New Jersey Route 324

View west along a closed portion of Route 324 at milepost 0.5; the signs at this interval have since been demounted

Route 324 begins at a dead-end along the shoreline of the Delaware River and the wreckage of the old ferry dock in Logan Township. Route 324 heads eastward along Old Ferry Road, a two-lane concrete roadway surrounded by trees and fields. The two-lane concrete highway remains such for a distance, paralleling US 322 to the south, passing an access road to a business. The route heads to the east, crossing south of a pond and intersecting with Springers Lane and a dirt road in Logan Township. The entire section west of Springers Lane is marked with a "Road Closed" sign, with minimal maintenance, multiple large potholes, and overgrown vegetation crowding the roadway.[2]

At Springers Lane, which is a former alignment of Route 44, the regularly maintained section of Route 324 begins. The road is now in an open area, crossing under power lines and intersecting with former alignments of roadway, overgrown with grass. A short distance from Springers Lane, the highway continues to the only other intersection along the route, which is for Island Road, a connector to US 130. The highway, however, continues through the desolate portions of Logan Township along a power line. A short distance later, the route passes to the south of the only development along the highway, a boat marina and two homes. Route 324 continues as a two-lane concrete road eastward until reaching a cul-de-sac just short of the US 130/US 322 interchange in Logan Township, where the designation ends.[2]

The former site of the Chester–Bridgeport ferry in Bridgeport, as seen from the western terminus of Route 324

The ferry route that Route 324 serviced first made its crossings of the Delaware River on July 1, 1930, from Chester, Pennsylvania, to Bridgeport, New Jersey. The ferry service was run with two boats, Chester, a large boat with a capacity of 60 motor vehicles, and Bridgeport, a smaller boat with a capacity of 48. The ferry system was seen as an advantage across the Delaware, providing drivers a backup from the few bridges that existed along the river.[5] In 1936, the Bridgeport–Chester Ferry was granted the alignment for the extension of U.S. Route 322 from Pennsylvania and into New Jersey.[6][7] Along with the U.S. Route 322 designation, the New Jersey State Highway Department designated the alignment of Route 322 from the ferry to U.S. Route 130, then designated as State Highway Route 44, as State Highway Route S-44.[3]

Route 322 survived the state highway renumbering because it was a U.S. Route. However, the co-designation on the ferry stretch, State Highway Route S-44 was decommissioned in favor of just one designation.[4][8] U.S. Route 322 remained on the ferry route for several years, and plans arose during the 1960s to construct a new bridge between the Delaware Memorial and Walt Whitman bridges.[9] Construction began that year, and on February 1, 1974, the newly named Commodore Barry Bridge opened for traffic. At 8 p.m. that evening, the Bridgeport–Chester Ferry ran its final 1-mile (1.6 km) boat ride across the Delaware, and the service was closed down for good.[10] The alignment of U.S. Route 322 was moved onto the Commodore Barry Bridge,[11] while the former alignment was redesignated Route 324. The route received mileposts in 2017.[1]

In 2018, the portion of Route 324 from its western terminus to Springer Lane was downloaded to Logan Township.[12] The following year, the same portion was vacated by Logan Township.[13]

The entire route is in Logan Township, Gloucester County.

mi[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
0.00	0.00	Dead end at Delaware River	Western terminus
0.95	1.53	Springers Lane to US 322
1.51	2.43	Cul-de-sac	Eastern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

•  U.S. Roads portal
•  New Jersey portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to New Jersey Route 324.

• Eastbound and westbound video tours of Route 324
• Speed Limits for State Roads: Route 324