U.S. Route 130 (US 130) is a U.S. Highway that is a spur route of U.S. Route 30, located completely within the state of New Jersey. It is signed with north and south cardinal directions, following a general northeast–southwest diagonal path, with north corresponding to the general eastward direction and vice versa. The route runs from I-295 and US 40 at Deepwater in Pennsville Township, Salem County, where the road continues south as Route 49, north to US 1 in North Brunswick, Middlesex County, where Route 171 continues north into New Brunswick. The route briefly runs concurrent with U.S. Route 30 near Camden, about one-third of the way to New Brunswick. The road runs within a close distance of I-295 south of Bordentown and a few miles from the New Jersey Turnpike for its entire length, serving as a major four- to six-lane divided local road for most of its length. US 130 passes through many towns including Penns Grove, Bridgeport, Westville, Camden, Pennsauken, Burlington, Bordentown, Hightstown, and North Brunswick.
In 1916, pre-1927 Route 2 was designated to run along the present US 130 between the Camden area and Bordentown while pre-1927 Route 1 was to follow the current route between Robbinsville Township and New Brunswick. The current route between Penns Grove and Westville was to become pre-1927 Route 17S in 1923. In 1926, US 130 was designated to run from U.S. Route 30 in Camden to US 1 in Trenton along the alignment of pre-1927 Route 2. A year later, the alignment of US 130 became Route 25 between Camden and Bordentown, Route 39 between Bordentown and White Horse, and Route 37 between White Horse and Trenton. US 130 was extended to Pennsville in 1938 along Route 45 and Route 44 while it was realigned to follow Route 25 and Route 25M between Bordentown and Route 27 in New Brunswick by the 1940s. In 1953, the state highways running concurrent with US 130 were removed. Around the time of the renumbering, limited-access bypasses for US 130 were built around Carneys Point Township and between Bridgeport and Westville; the former alignments eventually became Route 44. In the 1960s, I-295 was designated onto most of these freeway alignments of US 130, which was moved back to its original route in Carneys Point. In 1969, the north end of US 130 was cut back to its current location, with the old road into New Brunswick becoming Route 171. The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission had proposed a US 130 freeway between Camden and Burlington, but it was never built.
Route description
Salem and Gloucester counties
left|thumb|US 130 northbound at I-295/NJ Turnpike/US 40/Route 49 in Pennsville Township
US 130's south end is in Pennsville Township, Salem County, at the east end of the Delaware Memorial Bridge, which carries Interstate 295 and U.S. Route 40. The New Jersey Turnpike begins at this interchange, and Route 49 heads south.
After crossing the Oldmans Creek on a former drawbridge, the route enters Logan Township, Gloucester County, and becomes a four-lane divided highway continuing as Crown Point Road. After passing near Greenwich Lake, there are exits for Paulsboro-Swedesboro Road (CR 653) and Democrat Road (CR 673) within a short distance of each other. Interstate 295/US 130 reaches an interchange with Harmony Road (CR 680) on the border of Greenwich Township and East Greenwich Township. Past Haddon Avenue (CR 561), the road passes to the east of Harleigh Cemetery prior to crossing the Cooper River into Pennsauken Township. The route was incorporated into several turnpikes in the 19th century. In 1808, the Burlington Turnpike was chartered to run from Burlington north to the Trenton and New Brunswick Turnpike through Bordentown. The Bordentown and South Amboy Turnpike was chartered in 1818 to run from Bordentown to South Amboy, bypassing the Kings Highway from East Brunswick to Cranbury. In 1849 the Westfield and Camden Turnpike was legislated along the Burlington Road from Camden to the bridge at Rancocas Creek. The New Brunswick and Cranbury Turnpike was chartered in 1865 to run from the Bordentown-South Amboy Turnpike to New Brunswick along the old Georges Road.
The entire length of US 130 follows a part of the Ocean Highway, a coastal highway that ran from New Brunswick south to Jacksonville, Florida. The stretch from New Brunswick to Robbinsville was signed as the Cranbury Trail, an alternative to the Lincoln Highway running from New Brunswick to Trenton. The current route was designated as portions of three state routes prior to 1927. In 1916, the road between the Camden area and Bordentown was legislated as part of pre-1927 Route 2 while the current US 130 north of Robbinsville was to become a part of pre-1927 Route 1. In addition, pre-1927 Route 17S was legislated to run from Penns Grove northeast to Westville in 1923; the only portion of road built ran from Pennsville Township south to Salem. When the U.S. Highway System was established in 1926, US 130 was designated to connect U.S. Route 30 in Camden to US 1 in Trenton, following pre-1927 Route 2. In the 1927 renumbering a year later, the US 130 alignment was designated Route 25 from Camden to Bordentown, Route 39 from Bordentown to White Horse, and Route 37 from White Horse to Trenton.
thumb|left|US 130 concurrent with Route 44 in Carneys Point Township prior to the 1953 removal of Route 44 from this section of road
By 1938, US 130 was extended south along Route 45 and Route 44 to end at US 40 in Pennsville where the connection to Hook Road now hits Route 49. By the 1940s, it was rerouted to follow Route 25 and Route 25M from Bordentown to Route 27 in New Brunswick The former US 130 between Bordentown and Trenton was designated as a part of US 206. After the Delaware Memorial Bridge opened in 1951, the south end of US 130 was moved to its current location. Shortly before the 1953 New Jersey state highway renumbering, US 130 was aligned to bypass Yardville with the old route becoming Route 156 in 1953. Also, prior to 1953, US 130 had been aligned to bypass Carneys Point and a stretch of Route 44 between Bridgeport and Westville. In the 1960s, Interstate 295 was built through Salem and Gloucester counties, following a portion of the US 130 freeway bypass of Carneys Point as well as the freeway portion of the route from north of Bridgeport to Westville. As a result of this construction, US 130 was moved back to its original alignment in Carneys Point, replacing that portion of Route 44. US 130 was cut back to its current north end at US 1 in 1969, and the continuation into New Brunswick was assigned Route 171.
In the late 1960s, a freeway was proposed by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission to alleviate traffic on US 130 between Camden and Burlington. This freeway was originally planned as a parkway between the two cities in 1932 that never materialized. The proposed freeway, which was to connect the Ben Franklin Bridge to Interstate 295 near the Assicunk Creek, was to cost $53 million and mostly follow a Conrail railroad line between the two cities.
Construction in 2001 replaced a modified traffic circle at US 130's northern terminus at US 1 and Route 171 in North Brunswick with an interchange. A service road was also built to serve the nearby shopping centers and Milltown Road (CR 606). This project was completed in July 2003. In 2009, the Collingswood Circle at the southern terminus of the U.S. Route 30 concurrency was replaced with an at-grade intersection with jughandles.
In 2013 the road was one of three that tied for the #1 ranking on the Tri-State Transportation Campaign's list of the top ten most dangerous roads for pedestrians in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. The route, along with US 40/US 322 in Atlantic County and US 1 in Middlesex County, were so ranked due to the nine pedestrian deaths that occurred on each of those roads from 2009 to 2011.