CNBNews

On Thursday, November 7 at 11 a.m. at the Bellmawr Baseball Batting Cages, 100 Essex Ave., Bellmawr (Rain location-Bellmawr Park Fire Company, 12 Essex Ave, Bellmawr), the Ensign John R. Elliott HERO Campaign and the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) will host a ceremony to dedicate the I-295/Route 42 Interchange as the Ensign John R. Elliott Memorial Interchange. Police Cars from 20 departments wrapped with the HERO Campaign logo will be on display.

The Ensign John R. Elliott HERO Campaign is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to preventing drunk driving deaths and injuries by promoting the use of responsible designated drivers. On July 22, 2000, two months after graduating with distinction from the United States Naval Academy, Ensign John R. Elliott was killed in a head-on collision with a drunk driver, while driving home on Route 40 – an undivided, two-lane highway. Bill Elliott, father of John and founder of the HERO Campaign, believes that had the new I-295/Route 42 Interchange, also known as “Missing Moves,” been available as a travel option John’s life may have been spared 24 years ago. The new ramps connecting I-295 northbound to Route 42 southbound, and Route 42 northbound to I-295 southbound opened in November 2023, allowing the direct movement of traffic between the two roadways for the first time.

To remind motorists of the dangers of driving under the influence and to memorialize John’s life, the Elliott family with the support of Acting Governor Nicholas Scutari, NJDOT Commissioner Fran O’Connor, Senator Vince Polistina, Senator Nilsa Cruz-Perez, and the New Jersey Senate and Assembly, proposed naming the new I-295/Route 42 Interchange in honor of Ensign John Elliott. The interchange will be marked with memorial signs that will be unveiled on November 7, 2024 – just before the  First Anniversary of the completion of NJDOT’s “Missing Moves” I-295/Route 42 Interchange project.