Route 71 is a state highway in New Jersey that runs near the shore and located exclusively 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
left|thumb|View northbound along Route 71 from Route 35 in Brielle
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 with 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 the community of Manasquan, the highway enters a large commercial district and crosses over the Stockton Brook before curving onto Seventh Avenue. After the intersection with County Route 49 (CR 49, Sea Girt Avenue), Route 71 enters the community of Sea Girt. The route continues north through Sea Girt until the intersection with CR 20 (Manasquan Turnpike), where it enters a short portion of 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 portions 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 CR 524 (Alliare Road) and passes Marucci Park. Route 71 intersects with CR 30 (Eighteenth Avenue), where the highway enters the Belmar community of West Belmar. After crossing the intersection with CR 18 (Sixteenth Avenue), Route 71 enters the downtown portion of Belmar, intersecting with Route 35 (River Road). There, Route 35/Route 71 runs concurrently through Belmar, passing the local Belmar train station. At the intersection with Eighth Avenue, Route 71 turns off to the east and crosses parallel to Route 35 over the Shark River to the community of 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 CR 2 (Brinley Avenue), which serves access to the Bradley Beach train station. The highway continues northward through the residential district, and enters Neptune Township. There, Route 71 intersects with the eastern terminus of the cross-state Route at Corlies Avenue before entering the large city of Asbury Park. 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.