound to I-295 southbound.

[Alps]

Instead of deleting the topic, I'll make it legit and bail you out.  NJ has proposed to complete the interchange before, but nothing much ever came of it.  The next two interchanges on I-295 don't lead to NJ 38, but rather Hainesport and Mt. Holly, so completing the movement is awkward.  I guess you're supposed to use the pieces of Creek Rd., but with all the stores along 38 itself, it would be a good idea in the interest of promoting business to have all the ramps in.

[SteveG1988]

Yeah,the only reason i used 295 in that area was to avoid NJ-38 west of there, stop light after stop light, best way was to take it down a exit or two over to NJ-73 at the moorestown mall, which was the typical destination. I-295 has a few oddities on it, like the whole I-76/42 spagetti mess.

Is the Rest area north of exit 47b still closed, last time i was through there it was closed.

[Alps]

I think the rest area closure is permanent.

[SteveG1988]

295 is a mess right now, south of the NJ 73 exits, due to construction.

[SteveG1988]

Josef, the road around Mt Holly is awesome now, nice and smooth, dare is say it, like the NJ turnpike. it is south of 73 where the mess starts now, they have a one lane express and a two lane local setup while they reconstruct it.

[Truvelo]

There's another weird set of interchanges here. Supposing you're heading north on 41 and wanted 38 west. The first interchange has the loop missing so take the next exit onto 73 south then the next exit onto 38 west. In fact if you kept turning right you'll keep doing a complete lap of where it says David's Bridal.

It seems stupid to have three interchanges so close together and have all the roads serving them as surface level streets with traffic lights. 38 and 73 have their share of cloverleafs so I wonder if there was a grand plan years ago to fully grade separate these routes and provide interchanges at the major junctions and remove all the traffic lights to allow unimpeded flow of traffic?

[froggie]

It seems stupid to have three interchanges so close together and have all the roads serving them as surface level streets with traffic lights.

Not necessarily stupid.  There are numerous examples of arterials across the country that have interchanges at major junctions, but are otherwise signalized arterials.

38 and 73 have their share of cloverleafs so I wonder if there was a grand plan years ago to fully grade separate these routes and provide interchanges at the major junctions and remove all the traffic lights to allow unimpeded flow of traffic?

According to Steve Anderson, yes there were plans for freeway facilities along those corridors, though it sounds like the NJ 38 freeway would have been new alignment and not along the existing roadway.  Instead of a NJ 73 freeway, an extension of NJ 90 on new alignment was proposed.

[SteveG1988]

38 is worst between the I-295 Overpass and the moorestown mall, it is sooooo much easier to take 295 to bypass that section. Too many close stop lights on that section. if i remember correctly a few years ago the section between 38 and 73 was widened but without added lanes, just shoulders.  the 73/41 overpasses make some sense, allowing the roads to have less confusing movements. I love this double circle on 130

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=39.876341,-75.123138&spn=0.004833,0.013078&t=h&z=17

[NJRoadfan]

That double circle is the quiet end of NJ-47, the longest state route. Westville seems to be a focal point in the southern state highway system, both NJ-45 and 47 end mere blocks from each other at US-130.

[SteveG1988]

A double rainbow at a double circle would be double awesome.

Any other strange circles out there? i know NJ-70s double circle issue in lakehurst, having one for local streets then not too long later the odd circle for NJ-37.

[Alps]

The end of NJ 88 at NJ 35 is a hybrid double-circle with U-turns in the middle of it.
Livingston Circle seems like your standard circle with a cut-through, except you have Northfield Rd. at the SE corner coming in and requiring its own traffic light (synchronous with Eisenhower Parkway, and the "through" movements are NB and EB instead of being opposite directions).
NJ 495 at JFK Blvd./CR 501 is a circle interchange, perhaps the oldest around; JFK crawls above, 495 crawls below (I can't call them "flying" or "passing" due to slowness), and the circle is square-shaped with very wide lanes.
Tonnelle Circle at US 1&9/NJ 139/Truck 1&9 is also bizarre - you have to peel away the Pulaski Skyway just to see it, but it has an eastbound through movement cutting through the middle to get to Holland Tunnel, and then that splits in half to get around a bridge pier before coming back together and then dumping with a no-room left lane merge into the Skyway movement.  Charlotte Circle was even weirder (NJ 7/Truck 1&9) but it has been thoroughly destroyed.
I'm excluding the typical NJ circles, by which I mean roughly circular with no more than one cut-through, regardless of whether the circle movements have to stop or not.  I'm excluding the typical Mass. rotaries that can grow to be several hundred feet in radius (over 1,000' in diameter? I haven't measured) and often are part of freeway interchanges.

[agentsteel53]

I'm excluding the typical Mass. rotaries that can grow to be several hundred feet in radius (over 1,000' in diameter? I haven't measured) and often are part of freeway interchanges.

are the "typical Mass rotaries" then the precursor to those giant rotaries that they build on top of, or underneath, freeways in Europe?

[Alps]

I'm excluding the typical Mass. rotaries that can grow to be several hundred feet in radius (over 1,000' in diameter? I haven't measured) and often are part of freeway interchanges.

are the "typical Mass rotaries" then the precursor to those giant rotaries that they build on top of, or underneath, freeways in Europe?

I'd say they're probably of independent genesis.

[SteveG1988]

NJ 29 is going to have two installed on it at the interchange with I-195 after the completion of the new scudders falls bridge.

[Truvelo]

I like the way roundabouts over there have many ways of bypassing them. For example, thru traffic on NJ 29 can avoid both roundabouts completely.

Below is how we would do it in UK. Notice the difference?

[SteveG1988]

If you look at the current setup, http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Ewing+NJ&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Ewing,+Mercer,+New+Jersey&gl=us&ei=zTTsTKjIMoiq8Ab934mTAw&oi=geocode_result&ved=0CBsQ8gEwAA&ll=40.259453,-74.843953&spn=0.004806,0.013078&t=h&z=17 , the new setup makes sense. it cuts out traffic lights and allows through traffic to maintain speed

[Alps]

If you look at the current setup, http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Ewing+NJ&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Ewing,+Mercer,+New+Jersey&gl=us&ei=zTTsTKjIMoiq8Ab934mTAw&oi=geocode_result&ved=0CBsQ8gEwAA&ll=40.259453,-74.843953&spn=0.004806,0.013078&t=h&z=17 , the new setup makes sense. it cuts out traffic lights and allows through traffic to maintain speed

Yep, the only reason you have the bypasses is because the spread of the current interchange allows it.  If the current one were much tighter, you wouldn't have at least the NB, maybe the SB bypass roads.  For what it's worth, there's not all that much traffic continuing north of 95 on 29, so it wouldn't be too painful to skip the bypasses.