Newark-Pompton Turnpike

The Newark-Pompton Turnpike (now known in portions of its former route as Pompton Avenue, Route 23, and Bloomfield Avenue), is a roadway in northern New Jersey that was originally a tolled turnpike. The roadway was first laid out in the mid-18th century and given its name in 1806. As originally designed, it connected Newark with the area north and west of the Pompton River in what is now Riverdale. Its south end is Broadway in Newark; its north end is the Paterson-Hamburg Turnpike. As such, it was part of an alternate route between Newark and Paterson.

Newark-Pompton Turnpike

Newark-Pompton Turnpike highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by NJDOT, Essex County, Passaic County, and Morris County
Length19.20 mi[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] (30.90 km)
Existed1806–present
Component
highways
Major junctions
South end
 CR 506 Spur / CR 667 in Newark
Major intersections
North end
 CR 511 Alt. / CR 694 in Riverdale
Location
CountryUnited States
StateNew Jersey
Highway system
← CR 702→ CR 704
← CR 682→ CR 684
← CR 659→ CR 661

In 1917, the road was designated as part of New Jersey State Highway 8. After the 1927 New Jersey State Highway renumbering, part of the road became Route 23, while another section became part of Route 9 (now County Route 506 or CR 506).

Charlie Barnet recorded the song Pompton Turnpike, which was written by Will Osborne and Dick Rogers, about the Meadowbrook, a swing era performance venue on Pompton Avenue in Cedar Grove, NJ. It is now a Macedonian Orthodox Church. The song was covered as a jazz/blues vocal version by Louis Jordan, the "King of the Jukebox" in the 1940s.

President Grover Cleveland was born in a small house in Caldwell on the turnpike, now Bloomfield Avenue, west of the Pompton Avenue intersection. The house exists today in its original condition as a tourist attraction.[8] Cleveland's father's church stands a few tenths of a mile down Bloomfield Avenue from Cleveland's original home.

Northbound into Montclair
Under the West Essex Trail in Cedar Grove

The road passes through the following New Jersey communities:

To follow the road in Wayne, it is necessary to turn right onto Hobson Ave immediately after crossing the Passaic River from Little Falls, cross under a railroad trestle, and turn left onto Old Turnpike Road. Route 23 bypasses this short stretch of the old road, and it is impossible to return to Route 23 at the north end of this short stretch.

History

In 1806, Israel Crane, a prominent businessman closely associated with the development of Montclair and Bloomfield, obtained a charter on February 24, 1806 from the state to build the private road, in the name of the "Newark and Bloomfield Turnpike Company".

Israel Crane eventually became the sole owner of the stock, and the sole operator of this toll road known as the Newark-Pompton Turnpike, which opened with four toll gates at Newark, Montclair, Pine Brook, and Singac. Because of his exclusive control of the turnpike, he was given the title "King Crane."

The "Newark and Bloomfield Turnpike" made the markets of Newark and New York accessible to the farms in the northern and western portions of New Jersey. With this improved transportation Bloomfield and Montclair became commercial centers, with taverns, wheelwrights, blacksmiths and wagon makers.

In 1870, the executors of Mr. Crane's estate sold the Turnpike to the Essex County Road Board. They widened, graded and macadamized the now public highway, and gave it the name of Bloomfield Avenue.

Between 1933 & 1935, the Newark-Pompton Turnpike was built into a four-lane undivided arterial to connect with U.S. Route 46 (US 46). This was the section north of US 46 in Wayne up to what is now the exit (Overpass) by the present NJ Transit Route 23 Park/Ride Lot. A new alignment of Route 23 then continued north, removing the state highway from the rest of the Newark-Pompton Turnpike (except for a short ½ mile stretch in Pompton Plains and Riverdale). The Highway continued on a new alignment north through Riverdale, Butler & Kinnelon, connecting to the Paterson-Hamburg Turnpike in what was once known as Smith's Mills in West Milford.

During the 1980s, Route 23 was upgraded from an outmoded arterial to a modern freeway with service roads.

Major intersections
CountyLocationmi[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]kmDestinationsNotes
EssexNewark0.000.00
 Broadway (CR 667) / Bloomfield Avenue (CR 506 Spur)		Southern terminus; Southern terminus of CR 667
Bloomfield2.033.27
 CR 509 (Grove Street) to G.S. Parkway
Glen Ridge3.936.32 CR 506 (Bloomfield Avenue/Highland Avenue)Western terminus of CR 506 Spur, route transitions onto CR 506 west
Verona Township5.999.64

 Route 23 north (Pompton Avenue) / CR 577 south (Mt. Prospect Avenue) – Little Falls		Southern terminus of Route 23; northern terminus of CR 577. Route transitions onto Route 23 north.
Cedar Grove9.5915.43
 CR 527 south (Lindsley Road)		Northern terminus of CR 527
PassaicWayne10.5817.03Hobson Avenue
Old Turnpike Road (CR 703 north)		Gap in designation from Route 23 to CR 703. Route is connected via Hobson Avenue. Route continues on CR 703 north; southern terminus of CR 703
11.0817.83 I-80 / US 46 / Route 23 / CR 703Gap in designation across I-80/US 46/Route 23 intersection. Route continues on Route 23 north (no access to Route 23 north from CR 703); northern terminus of CR 703
South end of freeway
11.6118.68West Belt Road / Service RoadCloverleaf interchange
12.4219.99


 US 202 south / CR 511 Alt. north – Lincoln Park, Boonton		South end of US 202 overlap, southern terminus of CR 511 Alt.
12.8120.62CR 670 north (Alps Road)Interchange, southern terminus of CR 670
North end of freeway
13.2821.37Newark-Pompton Turnpike (CR 683 north) – Pequannock TownshipInterchange, southern terminus of CR 683, route transitions onto CR 683 north
14.7523.74 CR 504 (Newark-Pompton Turnpike/Black Oak Ridge Road)Northern terminus of CR 683, route transitions onto CR 504 west
MorrisPequannock Township15.8525.51Newark-Pompton Turnpike (CR 660 west)Eastern terminus of CR 660, route transitions onto CR 660 west
17.6528.40 Route 23Western terminus of CR 660, route transitions onto Route 23 north
18.0229.00

 CR 511 Alt. south (Boulevard)		Southern end of CR 511 Alt overlap
Riverdale18.2329.34

 CR 511 Alt. north (Newark-Pompton Turnpike)		Route transitions off of Route 23 with CR 511 Alt. north
19.2030.90


 CR 694 west / CR 511 Alt. north (Paterson-Hamburg Turnpike) to I-287		Northern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

References
  1. NJDOT County Route 506 Spur Straight Line Diagram from the New Jersey Department of Transportation
  2. "CR 506 straight line diagram" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Transportation. March 2019. Retrieved September 6, 2019.
  3. "New Jersey Route 23 straight line diagram" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Transportation. Retrieved 2009-01-05.
  4. "Passaic County straight line diagram" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Transportation. Retrieved June 3, 2012.
  5. NJDOT County Route 504 Straight Line Diagram from the New Jersey Department of Transportation
  6. "Morris County straight line diagram" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Transportation. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
  7. NJDOT County Route 511 Alternate Straight Line Diagram from the New Jersey Department of Transportation
  8. Grover Cleveland Birthplace, accessed June 18, 2006
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