Route 71 is the former alignment of State Highway Route 4 and Route 35. In 1927, the alignment became the designation of State Highway Route 4-N. This alignment remained intact until the state highway renumbering in 1953, when it became Route 71. The route has remained virtually unchanged since. Route 71 was also to serve as the eastern terminus of Route 33 in Neptune, but this never came to be.
Route description
View northbound along Route 71 from Route 35 in Brielle
Route 71 begins at large grade-separated interchange with Route 35 in the community of Brielle. The route heads northward through Brielle as Union Avenue, passing through the commercial district and residential after the intersection of Union Lane. Route 71 continues northward through Brielle as a two-lane highway before beginning a parallel with NJ Transit's North Jersey Coast Line. After entering Manasquan, the highway enters a large commercial district and crosses over the Stockton Brook before curving onto 7th Avenue. After the intersection of Sea Girt Avenue (CR 49), Route 71 enters Sea Girt. The route continues north through Sea Girt until the intersection of 8th Avenue (CR 20), where it briefly enters Wall Township. There, the route crosses over the North Branch of the Wreck Pond and enters Spring Lake Heights. Route 71 quickly passes the Spring Lake Golf Club and the nearby Spring Lake Train Station before entering the downtown area of Spring Lake Heights.[3]
View south along Route 71 at Route 35 in Belmar
Most of Spring Lake Heights is residential, with a large condominium complex surrounding the southbound direction on Route 71. The highway continues northward, intersecting with Allaire Road (CR 524) and passes Marucci Park. Route 71 intersects with 18th Avenue (CR 30), where the highway enters Belmar. After crossing the intersection of 16th Avenue (CR 18), Route 71 enters the downtown area of Belmar, intersecting with River Road (Route 35). There, Route 35/Route 71 runs concurrently through Belmar, passing the local Belmar Train Station. At the intersection of 8th Avenue, Route 71 turns off to the east while Route 35 continues north on River Road and crosses parallel to Route 35 over the Shark River and enters Avon-by-the-Sea, becoming Main Street. There, the two routes continue to parallel, with Route 71 becoming a divided one-way street through Avon-by-the-Sea. The route continues northward through the residential seashore community, crossing the Sylvan Creek and entering Bradley Beach. Through Bradley Beach, Route 71 intersects with Brinley Avenue (CR 2), which serves access to the Bradley Beach Train Station. The highway continues northward through the residential district, and enters Neptune. There, Route 71 intersects with the eastern terminus of the cross-state Route at Corlies Avenue before entering the large city of Asbury Park.[3]
Route 71 at Monmouth University in West Long Branch
Through Asbury Park, Route 71 intersects with several local streets at traffic lights as Main Street. The route intersects with Asbury Avenue (CR 16). After crossing through Sunset Park, Route 71 approaches Deal Lake, where the highway turns to the east along Deal Lake Drive. Route 71's right-of-way on Main Street becomes CR 15 and Route 71 continues through the lakeshore community as a two-lane arterial. Soon after, Route 71 turns north on Park Avenue, crosses over Deal Lake and enters Loch Arbour. However, the highway heads northward into Allenhurst soon after. Route 71, now known as Norwood Avenue, crosses out of Allenhurst after an intersection of Cedar Avenue, entering Deal. Before the intersection of Roseld Avenue, the highway becomes a divided one with a center median. The route continues this way through the residential portions of Deal, crossing into the Ocean Township-Deal border. There, the route comes back together, crossing over the North Jersey Coast Line once again near the Elberon Train Station. Route 71 continues along the Ocean Township–Long Branch border until entering the West Long Branch-Long Branch border near Whale Pond Brook. At that point, Route 71 serves as the main road to access Monmouth University. At the intersection of Cedar Avenue, Norwood Avenue ends, and Route 71 northbound turns westward along Cedar Avenue, fully entering West Long Branch. The route crosses through Monmouth University and enters the residential area of West Long Branch, intersecting with Locust Avenue/Monmouth Road (CR 15) and Wall Street (CR 32) within a mile of each other. At the intersection of Locust Avenue/Monmouth Road (CR 15), Route 71 turns to the northwest through a residential area.[3]
Northern terminus of Route 71 at Route 35 in Eatontown (Route 71 southbound ahead)
Route 71 parallels the Glenwood Cemetery before intersecting with Route 36. Here, Route 71 continues northwestward on Monmouth Road through large commercial complexes and the local country club. The highway continues northward, bordering Eatontown to the southwest and Oceanport, where it enters a local residential area and intersects with Eatontown Boulevard (CR 547), which become concurrent. Route 71 and CR 547 fully enter Eatontown as Broad Street, heading westward as CR 547 splits from Route 71 by turning southwest on Wyckoff Road. The highway continues into the commercial district of Eatontown, where it intersects with Main Street (Route 35) once again but Route 71 terminates.[3]
Route 71 northbound past CR 524 in Spring Lake Heights
From Long Branch to Deal Lake, the road was maintained as part of the Long Branch and Deal Turnpike, which also stretched north along Norwood Avenue and Branchport Avenue. Route 71 originates as part of the Jersey Coast Way, an auto trail running from the Staten Island Ferry to Cape May. This was later an alignment of State Highway Route 4 in the 1920s, which ran from Absecon in Atlantic County northward to Rahway in Union County.[4] Route 4 remained intact through the 1927 state highway renumbering, when Route 4 was realigned onto the current alignment of Route 35 most of its length.[6] The older alignment from Belmar to Eatontown was re-designated as State Highway Route 4 N by the New Jersey State Highway Department. Route 4-N was one of four routes that used the -N suffix from the original numbering.[7] Route 35 was designated on the southern portion, but this got reversed, allowing the designation to be extended to Brielle. The highway department originally planned for maintenance of this section to revert to local maintenance, but years of campaigning by locals prompted the highway department to restore the state highway in 1931.[8] The route remained intact for the next 22 years, until the second state highway renumbering in 1953. Route 35 remained on its basic alignment, but State Highway Route 4-N was renumbered to Route 71.[5] Route 71 has remained virtually unchanged since the 1953 renumbering in terms of its alignment from Brielle to Eatontown.[9] During the time of the proposed Route 33 Freeway from Trenton to Neptune, the intersection with Route 33 in Neptune was to be upgraded to a grade-separated interchange, but this portion was never built after being canned in 1967.[10][11]
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