New Jersey Route 143 - History

History

The alignment of Route 143 originates back to the creation of the state highway system in 1916, with the creation of State Highway Route 3 from Camden (in the namesake county) to Absecon in Atlantic County. The route was constructed as sections 7A and 2 of the alignment, with both being designated on April 1, 1918. During the 1927 state highway renumbering, the New Jersey State Highway Department renumbered former Route 3 to State Highway Route 43. The route used the same alignment of Route 3 for the several decades it existed, gaining one spur route in the process, State Highway Route S-43 in 1938 from Germania to Northfield. The routes remained intact until the 1953 New Jersey state highway renumbering, when Route 43, which was mostly concurrent with U.S. Route 30 beforehand, was decommissioned in favor of the U.S. Route. Route 43's alignment, however, was retaken by the state in 1955 as Section 11E of the highway. The route received its designation of Route 143 on June 14, 1989 when the State Legislature approved the new designation.