Atlantic City Expressway

The Atlantic City Expressway (officially numbered, but unsigned, as Route 446 and abbreviated A.C. Expressway, ACE, or ACX, and known locally as "the Expressway") is a 44.19-mile (71.12 km), controlled-access toll road in New Jersey, managed and operated by the South Jersey Transportation Authority. It serves as an extension of the freeway portion of Route 42 in Turnersville (which is itself an extension of Interstate 76) southeast to Atlantic City. It connects the Philadelphia metropolitan area with Atlantic City and other Jersey Shore resorts. In addition to providing a route between the Delaware Valley and Atlantic City, as well as other Shore Points, the expressway also serves other Southern New Jersey communities, including Hammonton and Mays Landing. The expressway intersects many major roads, including Route 73 in Winslow Township, Route 54 in Hammonton, Route 50 in Hamilton Township, the Garden State Parkway in Egg Harbor Township, and U.S. Route 9 in Pleasantville.

The Atlantic City Expressway has an open system of tolling, with two mainline toll plazas (Egg Harbor in Hamilton Township and Pleasantville) and seven exits with ramp tolls. The total cost to travel the length of the Atlantic City Expressway is currently $3.75 and E-ZPass is accepted. In 2008, two separate plans were made to raise the tolls along the road, one proposed by Governor Jon Corzine and one proposed by the South Jersey Transportation Authority that would increase tolls 50%. The latter toll increase took place effective November 18, 2008. The expressway features one service area, Farley Plaza, in Hamilton Township a short distance west of the Egg Harbor Toll Plaza, as well as a gas station and mini-mart near the Atlantic City Welcome Center in Pleasantville. In a few years, the road is expected to use all-electronic tolling.

Plans for the road go back to the 1930s, when a parkway was proposed between Camden and Atlantic City that was never built. Plans resurfaced for the road in the 1950s when a group of officials led by State Senator Frank S. Farley pushed for a road to help the area economy. The New Jersey Expressway Authority was created in 1962 to be responsible for building an expressway. The Atlantic City Expressway was built between 1962 and 1965 at a total cost of $48.2 million. The South Jersey Transportation Authority assumed control of the road in 1991 from the New Jersey Expressway Authority.