New Jersey Roads - CR 501, NJ 63/93
and NJ 63, NJ 93
NJ 184 was NJ 440 before the freeway extension of the Outerbridge to the infamous Spaghetti Bowl (which I affectionately call the Tangle) area. It winds its way from the heart of the Garden State Parkway/New Jersey Turnpike interchange eastward to NJ 440, ending at NJ 35 as a pair of frontage roads for 440. NJ 184 and CR 501 are the same right-of-way except between the western NJ 440 junction and NJ 35, where 184 goes up to 35 to end and 501 goes down onto 440. NJ 184 has its own page, linked at the bottom of this page.
CR 501 then follows NJ 440 to the New York line, pretends to follow NY 440, and pops back up in Bayonne as Kennedy Boulevard, where it continues northward. If you pay attention, CR 501 is east-west in Middlesex County, and north-south in Hudson and Bergen Counties (and signed as such). In the latter county, NJ 63 and NJ 93 are each spur routes off of US 1-9; NJ 63 comes off of US 1/9/46 but was originally NJ S-1, a branch of NJ 1 which followed US 1-9 to US 9W. CR 501 cuts over from NJ 63 to NJ 93 via Central Blvd., where the ugly shield above is located; thus a short segment of each route exists without the help of 501, but both are mainly overlays.
Southern section
Old shields at the western end, courtesy Lou Corsaro.
Talmadge Rd. NB in Edison.
Heading west from NJ 27, CR 501 follows the old Middlesex-Essex Turnpike for a little bit until it gets back to New Durham Rd. (the westward continuation of Amboy Ave. but for the Northeast Corridor railroad). Then the railroad cuts off the Turnpike (straight ahead). Click on the link at bottom for more.
Facing east on New Durham Rd., with a tiny railroad bridge straight ahead. The roadway makes it through and ends up as almost a driveway hidden in some trees. While it eventually makes it out to NJ 27, it doesn't end up aligned with Amboy Ave. on the other side.
WB Amboy Avenue, courtesy Lou Corsaro.
Old river crossing sign [the Arthur Kill separates Staten Island from NJ, thanks Lou], EB in Edison, also from Lou.
Another old river crossing sign of a different sort, EB. I assume this one wants you to use NJ 440 to Staten Island, to I-278 to the Verrazano.
Northern section
Southbound, but past NJ 440 isn't CR 501 anymore; since 501 shares the NJ half of the Bayonne Bridge with 440 I can show the second photo here. The northern NJ 440 page (see big link at bottom) has many more bridge photos.
NJ 440 isn't NJ 169 anymore, either. Courtesy Bill Mitchell from back when it was, SB (I think up by the freeway section of 440) and NB just off the Bayonne Bridge.
The only references to this mysterious Alt. US 1-9 are on NJ 139 WB and then, seen here, CR 501 SB at the next block (the ramp to the Tonnele Circle). CR 501 makes a horrible alternate route, because it's so clogged with local traffic between Jersey City, Union City, Hoboken, and the multitudinous small towns to the north. I have no clue where the NB Alt. route comes from, because there's no ramp from the Tonnele Circle back up to Hoboken (i.e. "139 Upper" is really more of a vertical spur). Then a block later is another Alt. route, using St. Pauls Ave. to Charlotte Ave. to hook up with US 1-9 Truck, but this one's signed with a small rectangular shield (i.e. no shield at all).
It's gone from Alt. to Trucks and managed to make itself worse. There is an actual US 1-9 Truck that could be signed here instead.
The NB sign at NJ 139U notes CR 501 as the Lincoln Highway, which followed it from Newark Ave. or so north toward the Lincoln Tunnel.
Head toward the real US 1-9 instead of the fake one, and make it during construction of the new St. Paul's Viaduct (bridging from the old Charlotte Circle to Tonnele Circle), and you'll find this warning about upcoming construction on the Truck route. Notice how little the NJDOT contributed. They should have thrown in a few more cents for designing this shield.
NJDOT-erected MV Inspection sign, southbound.
Some old sights - street signs in Union City, and a unique all-round-heads traffic signal in North Bergen. Street numbering is continuous up the Hudson County riverside, regardless of jurisdiction.
The eastern and western parapets on the north side of an ancient railroad bridge on NJ 63/CR 501. As you can see, the state-numbered parts of CR 501 on NJ 63 and NJ 93 are state-maintained as well.
SB in Ridgefield, courtesy Bill Mitchell.
Odd NJ 93 font.
I guess people saw this sign on NJ 93 NB and immediately made lefts, across traffic, into driveways, building fronts, trees, whatever they could find. I have never seen a similarly urgent warning for such a trivial piece of information before.
The northern end of NJ 93. CR 501 continues on, county-maintained, to become NY 340.
Continuing north, and picking up Truck CR 505 from NJ 4. The old signal sign is at CR 505 itself (Palisades Ave.) and thus the end of the truck route.
CR 501 NB and SB are on a one-way couplet - NB follows the original route on Grand Ave./Engle St., while Dean St. was pressed into county service for the SB side. Here CR 501 SB comes back to Grand Ave. for the beginning of NJ 93 with an old NJDOT assembly and older Port Authority trailblazer. It might even date to before the construction of the I-95 approach to the bridge in 1960.
Old sign NB at Demarest Ave., older sign on Clinton Ave. WB at Dean Dr. (which is CR 501); the signs on 501 at the latter intersection have already been replaced, and this is the first white sign I've found still standing in Bergen County.
The other old white signs more commonly found in Bergen County, on Broadway WB, at the end of High St. EB, and on Paris Ave. WB. The latter shield is somewhat newer, and the middle shield illustrates that 5xx routes are shadowed by "regular" county routes (i.e. 33 = 501).
Two halves of a SB sign assembly.
North from there.
NJ 184 and CR 501/NJ 184
Onto NJ 440's southern section and CR 501/NJ 440
Onto NJ 440's northern section and CR 501/NJ 440
Onto CR 529
The Middlesex-Essex Turnpike
To I-287
Onto NJ 440
Onto historical NJ 169
To (actual) US 1-9
To US 1-9T
Onto NJ 4
Onto CR 505
Into Bergen County
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