 County Route 539 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 CR 539 highlighted in red, CR 539 Alt. in blue | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Length | 54.32 mi[1] (87.42 km) | |||
| Tourist routes | Upper Freehold Historic Farmland Byway | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end |   US 9 /CR 603 inTuckerton | |||
| Major intersections | ||||
| North end |   CR 535 /CR 685 in Cranbury | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | New Jersey | |||
| Counties | Ocean,Monmouth,Mercer,Middlesex | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| ||||
County Route 539 (CR 539) is acounty highway in theU.S. state ofNew Jersey. The highway extends 54.32 miles (87.42 km) from Main Street (U.S. Route 9 or US 9) inTuckerton toCR 535 inCranbury Township. Much of the two-lane route passes through isolated areas of thePine Barrens and the eastern end of theFort Dix entity ofJoint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst. In these stretches, the route has aspeed limit of 55 miles per hour (89 km/h), one of the few two-lane roads in the state to carry a 55 mph limit. CR 539 passes through threeboroughs: Tuckerton,Allentown, andHightstown. Other than those boroughs, the route travels mainly through ruraltownships.
_just_south_of_Ocean_County_Route_606_(Forge_Road)_in_Little_Egg_Harbor_Township%2c_Ocean_County%2c_New_Jersey.jpg)
CR 539 begins at an intersection with US 9 in Tuckerton,Ocean County, heading north on two-lane undivided North Green Street. South of US 9, the road continues as CR 603. The route passes through residential areas as it becomes the border betweenLittle Egg Harbor Township to the west and Tuckerton to the east before fully entering Little Egg Harbor Township. CR 539 heads through decreasing residential development as it heads into the densely forested Pine Barrens and intersects CR 602 prior to an interchange with theGarden State Parkway. Following this interchange, the speed limit of the road rises to 55 miles per hour (89 km/h), the route comes to a junction with CR 606, and passes through the rural Pine Barrens for several miles. Upon crossing intoStafford Township, the road passes through the small residential community ofWarren Grove, where it intersects CR 608. From here, CR 539 passes through more forest, intersecting CR 610 before becoming Warren Grove-Whiting Road enteringBarnegat Township and crossingRoute 72/CR 532.[1][2]After this intersection, the road continues north and passes throughLacey Township as Cedar Bridge-Whiting Road before enteringManchester Township and becoming Roosevelt City Road. The route passes near a few wooded areas of homes before running through more forest, crossing aNew Jersey Seashore Lines railroad line, and passing housing developments and businesses in the community ofWhiting. Here, CR 539 intersectsCR 530 and forms a briefconcurrency with that route, passing businesses as it comes to theRoute 70 junction. At this point, CR 530 turns west along Route 70 and CR 539 heads northwest into more of the Pine Barrens on Whiting-New Egypt Road, becoming Pinehurst Road at the CR 14 junction. The route briefly passes throughJackson Township before enteringPlumsted Township, where the road turns northwest and north through forested areas of theFort Dix Military Reservation. After leaving the Fort Dix grounds, CR 539's speed limit drops to 50 miles per hour (80 km/h) and enters a mix of farms and woods with a few homes and businesses, heading northwest and crossing CR 640. Following this junction, the route enters more wooded areas of residential development, passingNew Egypt Speedway before crossingCR 528. The county route becomes concurrent withCR 528 Truck and passes more rural areas of homes before becoming Hornerstown Road and reaching an intersection withCR 537, where CR 528 Truck turns west onto that route.[1][2]Upon crossing CR 537, CR 539 entersUpper Freehold Township inMonmouth County and intersectsCR 27, at which point the road becomes Trenton-Forked River Road and heads through agricultural areas with some homes, crossing another section of CR 27. The route heads through more areas of farms, woods, and residences, where it turns west onto Davis-Allentown Road at aroundabout with CR 539 Alt. and runs northwest through more rural areas. CR 539 entersAllentown, where it becomes High Street and passes through residential areas before intersectingCR 524. CR 539 forms a concurrency with CR 524, with the two routes continuing northeast along Main Street to a short overlap withCR 526. The road leaves Allentown for Upper Freehold Township and enters farmland as it intersectsCR 526 Spur. A short distance later, CR 524/CR 539 reaches an interchange withInterstate 195 (I-195).[1][2]
_at_New_Jersey_State_Route_33_(Franklin_Street)_in_Hightstown%2c_Mercer_County%2c_New_Jersey.jpg)
At this point, the name of the road becomes Old York Road and it forms the border betweenRobbinsville Township,Mercer County to the west and Upper Freehold Township, Monmouth County to the east briefly before CR 524 splits from CR 539 by turning east along New Canton-Stone Tavern Road. CR 539 continues northeast past a mix of farms and residential subdivisions before passing through more agricultural surroundings. The road briefly turns east and runs through a wooded part ofMillstone Township, Monmouth County.[1][2]After a turn to the north, CR 539 entersEast Windsor Township in Mercer County and passes farms with some homes, intersecting CR 630 before passing over theNew Jersey Turnpike (I-95). Following this, the road passes through residential subdivisions before enteringHightstown. CR 539 then becomes South Main Street at this point and passes homes, withCR 571 joining the route from the east. Upon reaching the commercial downtown of Hightstown, northbound CR 539/CR 571 joinRoute 33 as it merges from Mercer Street onto Main Street. (Traveling southbound, CR 539/571 follow Route 33 onto Mercer Street for one block before turning east onto Ward Street and then south onto South Main Street.) CR 571 then leaves the concurrency by turning to the west on Stockton Street. After crossing the Rocky Brook, Route 33 splits from CR 539 by turning to the east on Franklin Street while CR 539 continues on North Main Street past more homes, intersecting CR 633. The road heads back into East Windsor Township and runs through farmland, passing underRoute 133. The road passes near housing developments, becoming South Main Street as it crosses theMillstone River intoCranbury Township,Middlesex County, in wooded areas. CR 539 reaches an intersection withUS 130 a short distance later at a modifiedtraffic circle. Continuing north along South Main Street, CR 539 ends at a signalized intersection withCR 535 andCR 685 (Old Trenton Road).[1][2]
When the500-series county routes were first designated in the 1950s, CR 539 traveled west from Hightstown toPrinceton on Stockton Street, Princeton–Hightstown Road, and Washington Road, the route of present-day CR 571.[3] It became CR 571 by 1976.[4] More recently, the state had previously designated CR 539's northern terminus to be at the US 130 traffic circle though signage at and around the intersection showed CR 539 continuing north of the circle. CR 685 was the official designation for this portion of South Main Street.[5] By 2019, the current terminus had been established by the state.[1]Twospecial routes of CR 539 existed at the creation of the 500-series county routes.County Route 539 Spur ran from Warren Grove toWaretown.[6] The road today is now Ocean County Route 610 from CR 539 to Route 72, and CR 532 from Route 72 to its current end at US 9 (CR 532 at the time ran on what is nowCR 554).[6] This designation was removed by 1961.[7]County Route 539 Alternate followed what is now CR 526 from Allentown toPrinceton Junction.[8][9] It was renumbered as a western extension of CR 526 by 1956.[3] A Monmouth County-takeover of Sharon Station Road in Upper Freehold known as County Route 539 Alternate occurred in 2009.[10]
Parts of CR 539 in Ocean and Monmouth counties were planned to be a part ofRoute 37 which would have run fromTrenton toSeaside Heights. The section of the road which was actually built as a state highway was between Hornerstown Road in Plumsted Township and Burlington Path Road (CR 27) in Upper Freehold.[11][8] Though this section is no longer state-maintained, this section of CR 539 still has a wide right-of-way, wide shoulders, and an old bridge from 1940 with "State Highway Route 37" engraved on the ends.
| County | Location | mi[1] | km | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ocean | Tuckerton | 0.00 | 0.00 | US 9 –Toms River,Absecon | |
| Little Egg Harbor Township | 3.49– 3.56 | 5.62– 5.73 |   G.S. Parkway | Exit 58 (GSP) | |
| Barnegat Township | 13.78 | 22.18 |     Route 72 /CR 532 toG.S. Parkway north –Red Lion,Long Beach Island | ||
| Manchester Township | 25.10 | 40.39 |   CR 530 east –Whiting | South end of CR 530 concurrency | |
| 25.36 | 40.81 |   Route 70 /CR 530 west –Camden,Lakehurst | North end of CR 530 concurrency | ||
| Plumsted Township | 35.16 | 56.58 |  CR 528 (Lakewood-New Egypt Road) –New Egypt,Lakewood | South end of CR 528 Truck concurrency | |
| Ocean–Monmouth county line | Plumsted–Upper Freehold township line | 37.17 | 59.82 |   CR 537 /CR 528 Truck west (Monmouth Road) –Mt. Holly,Freehold | North end of CR 528 Truck concurrency |
| Monmouth | Upper Freehold Township | 40.81 | 65.68 |        CR 539 Alt. north (Sharon Station Road) toI-195 /N.J. Turnpike | Roundabout; southern terminus of CR 539 Alt. |
| Allentown | 44.10 | 70.97 |  CR 524 west (South Main Street) –Yardville | South end of CR 524 concurrency | |
| 44.39 | 71.44 |  CR 526 west (Church Street) –Trenton | South end of CR 526 concurrency | ||
| 44.41 | 71.47 | CR 526 east (Walker Street) | North end of CR 526 concurrency | ||
| Upper Freehold Township | 44.95 | 72.34 |    CR 526 Spur south toCR 526 east / CR 539 south –Cream Ridge | Northern terminus of CR 526 Spur | |
| Monmouth–Mercer county line | Upper Freehold–Robbinsville township line | 45.32 | 72.94 | I-195 –Trenton,Shore Points | Exit 8 (I-195) |
| 45.50 | 73.23 | CR 524 east –Clarksburg,Freehold | North end of CR 524 concurrency | ||
| Mercer | Hightstown | 51.55 | 82.96 |  CR 571 south (Etra Road) –Etra,Roosevelt | South end of CR 571 concurrency |
| 51.92 | 83.56 |   Route 33 west (Mercer Street) | South end of Route 33 concurrency | ||
| 51.98 | 83.65 | CR 571 north (Stockton Street) | North end of CR 571 concurrency | ||
| 52.08 | 83.81 |  Route 33 east (Franklin Street) toN.J. Turnpike –Freehold | North end of Route 33 concurrency | ||
| Middlesex | Cranbury Township | 53.53– 53.59 | 86.15– 86.24 |  US 130 –New Brunswick,Princeton,Freehold | Cranbury Circle |
| 54.32 | 87.42 | CR 535 (South Main Street / Old Trenton Road) /CR 685 east | |||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
| |||||
 County Route 539 Alternate | |
|---|---|
| Location | Upper Freehold Township |
| Length | 1.47 mi[12] (2.37 km) |
_just_north_of_Monmouth_County_Route_539_(Allentown-Davis_Station_Road)_in_Upper_Freehold_Township%2c_Monmouth_County%2c_New_Jersey.jpg)
County Route 539 Alternate (CR 539 Alt. orCR 539A) is a 1.47-mile-long (2.37 km) Monmouth County-maintained segment of Sharon Station Road in Upper Freehold Township. The road begins at aroundabout with CR 539 near the Cream Ridge Golf Course. Its entire length is adivided highway with one lane in each direction andjughandles for U-turn movements and a northbound entrance to Dutchess Drive. It travels north through farmland over Doctors Creek before passing to the east of housing developments. At its signal-controlled intersection with CR 526 where CR 539 Alt. ends, there are light industrial facilities surrounding the junction. Sharon Station Road continues north as a township-maintained road.[13]
In 2009, Monmouth County assumed jurisdiction of the southernmost 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of Sharon Station Road between CR 539 and CR 526 as a part of an overall project to allow through traffic on CR 539 to bypass Allentown.[10] Monmouth County has designated this road County Route 539A although the route became signed as CR 539 Alternatec. 2015 between CR 539 and CR 526. Before the takeover, Sharon Station Road was an undivided two-lane municipal road. The road was reconstructed beginning in January 2020 to its present configuration.[14] Reconstruction was substantially completed in 2023.
The county is also proposing taking over jurisdiction of Sharon Station Road between CR 526 and CR 524 which would bring the total mileage to 2.2 miles (3.5 km).[15]
