Future 295 South to 42 South Ramp

     In my last post I mentioned one of the major pieces of the project that will be part of the fourth contact, the new ramp from 295 South to 42 South. Currently, if you are coming down 295 south you would stay to the right and take the Al-Jo curve to get to 42 south. In the new configuration you will stay to the left and start down the existing ramp that takes you to 76 west towards Philadelphia. This ramp will split off to the left, go under 76 at an angle and come back up on the other side near where the Al-Jo curve currently ends and connect you to 42 south. This picture shows roughly where this ramp will be,

Here is a section of the plans showing that new tunnel.

The first part of this was actually done very early in the project. In this picture you can see the two rows of sheet pile that were installed to form the edges of the ramp.

The latest contract documents give a pretty good summary of how this will be built. It's a pretty complex multi-stage operation. 

In stage 1 the lanes of 76 west will be shifted towards the center median. Permenant sheet pile will be installed on either side of the new tunnel and termporary pile along 76. Shafts will be drilled on either side and concrete support columns poured down to below the level of the finished tunnel. This area will then be excavated but only deep enough to allow for the construction of the new bridge deck. 

In stage 2A, two of the 76 west bound lanes will be shifted to go over this new bridge, the temporary sheet pile removed and reinstalled along the edge of the next to lanes. The whole process from stage 1 will then be repeated between the two sets of lanes. 

In stage 2B the west bound lanes are fully moved over on the newly constructed overpass and then the process is repeated in the area between the east and west bound lanes.

In Stage 3A the east bound lanes are shifter over next to the west bound lanes and againt the process is repeated. 

In Stage 3B the lanes coming from the Al-Jo curve are shifted left and the final section of what will become the tunnel is built. At this point 76 is passing over the future tunnel on a "bridge" that is basically sitting right at ground level. 

The final phase involves digging out under the bridge, pouting the final concrete walls, installing drainage, and pouring the concrete bottom of the tunnel. 

Here is a cutaway view of what the final tunnel will look like. 

Contract 4

    In a recent post I mentioned that the new 295 south main line overpass and the new ramp from 42 north to 295 north would likely open next Spring which will also bring and end to Contact 3 of the project. NJDOT has recently put Contact 4 out for bid which is the final phase of the project, this should start next Spring and was estimated to be complete in 2032, but the contact sets a 2036 deadline for completion. Which bring up the question of what is left to be done. Here are the major task that remain to be completed in Phase 4. A lot of this work needs to be done in a specific sequence which is probably why it will take so long to complete. 

- Opening of the 295 north bound mainline overpass.

- Construction of the new ramp from76 East to 295 south

- Construction of the new ramp from 295 South under 76 to 42 South.This is a signifant and complex part of the project. This will be done by constructing the first part of the tunnel beside 76, routing a lane of 76 over that part of the tunnel and then repeating this process lane by lane across both sides of 76. 

- Widening of the 76 bridge over Kings Highway.

- Removal of the middle ramp that current carries 76 east traffic to 295 south, and the 295 north traffic to the 76 west express lanes. This will also allow for the staightening out of 42 in this area. 

- Removal of the Al-Jo curve. This will also involve the removal of the 76 bridge over the curve which is another signficant part of the project.

- Final repaving of 76/42 over the full length of the project

- Construction of noise barreirs 

- Addition of a new pump station. Construction and modifcaiton of water retention basins. 

- Final new sign structures.

Direct Connect October 2026

Over the past few weeks work has been focused on the ramp from 42 North to 295 North and the 295 North part of the new mainline overpass. The concrete road bed has been poured on the 42 North Ramp and the decking and rebar has been placed for the 295 North side of the mainline which should be ready for concrete soon. 

Over the past couple days they have started to install the steel beams for the 295 South section of the mainline overpass which is the last steel that needs to be installed to finish the overpass. 

 

Direct Connect September 2026

Work continues on the new mainline overpass and the new ramp from 42 north to 295 north. Most of the steel is in which just one last section of the south bound lanes incomplete.  

Concrete is being poured on the first section of the bridge deck for the new 42 north to 295 north ramp.

Metal sheeting for the bridge deck of the main line overpass has been staged at the southern end of the project. 

At the southern end of the mainline they have started to pour the concrete Jersey barrier that will seperate the north and southbound lanes of 295. 

Mainline Connection Details

In my previous post I mentioned that it is anticiapted that the new south bound mainline and ramp from 42 north to 295 north will open early next year but the northbound mainline will come some time afterwards. The difference in opening times for the north and south bound lanes doesn't have anything to with the time it will take to build them, but instead it is due to the logistics of connecting the north bound lanes on either end. Here I will describe what has to happen at each end of the new mainline and what I think the sequence of construction will be. I haven't seen any detailed plans for the final phase of construction so these are just my speculations. 42 Freeway recently did a video about this but I will dig into it in a bit more detail.

Lets start by looking at the North end of the project. Here is a picture of the area from mid June, 2026. At the top is 295 south which splits into the lanes going to the Al-Jo curve which re-connects to 295 and 42 South, and lanes going to 76 west. At the bottom of the picture are the lanes from from 295 north, 42 north and 76 east. In the middle is the new construction which will be 295 south, 295 north and the ramp from 42 morth. 

As you can see there is a unfinished section at the end of what will be the new ramp from 42 north. This was left in this state because with the five lanes of traffic coming out of the tunnel, there is no room to complete this. Here is how I speculate that this will be finished. When the ramp from 42 north is ready to open I believe they will initially route it towards the center barrier where 295 north will eventually be. They will also be able to eliminate 1 or 2 lanes that are currently coming though the tunnel. This will free up enough room to complete this end of the 295 north mainline to prepare it to be connected to the existing 295 north. When everything is complete it appears that only one lane will come through the tunnel and that will come from 76 east. 

Here is a look at the other end of the tunnel. The lower lanes carry the 295 north and 42 north traffic. and the upper the 76 east traffic. In the final configuration that lower ramp will be completely removed since it will no longer be needed and I believe 76  East will merge down to one lane just before the tunnel. 

Here is a picture of the southern end of the project. At the top is the ramp that is currently carrying traffic coming south from the northern part of 295. This will eventually carry traffic coming east on 76 from Philadelphia. Below this are the new 295 north and 295 south mainlines. Next are two lanes that share a ramp, one coming from 76 east and the other going to the 76 west express lane. In the final state this ramp will be removed. Finally at the bottom are the two lanes that carry the 295 through traffic and also connect to 76 west. 

Just like the north side things need to change in this area to make room to connect up the new 295 mainline. Here is how I speculate things will be sequenced to complete the construction:

- Once the new ramp from 42 north to 295 north is open it will reduce the traffic at the end of the 295 north ramp so they will be able to remove the express ramp to 76 west and send all the traffic down the ramp at the bottom of the picture. 

- With the 295 south mainline open, that traffic will no longer be using the Al-Jo curve, so they can build the new ramp from 76 east to 295 south, then the ramp at the top of the picture will carry that traffic. This will allow the complete removal of the center ramp and free up the room to make the final connections.

As I mentioned, the ramp marked in red below is not part of the final design and will be removed. This will allow 42 to be straightened out through this area. 

Direct Connect 2026

Work continues on installation of the steel beams for the new mailine overpass. They are very close to putting in the spans over Browning Road.  

While steel is going up on the mainline overpass, decking work is moving along on the ramp from 42 North to 295 North. Rebar has been placed on the first section and equipment has been put in place to smooth the new concrete bridge deck, so the first concrete pour is probably going to happen siin. 

The southern portion of the mainline has been fully paved. 

Direct Connect August 2026

The remaining two cross beams have been installed and temporary supports have been setup for the installation of the remainder of the beams.

Direct Connect July 2026

As the final steel is being placed, work continues on other parts of the new mainline overpass and ramp.

They have started work on the bridge deck at the start of the ramp from 42 N to 295 N. Deck plates have been installed and they are starting to put down the re-bar. 

They have started to pave the ground based southern section of the main line overpass. They haven't started on the bridge deck yet, so I assume they are wainting to complete the paving first.