New Jersey Route 72

Route 72
Route 72 highlighted in red, and former Route 180 in pink
Route information
Maintained by NJDOT
Length	28.74 mi[1] (46.25 km)
Existed	January 1, 1953[2]–present
Major junctions
West end	Route 70 in Woodland Township
Major intersections	G.S. Parkway in Stafford Township US 9 in Stafford Township
East end	CR 607 in Ship Bottom
Location
Country	United States
State	New Jersey
Counties	Burlington, Ocean
Highway system
New Jersey State Highway Routes Interstate US State Scenic Byways
← Route 71 → Route 73
← Route 179 → Route 181 ← CR 49 → CR 53

Route 72 is a state highway in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It runs 28.74 mi (46.25 km) from the Four Mile Circle with Route 70 in Woodland Township in Burlington County to County Route 607 (CR 607) in Ship Bottom on Long Beach Island in Ocean County. Route 72 travels through the Pine Barrens as a two-lane undivided road. After an interchange with the Garden State Parkway, the route becomes a four- to six-lane divided highway through built-up areas of Manhawkin and crosses the Manahawkin Bay via the Manahawkin Bay Bridge onto Long Beach Island.

What is now Route 72 was originally designated as Route S40 in 1927, a spur of Route 40 (now Route 70) running from Four Mile to Manahawkin. The road was extended to Ship Bottom by 1941 before it was renumbered to Route 72 in 1953. A realignment that took place in 1969 between U.S. Route 9 (US 9) and the Manahawkin Bay Bridge resulted in the designation of Route 180 on the former alignment; this road is now CR 50. Plans in the late 1960s and the 1970s called for a proposed Route 72 freeway, running from the western terminus at Route 70 to the concurrently proposed Interstate 895 (I-895) at the New Jersey Turnpike in Westampton Township, connecting Philadelphia's northern suburbs with the Jersey Shore. The freeway plans along with I-895 were canceled by the 1980s. The Manahawkin Bay Bridge underwent deck repairs completed in May 2010, with the bridge slated to be rehabilitated and a parallel span to be built to the south.