New Jersey Route 83 - History

History

Route 83 was originally legislated by the Laws of 1927, Chapter 319 as a part of Route 49, which was to run from Route 4 (now U.S. Route 9) in Ocean View to Route 44 in Salem. In 1940, the route was realigned through South Dennis to cross over the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines railroad tracks on a bridge. The original alignment, which had its crossing with the railroad tracks blocked, remains as County Road. In the 1953 New Jersey state highway renumbering, Route 49 was realigned to head along Route 47 from Millville to Tuckahoe, Route 47 was realigned to head along Route 49 between Millville and South Dennis and Route S49 from South Dennis and Rio Grande, and Route 83 was created along the former alignment of Route 49 between South Dennis and Clermont.

On December 12, 2004, Route 83 was dedicated as the Trooper Bertram T. Zimmerman III Memorial Highway in honor of a New Jersey State Police trooper who was killed on the route earlier in the year while responding to an armed robbery. In the 2000s, plans were made to improve the intersections at both termini of Route 83. The intersection with Route 47 saw realignment and the installation of a traffic light, along with improvements to Route 47, that cost $6.7 million and was completed in July 2007. In 2006, reconstruction of the Y-intersection of U.S. Route 9 and Route 83 to feature realignment and a new traffic light was planned following a school bus accident.