New Jersey Route 74

Route 74
Industrial Freeway
The interchange between Route 18 and CR 535, the approximate area where Route 74 would have begun
Route information
Maintained by NJDOT
Length	10.60 mi[1] (17.06 km)
Existed	1956–Early 1980s (never built)
Major junctions
West end	Route 18 in East Brunswick
Major intersections	US 9 / Route 34 in Old Bridge Township
East end	Route 35 in Laurence Harbor
Location
Country	United States
State	New Jersey
Counties	Middlesex
Highway system
New Jersey State Highway Routes Interstate US State Scenic Byways
← Route 73 → Route 75

Route 74 was a proposed limited-access state highway in Middlesex County and Monmouth County of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The route was to be a four-lane divided highway from Route 18 in East Brunswick eastward to an interchange with Route 35 in the Laurence Harbor section of Old Bridge Township. The freeway would have provided a much needed east–west connection between U.S. Route 9 and Route 18. Tentatively named the "Industrial Freeway", Route 74 was to be a 10.60-mile (17.06 km) long four-lane freeway, with eight exits. Also included in the proposal was a U.S. Route 9 expressway to Route 35 in South Amboy and a connector spur from Route 74 back to Route 35 near Morgan.

Plans for the Route 74 "Industrial" Freeway date back to 1956, when local officials brought up the original plan to the state level. The state legislated the designation in January 1962, and studies for construction began four years later. Although the construction of the freeway seemed imminent, a transportation bond issue in 1972 killed the construction. Although a local agency gave Route 74 one last shot in 1975, the plans for a freeway were shelved. Despite that, the New Jersey Department of Transportation and New Jersey State Legislature haven't officially taken it off their "Route Log" in the statutes. Route 74, along with New Jersey Route 60 and New Jersey Route 85, are the only remaining unbuilt freeways left on the official NJDOT "Route Log".^[2]