New Jersey Route 109 - History

History

The road that is now Route 109 was legislated as a part of pre-1927 Route 14 in 1917, a route that was to run from Cape May to Egg Harbor City along what is now Route 109, U.S. Route 9 and Route 50. In the 1927 New Jersey state highway renumbering, this portion of pre-1927 Route 14 became the southernmost part of Route 4, a route that was to run from Cape May north to the George Washington Bridge. By the 1940s, U.S. Route 9 was extended south from Absecon to Cape May, running concurrent with Route 4. In the 1953 New Jersey state highway renumbering, which eliminated long concurrencies between U.S. and state routes, the Route 4 designation was dropped along this portion of road, leaving U.S. Route 9 as the sole designation. U.S. Route 9 was rerouted to the Cape May – Lewes Ferry and extended to U.S. Route 13 in Laurel, Delaware, in the 1970s, with Route 109 designated along the former alignment of U.S. Route 9 into Cape May.