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Two just-opened ramps directly link Route 42 and I-295 in South Jersey for the first time

Work continues on a separate but related $1 billion project to build an elevated roadway for I-295 that will connect a gap in the interstate in Bellmawr.

A view of I-295 looking north shows the "Missing Moves" ramps connecting Route 42 and the interstate in Camden County. The connection opened to traffic Tuesday before the morning rush.
A view of I-295 looking north shows the "Missing Moves" ramps connecting Route 42 and the interstate in Camden County. The connection opened to traffic Tuesday before the morning rush.Read moreNJDOT / Courtesy of NJDOT

About 6 a.m. Tuesday, new ramps opened connecting the Route 42 freeway and I-295 in South Jersey, enabling drivers for the first time to move directly between the two major highways without using — and clogging — local roads.

The $180 million connection project, known as “Missing Moves,” began in March 2020 and was finished on time and under budget, NJDOT said in announcing the opening. It stands to ease a long-standing regional bottleneck.

New Jersey Assemblyman Bill Moen (D., Camden) said the ramps are a “win-win” for the 150,000 commuters who move through the corridor daily as well as for people who live in Bellmawr, Westville, and the other Camden County boroughs and towns whose streets are often jammed.

“For the last 60 years, nonlocal traffic would be forced to use our local roadways,” Moen said. “I expect this will reduce the burden on our local police, fire, and emergency services, while also improving the quality of life for residents.”

But at least five more years of construction remain on the much larger $1.1 billion job to untangle the ramps and sharp curves that break up I-295 at its mega-interchange with I-76 and Route 42. That work began in 2013.

Now, those traveling southbound have to exit I-295 and negotiate the 35-mph Al Jo’s curve onto Route 42, before picking up the interstate again a few miles down the road.

The Missing Moves ramps that opened Tuesday connect I-295 north to Route 42 south and Route 42 northto I-295 south. They were built with federal highway money.

The larger Direct Connect project to send I-295 soaring over the congested interchange suffered a setback in March 2021 when a retaining wall collapsed on a closed elevated portion of roadway under construction. Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti, the New Jersey transportation commissioner, said at the time that the mishap might delay the projected 2028 completion date.

Last year, an engineering study for NJDOT concluded Wall 22 in Bellmawr suffered a “complex failure” that included displacement of sandy fill soil used to build the embankment and slope underneath, as well as a faulty foundation. The Inquirer obtained the report via public records request.

The just-completed ramp project included a number of improvements designed, NJDOT said:

  1. The demolition and reconstruction of the Creek Road Bridge over I-295 in Bellmawr. The work was finished and the bridge opened last fall.

  2. Relocating the Route 42 north Exit 14 interchange ramps with Creek Road/Leaf Avenue, which was permanently closed in July 2022 as a new Route 42 north Exit 14B interchange with Benigno Boulevard was opened.

  3. Restriping the Route 55 north ramp to Route 42 north to provide two lanes of traffic instead of one lane, which will ease congestion.