Route 168 is a state highway in the southern part of New Jersey. The route's southern terminus is an interchange with Route 42 and the Atlantic City Expressway in the Turnersville section of Washington Township, Gloucester County. The northern terminus is an intersection of Ferry Avenue (CR 603) on the border of Camden and Woodlynne in Camden County. At this point, the route continues toward Downtown Camden as Mt Ephraim Avenue (CR 605). Route 168 follows the Black Horse Pike for most of its length, running through suburban areas in Gloucester Township, Runnemede, Bellmawr, and Mount Ephraim. It intersects and interchanges many major roads, including the Route 42 freeway in Gloucester Township, Route 41 in Runnemede, the New Jersey Turnpike and I-295 in Bellmawr, Route 76C (an access ramp to I-76 and I-676) in Haddon Township, and US 130 in Camden.
What is now Route 168 runs along the Black Horse Pike, a turnpike established in 1855 that was to run from Camden to Atlantic City. In 1927, Route 42 was designated along this portion of road as part of its route between Camden and McKee City. In the 1940s, a freeway was proposed for Route 42 between Turnersville and the Camden area; construction began on this freeway in the 1950s. After this freeway was entirely completed in 1959, the Route 42 designation was moved to it and the former alignment of Route 42 along the Black Horse Pike north of Turnersville became Route 168.
Route description
thumb|left|View north at the south end of Route 168 at Route 42 in Turnersville
Route 168 begins at an interchange with the west end of the Atlantic City Expressway, which feeds into Route 42 in the Turnersville section of Washington Township, Gloucester County; the North–South Freeway begins at that interchange, carrying Route 42 and through traffic from Atlantic City towards Camden. Meanwhile, Route 168 continues on Black Horse Pike as a four-lane divided surface road, with the route officially beginning at the intersection of Hurff Lane. In 1855, the Camden and Blackwoodstown Turnpike Company was established by entrepreneurs who had helped create the White Horse Pike to build a gravel road that would run from Camden south to Blackwoodtown and eventually to Atlantic City; this road became the Black Horse Pike. The creation of the Black Horse Pike led to the development of several towns along the route. In the 1927 New Jersey state highway renumbering, this portion of the Black Horse Pike was designated as part of a new route, Route 42, that was to run from Ferry Avenue in Camden south to Route 48 (now US 40) in McKee City. This portion of road retained the Route 42 designation in the 1953 New Jersey state highway renumbering.
In the late 1940s, a freeway was planned to bypass this portion of Route 42, with right-of-way acquisition and construction starting in the 1950s. This new freeway, called the North–South Freeway, opened between Bellmawr and the Black Horse Pike in Blackwood in 1958 and from Blackwood to Turnersville in 1959. With the opening of the freeway, the Route 42 designation was moved to the North–South Freeway and the Black Horse Pike between Turnersville and Camden became Route 168.