Route 33 is a state highway in the central part of the US state of New Jersey. The highway extends , from an interchange with U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Trenton, Mercer County, east to an intersection of Main Street (Route 71) in Neptune, Monmouth County. Route 33 is a major route through Central New Jersey, as it runs from the greater state capital area in the Delaware Valley Region, through a mixture of farmland, housing, and commercial developments in the lower Raritan Valley Region, en route to the greater Asbury Park area on the Jersey Shore. The route traverses through historic towns such as Hightstown, Monroe Township, Manalapan, Freehold, and Tinton Falls. There are several intersections on Route 33 with future developments.
Route 33 begins in Trenton as a two-lane residential street. It passes through central Mercer County, joining northbound US 130 in Robbinsville. It leaves the U.S. Highway in East Windsor and becomes a local town road into the borough of Hightstown. It turns east again as it passes the east end of the Route 133, where it becomes an arterial road with four lanes as it makes its way through Monmouth County toward the shore. Around the greater "Freeholds area", it becomes a freeway. It then crosses the Garden State Parkway's exit 100 in Tinton Falls and Route 18 in Neptune. Here, it is locally known as Corlies Avenue. Route 33 ends at Route 71 in Neptune. It has two concurrencies along the route, one with Route 34 and the second with US 130. It roughly parallels Interstate 195 (I-195), located further to the south.
Route description
thumb|left|Route 33 westbound past I-295 in Hamilton Township
Route 33 begins at an interchange with US 1 in the state capital of Trenton, Mercer County; the interchange also includes a ramp from westbound Route 33 to southbound Route 129 at that route's northern terminus at a partial interchange with US 1. The route heads southeast on Market Street as a four-lane divided highway, passing over NJ Transit's River Line and Amtrak's Northeast Corridor railroad line, just south of the Trenton Transit Center serving Amtrak, NJ Transit's Northeast Corridor Line and River Line, and SEPTA's Trenton Line. After intersecting with South Clinton Avenue, Route 33 becomes Greenwood Avenue and heads east as a two-lane residential street on the east side of the city, passing north of Trenton Central High School and serving a few small businesses. Greenwood Avenue then enters Hamilton and enters a slightly more commercialized area before passing north of a cemetery. At this point, Greenwood Avenue ends, and Route 33 merges with Nottingham Way and becomes a four-lane boulevard lined with many homes and businesses. After reaching a modified interchange with I-295, Route 33 turns right off of Nottingham Way and becomes a two-lane surface road with a center left-turn lane. The route passes many business and crosses through a wooded residential area before coming back into a commercial area and entering Robbinsville, where Route 33 turns northeast onto US 130 and the two routes run concurrently on a four-lane arterial road.
US 130/Route 33 passes through a wooded area with several business lining the route before entering East Windsor, where Route 33 splits off from US 130 onto two-lane Mercer Street while US 130 continues north-northeast. The road passes through woods before emerging into Hightstown, where it serves several businesses and bisects a cemetery before entering the downtown area. Here, Mercer Street ends, and Route 33 runs northeast along Main Street before turning right onto Franklin Street and coming back into East Windsor. The route becomes a four-lane arterial road as it passes under the New Jersey Turnpike (I-95) and becomes a divided highway, reaching an interchange with Route 133, which serves the turnpike. These routes were incorporated in 1916 into two new routes: Route 1 in parts of the road south of Hightstown, and Route 7 from Hightstown to its terminus at Route 71. Both roads were changed into Route 33 in the 1927 New Jersey state highway renumbering.
Route 33 was originally planned as a freeway from US 1 in Trenton across New Jersey to Route 18 in Neptune. However, in 1967, the New Jersey Department of Transportation scaled back proposals to the current Route 33. Route 33 from near CR 527 in Manalapan to Halls Mill Road in Freehold Township was completed and opened in segments from 1971 to 1988.
Route 33 has three abandoned segments. The first of these is the cloverleaf ramp from Route 79 southbound to Route 33 eastbound. It has been mostly demolished to make way for a new reverse jughandle for US 9 northbound to Schanck Road. The merging part of the ramp still remains abandoned along the right side of the eastbound freeway.
The original alignment for the freeway east of Halls Mill Road (CR 55) can be seen now as a New Jersey Department of Transportation maintenance shed. The new alignment curves to the left after the interchange, in order to avoid what the New Jersey Department of Transportation believed to be a suspected (but never identified) turtle bog habitat. The pavement is accessible from the eastbound on-ramp, but is fenced off.
Up until late 1988, Route 33 westbound ran underneath US 130, then merged with US 130's southbound lanes. This was because Route 33 ran parallel to Pennsylvania Railroad Camden & Amboy route at that point, requiring a massive concrete overpass. (Route 33 eastbound also ascended the bridge approach about halfway before branching off like an exit ramp—a sign with flashing lights read "Hightstown, Shore Points" at the fork.) Pennsylvania Railroad abandoned the Hightstown–Windsor segment in 1967, reducing the importance of the hulking bridge. The New Jersey Department of Transportation eventually demolished the crumbling structure in 1989. Route 33 now meets US 130 at the north end of the overlap with a traffic signal.
In 2001, the Freehold Bypass was designated as the Theodore J. Narozanick Highway.
The remainder of Route 33 east to Fairfield Road/Brickyard Road in Howell was not completed until 2003. The project cost $33.7 million in 2003 (equivalent to $ in ). Because of this, the ramp is barricaded off, slowly decaying.
A bridge once carried Route 33 over the same Pennsylvania Railroad (now Conrail Shared Assets Operations) line further south in Robbinsville. The New Jersey Department of Transportation replaced the overpass with a wider, linear roadway in 2009. As the Conrail Shared Assets Operations line was dormant, no railroad street crossing was installed. Trackage was dismantled two years later in 2011 in between Robbinsville and East Windsor.
The interchange with US 130 was rebuilt from a T-intersection to a four-way in 2009, with the construction of a new road on the southeast side of US 130.
On December 31, 2006, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority released its proposals regarding exit 8 on the New Jersey Turnpike. The old exit 8 was to be demolished and replaced with a new interchange. The new exit 8 would end at the intersection with Route 33, Milford Road, and Route 133 (on the east side of the expressway, instead of the west). This new exit 8 would grant direct access to the bypass (without going through any traffic lights), as well as to Route 33, using grade-separated interchanges. The new toll gate was to feature a total of 10 lanes at the new facility. The new interchange opened in January 2013.
Major intersections
Route 33 Business (Route 33 Bus.) is a short state highway in New Jersey that was the original alignment of Route 33 before a freeway was built as a bypass of Freehold. This business route stretches through Manalapan, Freehold Township, Freehold, and Howell. The highway is also the only business route state highway in New Jersey.
thumb|right|Route 33 Business westbound at CR 55 in Freehold Township
Business Route 33 begins at the interchange with Route 33, its parent route, in Manalapan. A short distance after, the interchange from Route 33 eastbound merges into Business Route 33, and the route passes to the south of Monmouth Battlefield State Park and enters Freehold Township. Business Route 33 intersects with US 9, becoming Park Avenue. Business Route 33 turns to the southeast and enters Freehold, passing to the north of the Freehold Raceway and intersects with West Main Street (CR 537). A short distance later, Business Route 33 intersects at a traffic light with South Street (Route 79) in Downtown Freehold. After the intersection of South Street (Route 79), it crosses back into Freehold Township. Farther east, the route passes over the Freehold Industrial Track railroad line operated by the Delaware & Raritan River Railroad and interchanges with Halls Mill Road/Kozloski Road (CR 55). After the interchange with Halls Mill Road/Kozloski Road (CR 55), Business Route 33 enters Howell. At the intersection of Fairfield Road/Brickyard Road, Business Route 33 enters the interchange with Route 33 and the freeway, where the designation terminates.
Business Route 33 originates as an alignment of Route 33, designated across the state in the 1927 New Jersey state highway renumbering as a replacement to Route 1 and Route 7, which were assigned in the 1920s. The route remained intact for several decades, continuing as the proposals for the crosstown Route 33 Freeway during the 1960s were drawn up. The new Route 33 was to be long, starting at US 1 in Trenton, crossing through Princeton and into Hightstown, where it would connect with the current-day Route 133, heading eastward, where it would connect with the unbuilt Driscoll Expressway in Freehold. The freeway would continue, meeting the Garden State Parkway near exit 100 in Neptune and terminate at Route 18 in Neptune. However, the next year, the New Jersey Department of Transportation had to scale down the project to a new bypass of Freehold, and prevent the congestion of traffic through the borough. Design studies began that year, and the entire bypass was constructed during the 1970s and 1980s, with most of the freeway finished in 1988. This new bypass was designated as Route 33 Bypass from 1965 until Route 33 was re-aligned off the local roads onto the new freeway in 1990, which at that time, Route 33 Bus. was designated on the former alignment.
Major intersections<br/>