The North–South Freeway portion of Route 42 was originally planned as a parkway in 1932 that would run from the Ben Franklin Bridge in Camden to Atlantic City; however, this proposal never materialized. In the late 1940s, the North–South Freeway was proposed by the New Jersey State Highway Department to run from the Ben Franklin Bridge to Turnersville. In the early 1950s, right-of-way for the freeway was acquired and actual construction of the freeway followed. The Route 42 freeway opened between Interstate 295 in Bellmawr and the Black Horse Pike in Blackwood in 1958. It opened between the Black Horse Pike in Blackwood and Turnersville in 1959. With the completion of the North–South Freeway portion of Route 42, the Black Horse Pike north of Turnersville became Route 168.