Route 45 is a state highway in the southern part of New Jersey. It runs from Route 49 in Salem, Salem County, northeast to U.S. Route 130 (US 130) in Westville, Gloucester County. The route is signed as a north-south highway. Much of the southern part of the route runs through rural areas of Salem and Gloucester counties, passing through the communities of Woodstown and Mullica Hill. North of Mullica Hill, Route 45 runs through suburban areas, with the portion of the route between the northern border of Mantua Township and the southern border of Woodbury a four-lane divided highway. The route intersects many highways, including US 40 in Woodstown, Route 77 and US 322 in Mullica Hill, and Interstate 295 (I-295) in West Deptford Township.
The current route was originally a segment of pre-1927 Route 6 that was created in 1917, running from Salem to Camden. Route 45 was designated in 1927 to replace the Salem-Camden branch of pre-1927 Route 6 and was eventually realigned to follow US 130 (Crescent Boulevard) to the Airport Circle in Pennsauken Township. The old alignment became Route 45M. The northern terminus of Route 45 was moved to its current location in 1953 in order to avoid the concurrency with US 130. A freeway for Route 45 between I-295 in Woodbury and US 322 in Mullica Hill was recommended by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission in the 1960s. It was never built, and the New Jersey Department of Transportation proposed widening all of Route 45 into a four-lane divided highway; only a small portion in northern Gloucester County was widened.
Route description
Salem County
left|thumb|Route 45 northbound in Salem
Route 45 begins at an intersection with Route 49 in Salem, Salem County, heading to the north on Market Street, a two-lane undivided road. Upon crossing County Route 657 (CR 657), the road heads into residential areas before crossing the SMS Rail Lines' Salem Branch line at-grade and the Fenwick Creek. At the crossing of the latter, Route 45 enters Mannington Township and becomes an unnamed road that passes marshland with some development. The route passes by the Salem Medical Center just prior to an intersection with CR 540 in Pointers.
At the intersection with Main Street in downtown, Route 45 splits from US 40 by heading north on Main Street while CR 672 heads south on Main Street and US 40 continues to the east on East Avenue. Route 45 continues north, intersecting CR 636 before turning northeast again and meeting CR 602.
What is now Route 45 was originally designated as a segment of pre-1927 Route 6 in 1917. This route was to head south from Camden and follow Route 45 to Mullica Hill, where it split into two branches, with one going to Salem on current Route 45 and another going to Bridgeton on current Route 77. In the 1927 New Jersey state highway renumbering, pre-1927 Route 6 between Camden and Salem became Route 45. A bypass around Camden was created as the southern half of Crescent Boulevard, a part of US 130, and Route 45 was rerouted to use the bypass up to the Airport Circle in Pennsauken Township. The old alignment of Route 45 became Route 45M. In the 1953 New Jersey state highway renumbering, the northern terminus of Route 45 was cut back to its current location in Westville to avoid the concurrency with US 130.
In the late 1960s, the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) proposed construction of a long, $20 million freeway along the Route 45 corridor in Gloucester County which would have extended from Exit 24 of I-295 in Woodbury to a planned US 322 freeway in Mullica Hill. The New Jersey Department of Transportation never followed through on this proposal. A portion of Route 45 was widened to four lanes from the border of Woodbury to the border of Mantua Township by the 1980s. In 2012, the Mullica Hill Bypass was completed, and US 322 was removed from its concurrency with Route 45.