Current and historic US Highway ends
in Atlantic City NJ

The east ends of both US 30 and US 40 have been in Atlantic City since the US routes were first commissioned in 1926. The US 322 designation was extended there ten years later. Robert Goodman tells me that all three routes once shared a common terminus. Today US 30 ends on Absecon Boulevard at the five-way intersection of Virginia Avenue and Adriatic Avenue (see photos here). But at one time it continued east on Virginia for about a half-mile. At Atlantic Avenue, US 40 and US 322 began to the south (or to the right in the photo below):

Elbert, July 2006

Apparently Atlantic was one-way southbound, so US 30 ended at the next block ahead: Pacific Avenue, which carried the easternmost segment of US 40/US 322.

If the car shown above were to turn right and go about two miles, the road jogs slightly, its name changes to Ventnor Avenue, and it passes just to the west of the distinctive WWI Veterans Memorial (this is a fairly modern reconfiguration - there used to be a traffic circle surrounding the Memorial). Just past that, Ventnor intersects Albany Boulevard (formerly Albany Avenue). There a sign pointing to the right (west) on Albany is the current easternmost mention of US 40...

Elbert, July 2006

...and also US 322, although as you can see, that highway is not represented on the sign assembly. Unfortunately, Chris reports that's the only standard signage at this intersection - the only other indication of the two US routes is on city street signs. But apparently this endpoint has been poorly-signed for decades: in his 1953 book U.S. 40: Cross Section of the United States of America (Riverside Press, Cambridge MA), George R. Stewart had this to say about the east terminus:

"In keeping with its utilitarian and non-ceremonial nature, U.S. 40 has no monument or even signpost to mark its beginning. It merely emerges from the streets of Atlantic City. This is unusual. Most federal highways come to a definitely and clearly marked terminus, but in Atlantic City the westbound motorist must merely, so to speak, pick up the trail by sighting a seemingly chance marker along the street.

As a practical starting point, we can take the traffic-circle surrounding the World War Memorial. From this point westward, for nearly three thousand miles, the route is posted continuously with the shield-shaped markers of the federal highway system. Here at the traffic circle U.S. 40 is only a quarter mile from the ocean, though actual view of it is cut off by the intervening Atlantic City board-walk."

The photo below is looking west along Albany from Atlantic:

Mortell, Aug. 2007

According to NJDoT documents, US 40/322 actually begins here at Atlantic (not Ventnor, which is the next block ahead - note the WWI Memorial in the distance). In other words: the Memorial may be the vernacular endpoint for US 40, but apparently it's not the actual endpoint. However, there is no route signage at the Albany/Atlantic intersection. One must travel a few blocks west of Ventnor before sighting the first confirming assembly:

Elbert, July 2006

The two routes are co-signed for about 12 miles west, to McKee City. The green sign in the distance informs the traveller of a connection to Camden and Philadelphia via the Atlantic City Expressway. Heading the opposite direction, the east end of US 40/US 322 is completely unheralded, both at Ventor...

Elbert, July 2006

...and ahead at Atlantic. The photo below was taken from northbound Ventnor:

Wiley, 2000

There you can see the US route shields on the street signs. Another one was recently added to the signal-mast on the right; below is a close-up:

Elbert, July 2006

For photos and info about the west endpoints of these routes, please view my US 40 and/or US 322 pages.