State highways in New Jersey

In the U.S. state of New Jersey, the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) maintains a system of state highways. Every significant section of roadway maintained by the state is assigned a number, officially State Highway Route X but commonly called Route X by the NJDOT and the general public. Interstate Highways and U.S. Highways are included in the system, and are typically also called Route X, as there is no duplication of numbers between the systems. State Routes are signed with the standard circular highway shield. The majority of Routes are maintained by the state, but occasionally, for the sake of continuity, a local road is designated and signed as part of a Route. Additionally, all toll roads in New Jersey are assigned internal numbers by the NJDOT - the New Jersey Turnpike is 700 (south of the split with I-95), the Garden State Parkway is 444, the Palisades Interstate Parkway (not tolled, but maintained by the Palisades Interstate Park Commission) is 445, and the Atlantic City Expressway is 446.

Numbering and other details

Major routes are typically assigned one- or two-digit numbers, except where the numbers were chosen to match an adjacent state. Most numbers from 1 to 50 follow a general geographic pattern assigned in 1927 (details below), but later additions are more haphazard. The only suffixed routes other than U.S. Route 9W are short unmarked connections such as Route 76C, an elongated ramp to Interstate 76. The only bannered state route is Route 33 Business; U.S. Route 1 Business and U.S. Route 1-9 Truck are also present.

A statewide system of major county highways is numbered by the NJDOT in the 500-599 range; these are known as 500 Series County Routes. All counties but two - Bergen and Monmouth, which use one- and two-digit numbers - number their other county routes beginning at 600.

History

The initial system of state highways was legislated in 1916, and by 1917 the state began to take over roads from the counties. By 1922, the routes were marked. U.S. Route numbers were added to some of the main routes in 1927.

After a failed renumbering in 1926, a completely new numbering was instituted in 1927, with only four sections of pre-1927 routes remaining as their old numbers suffixed with N - Route 4N, Route 5N, Route 8N and Route 18N. The new numbers followed a general geographical pattern from north to south - 1-12 in northern New Jersey, 21-28 roughly radiating from Newark, 29-37 from Trenton, 38-47 from Camden, and 48-50 in southern New Jersey. Every state highway, even those forming parts of U.S. Routes, was assigned a number. Some short routes were assigned prefixes of S; for instance, Route S26 was a spur of Route 26 south of New Brunswick. One prefixed and suffixed route - Route S4A - was also defined as a second spur of Route 4. As the system grew, some numbers beyond 50 were used, but most new routes received prefixed or suffixed labels.

On January 1, 1953, the second renumbering was implemented. This was not a complete renumbering; instead, the only renumbered routes were those that violated a few guidelines - primarily long concurrencies, especially with U.S. Routes; duplication of numbers with U.S. routes; suffixed routes; and number changes across state borders. Some routes were shortened to remove concurrencies, while others, like Route 25, completely disappeared. Numbers from 53 to 93 were assigned to renumbered routes, while shorter ones received numbers from 152 to 165. The two planned toll roads - the Garden State Parkway and New Jersey Turnpike - received only those names; they had been numbered 4 Parkway and 100.

The majority of new numbers assigned since the 1953 renumbering have been from 166 to 185, with some short routes instead receiving numbers based on their parents (for instance, an old section of U.S. Route 9 became Route 109). Minimal disruption was caused by the assignment of Interstate Highway numbers in the late 1950s. In the 1990s, the majority of bannered U.S. Routes were renumbered as state routes.

List of Routes

Current Interstate Highways

Interstate 76 Interstate 78 Interstate 80 Interstate 95 Interstate 195 Interstate 278 Interstate 280 Interstate 287 Interstate 295 Interstate 676 Interstate 695 Interstate 895 New Jersey Toll Roads Garden State Parkway New Jersey Turnpike Atlantic City Expressway Current U.S. Highways U.S. Route 1 U.S. Route 1 Business (Trenton) U.S. Route 1 Truck (Jersey City) U.S. Route 9 U.S. Route 9 Truck (Jersey City) U.S. Route 9W U.S. Route 22 U.S. Route 30 U.S. Route 40 U.S. Route 46 U.S. Route 130 U.S. Route 202 U.S. Route 206 U.S. Route 322 Former/proposed U.S. Route 1 Alternate (Trenton), now U.S. Route 1 Business (Trenton) U.S. Route 1 Business (Jersey City), now Route 139 U.S. Route 9 Alternate (Toms River), now Route 166 U.S. Route 9 Business (Jersey City), now Route 139 U.S. Route 22 Alternate (Phillipsburg), now Route 122 U.S. Route 122 U.S. Route 611 Current State highways Route 3 Route 4 Route 5 Route 7 Route 10 Route 12 Route 13 Route 15 Route 17 Route 18 Route 19 Route 20 Route 21 Route 23 Route 24 Route 26 Route 27 Route 28 Route 29 Route 31 Route 32 Route 33 Route 33 Business Route 34 Route 35 Route 36 Route 37 Route 38 Route 41 Route 42 Route 44 Route 45 Route 47 Route 48 Route 49 Route 50 Route 52 Route 53 Route 54 Route 55 Route 56 Route 57 Route 59 Route 62 Route 63 Route 64 Route 66 Route 67 Route 68 Route 70 Route 71 Route 72 Route 73 Route 76C Route 77 Route 79 Route 81 Route 82 Route 83 Route 87 Route 88 Route 90 Route 91 Route 93 Route 94 Route 109 Route 120 Route 122 Route 124 Route 129 Route 133 Route 138 Route 139 Route 140 Route 143 Route 147 Route 152 Route 154 Route 156 Route 157 Route 159 Route 161 Route 162 Route 163 Route 165 Route 166 Route 167 Route 168 Route 171 Route 172 Route 173 Route 175 Route 179 Route 181 Route 182 Route 183 Route 184 Route 185 Route 187 Route 208 Route 284 Route 324 Route 347 Route 413 Route 439 Route 440 Former/proposed mainline routes Route 1 Route 2, now Route 17 Route 2N Route 4N, now Route 71 Route 5N, now Route 53 Route 6, now U.S. Route 46 Route 8, now Route 94 Route 8N, now Route 284 Route 9 Route 10N Route 11 Route 11N, now Route 7 Route 13E, now Route 13 Route 14 Route 18N Route 22, now Route 59 Route 25 Route 30, now Route 31 Route 39 Route 40, now Route 70 Route 43 Route 46, now Route 77 Route 51 Route 58, now Interstate 280 Route 60 Route 65 Route 69, now Route 31 Route 74 Route 75 Route 76, now Route 81 Route 84, now Route 284 Route 85 Route 92 Route 100 Route 101 Route 151 Route 153 Route 155 Route 158 Route 160 Route 164 Route 169, now a portion of Route 440 Route 170 Route 174 Route 177 Route 178 Route 180 Route 200, a precursor to the 500-series county route system Route 201, a precursor to the 500-series county route system Route 203, a precursor to the 500-series county route system Route 300 Route 303 Former/proposed spur routes Route S1, now Route 63 Route S1A, now Route 67 Route S3, now a portion of Route 3 Route S3 Spur, now Route 161 Route 4A, now Route 79 Route 4 Parkway, now the Garden State Parkway Route S4 in Perth Amboy, now Route 184 and a portion of Route 440 Route S4 in Absecon, now Route 157 Route S4A, now Route 87 Route S4B, now Route 208 Route S4C, now Route 162 Route S4D, never built; proposal became Route 303 Route S5, now Route 93 Route 6A, now Route 15 Route 6M, now Route 159 Route S6, now Route 62 Route 21A Route 24N Route S24, now Route 57 Route 25A, now Interstate 280 Route 25AD, deleted, later became Route 158 Route 25B, deleted, later became Route 65 Route 25M, now Route 171 Route S25, now Route 413 Route 25T, now U.S. Route 1-9 Truck Route 26A, now Route 91 Route S26 Route S28, now Route 18 Route 29A, now a portion of Route 29 Route 29B Route S29, now a portion of Route 179 Route 31A, now Route 64 Route S31 Route 33 Bypass, now a portion of Route 33 Route S33, now Route 66 Route S39, now Route 68 Route S40, now Route 72 Route S41, now a portion of Route 73 Route S41A, now a portion of Route 73 Route S41N, deleted, became Route 155 Route S43 Route S44 Route S44A Route 44T Route 47 Alternate, now Route 347 Route S49, now a portion of Route 47 Route S56, now Route 87 Route S100 Route S101 Route 700N, the designation originally given to the Newark Bay Extension of the New Jersey Turnpike, now a portion of Interstate 78 Route 700P, the designation originally given to the Pennsylvania Extension of the New Jersey Turnpike, now a portion of Interstate 95 Former/proposed link routes Route 24-28 Link: a link between then-Routes 24 and 28 in Phillipsburg, built in 1938-40, now a part of U.S. Route 22 Route 27-28 Link: a link between then-Routes 27 and 28 in Elizabeth that existed between 1927 and 1953, now a part of Route 28 Route 28-29 Link: a link between then-Routes 28 and 29 built in 1949 as a bypass of Somerville, now a part of U.S. Route 22 Route 33-35 Link: now Route 66 North Avenue Link: North Avenue in Elizabeth between Routes 28 and 27, now a portion of Route 439 See also County routes in New Jersey External links New Jersey Department of Transportation Unofficial New Jersey route log Road Signs of New Jersey New Jersey Highway Ends by Chris Mason