County Route 501 (New Jersey)
County Route 501 (CR 501) is a county highway in New Jersey in two segments spanning Middlesex, Hudson, and Bergen counties. The southern section runs from South Plainfield to Perth Amboy, the northern section runs from Bayonne to Rockleigh, and the two sections are connected by New York State Route 440 (NY 440) across Staten Island.
County Route 501 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
CR 501 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Length | 40.24 mi[1] (64.76 km) | |||
| Existed | January 1, 1953[2]–present | |||
| Middlesex County section | ||||
| Length | 10.12 mi[1] (16.29 km) | |||
| West end |  CR 529 in South Plainfield | |||
| Major intersections |
| |||
| East end |  NY 440 in Richmond Valley, NY | |||
| Hudson / Bergen County section | ||||
| Length | 30.12 mi[1] (48.47 km) | |||
| South end | NY 440 in Elm Park, NY | |||
| Major intersections |
| |||
| North end |  NY 340 in Rockleigh | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | New Jersey | |||
| Counties | Middlesex, Hudson, Bergen | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| ||||
The New Jersey Department of Transportation lists CR 501 as a single highway with a length of 53.07 miles (85.41 km), which includes both road sections and the connection along NY 440.
Route description
Middlesex County
_at_Middlesex_County_Route_529_(Stelton_Road)_on_the_border_of_Piscataway_Township_and_South_Plainfield_in_Middlesex_County%252C_New_Jersey.jpg.webp)
County Route 501 is signed east-west in Middlesex County. The western (southern) terminus of County Route 501 is at CR 529 in South Plainfield. From there, the route heads east to Metuchen, where it has a short concurrency with Route 27. It then continues east, crossing the Garden State Parkway between Exits 127 and 129 in Woodbridge, following concurrencies with Route 184 and Route 440 to the southern section's eastern terminus at the Outerbridge Crossing.
Hudson County (John F. Kennedy Boulevard)
The northern section of CR 501 begins in Hudson County, New Jersey and is known as Kennedy Boulevard. It starts at the Route 440/Bayonne Bridge junction in Bayonne, making its way north to Route 63 in North Bergen. The highway crosses Route 139 to the Holland Tunnel and Route 495 to the Lincoln Tunnel.[1]
At its junction with Route 63 in North Bergen, CR 501 begins a concurrency with Route 63 into Bergen County,[1] while Kennedy Boulevard loops around the northern end of the county and heads south through Guttenberg, West New York and Weehawken, where it is known as Boulevard East.
_from_the_overpass_for_the_rail_line_between_New_Jersey_State_Route_440_and_West_63rd_Street_in_Bayonne%252C_Hudson_County%252C_New_Jersey.jpg.webp)
Major points on CR 501/Kennedy Boulevard include Marist High School, New Jersey City University, Saint Dominic Academy, Saint Peter's University, Journal Square, Union City High School, North Bergen High School, and four Hudson County parks: Stephen R. Gregg (Bayonne) Park and Mercer Park in Bayonne, Lincoln Park in Jersey City and James J. Braddock (North Hudson) Park in North Bergen.
Immediately northeast of Journal Square, CR 501/Kennedy Boulevard crosses over Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) railroad tracks on an open-spandrel concrete arch bridge completed in 1926. The bridge is a pared-down version of a more ambitious elevated plaza scheme proposed by consulting engineer Abraham Burton Cohen. Cohen's office constructed a model using slot cars to demonstrate traffic flow through the plaza.[3]
The boulevard continues north through Jersey City Heights, passing Dr. Leonard J. Gordon Park. In the area once known as Transfer Station, it enters North Hudson.
_at_5th_Street_in_Palisades_Park%252C_Bergen_County%252C_New_Jersey.jpg.webp)
Bergen County
In Bergen County, CR 501 leaves its concurrency with Route 63 in Palisades Park, using Central Boulevard to connect to the US 1/9/46 concurrency and Route 93. It is then concurrent with Route 93 until it reaches that route's northern terminus at Route 4 in Englewood. CR 501 continues north from this junction through Rockleigh, crossing the New York State Line and becoming New York State Route 340.
History
In 1808, the Perth Amboy Turnpike was legislated to run from Perth Amboy to Bound Brook. The company struggled to complete their road, having petitioned in 1820 to the state legislature to extend the time to complete the road. They were unsuccessful, as the road was only completed as far as Piscataway.
_at_the_exit_for_Bergen_Avenue_in_Jersey_City%252C_Hudson_County%252C_New_Jersey.jpg.webp)
Prior to being renamed in honor of John F. Kennedy in the 1960s, the John F. Kennedy Boulevard was known as Hudson Boulevard. While there was discussion of building a county long road as early as the 1870s,[4] parts of Hudson County Boulevard were officially opened in 1896.[5][4][6] By 1913 it was completed, and considered to be fine for "motoring",[7] and included the road's eastern section, Boulevard East, into which Kennedy Boulevard forks at 91st Street. (The fork that continues north merges with Bergen Boulevard.[8]) Taken as a single road, the circuitous route of west and east sections of the entire boulevard runs from the southern tip of the county at Bergen Point to its northern border with Bergen County and south again to the Hoboken city line.[9]
The Boulevard was named the fifth most dangerous road for pedestrians in New Jersey, and the most dangerous road in Hudson County for pedestrians in a February 2011 report by the non-profit Tri-State Transportation Campaign. The road was the location of six pedestrian fatalities between 2007 and 2009, which account for a little more than a fifth of Hudson County's 29 pedestrian deaths in the three-year period.[10] In November 2017 county officials launched a safety campaign for Kennedy Boulevard's five most dangerous intersections, based on accident data:[8]
- 25th Street in Bayonne
- Lexington Avenue in Jersey City
- 36th Street in Union City
- 51st Street in West New York
- 91st Street in North Bergen
County officials had expressed interest in building a pedestrian bridge that crosses Kennedy Boulevard at 32nd Street, at the Union City-North Bergen border since at least.[11] The two cities contracted a company to build the bridge for just over $4 million in November 2010.[12] Construction plans began in May 2011, and field work began later that August.[13]
Major intersections
| County | Location | mi[1] | km | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Middlesex | South Plainfield | 0.00 | 0.00 | CR 529 (Stelton Road) | Western terminus of Middlesex County segment |
| Edison | 2.03 | 3.27 |   I-287 north | Exit 3 on I-287; access to northbound I-287 and from southbound I-287 | |
| Metuchen | 3.36 | 5.41 |   Route 27 north (Middlesex Avenue) – Rahway | Western terminus of concurrency with Route 27 | |
| 3.61 | 5.81 |  Route 27 south (Lake Avenue) – Highland Park | Eastern terminus of concurrency with Route 27 | ||
| 3.81 | 6.13 |  CR 531 (Main Street) | |||
| Edison | 4.68 | 7.53 |    US 1 to N.J. Turnpike – Newark, New Brunswick | Interchange | |
| 5.70 | 9.17 |  CR 514 (Woodbridge Avenue) to N.J. Turnpike | |||
| 6.23 | 10.03 |   CR 616 east (New Brunswick Avenue) | Western terminus of CR 616 | ||
| Woodbridge Township | 6.99 | 11.25 |  Route 184 | Western terminus of Route 184 | |
| 7.10 | 11.43 |     G.S. Parkway north to N.J. Turnpike / I-95 | Exit 129 on Garden State Parkway | ||
| 7.33 | 11.80 |  US 9 – Rahway, South Amboy | Interchange | ||
| Perth Amboy | 7.74 | 12.46 |  CR 655 (Florida Grove Road) | ||
| 8.22 | 13.23 |      Route 184 east to Route 35 / Amboy Avenue (CR 653) | Eastern terminus of concurrency with Route 184 | ||
| Western terminus of freeway section | |||||
   Route 440 south to US 9 south / G.S. Parkway south / N.J. Turnpike | Western terminus of concurrency with Route 440 | ||||
| 8.38 | 13.49 | Route 35 south | Westbound exit only | ||
| 8.65 | 13.92 | Amboy Avenue (CR 653) | Northbound exit is via Route 440 exit | ||
| 9.23 | 14.85 | State Street (CR 611) / High Street – Perth Amboy | Northbound exit and southbound entrance | ||
| Arthur Kill | 9.45 | 15.21 | Outerbridge Crossing (toll plaza on Staten Island) | ||
| 10.12 | 16.29 | NY 440 north – Staten Island | Eastern terminus of Middlesex County segment; continuation into New York at the river's center | ||
| Connection made via NY 440 (12.73 miles or 20.49 kilometres) | |||||
| Kill van Kull | 22.85 | 36.77 | NY 440 south – Staten Island | Southern terminus of Hudson/Bergen County segment; continuation from New York at river's center | |
| 23.24 | 37.40 | Bayonne Bridge (toll plaza on Staten Island) | |||
| Hudson | Bayonne | 23.71 | 38.16 | Avenue A | Southbound exit and entrance |
| 23.73 | 38.19 | Route 440 north to N.J. Turnpike – Jersey City | Northern terminus of concurrency with Route 440 | ||
| Northern terminus of freeway section | |||||
| 27.12 | 43.65 | West 63rd Street to Route 440 | |||
| Jersey City | 29.37 | 47.27 |  Communipaw Avenue (CR 612) to N.J. Turnpike | ||
| 31.11 | 50.07 |  US 1-9 (Tonnele Circle) | One-way ramp to Tonnele Circle | ||
| 31.15 | 50.13 |  Route 139 east – Holland Tunnel, Lincoln Tunnel | Western terminus of the upper level of Route 139 | ||
| North Bergen | 34.03 | 54.77 |  Route 495 to N.J. Turnpike – Lincoln Tunnel | Interchange | |
| Union City | 34.35– 34.39 | 55.28– 55.35 |   CR 505 north (37th / 38th Streets) | Southern terminus of CR 505 | |
| North Bergen | 37.21 | 59.88 |  Route 63 | Southern terminus of Route 63 | |
| Bergen | Fort Lee | 39.13 | 62.97 |  Route 5 – Ridgefield, Edgewater | Interchange via local roads |
| Palisades Park | 39.62 | 63.76 | Route 63 north / Central Avenue east – George Washington Bridge | Northern terminus of concurrency with Route 63 | |
| 39.90 | 64.21 |  US 1-9 / US 46 | Interchange via 5th and 6th Streets | ||
| 40.52 | 65.21 |  Route 93 south (Grand Avenue) – Ridgefield, Fairview | Southern terminus of concurrency with Route 93 | ||
| Englewood | 42.78 | 68.85 |  Route 4 – New York, Paterson | Interchange | |
| 42.86 | 68.98 |   Route 93 / CR 501 south (Van Nostrand Avenue) | Northern terminus of Route 93; one-way pair begins | ||
| 43.86 | 70.59 | CR 505 (Palisades Avenue) – Teaneck, Bergenfield | |||
| 45.05 | 72.50 | CR 501 south (Hudson Avenue) | Northern terminus of one-way pair | ||
| Closter | 49.61 | 79.84 |   Old Closter Dock Road (CR 502) to US 9W – Westwood, Alpine | ||
| Rockleigh | 53.07 | 85.41 | NY 340 north – Sparkill | Northern terminus of Hudson/Bergen County segment; continuation into New York | |
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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See also
References
- New Jersey County Route 501 Straight Line Diagram from the New Jersey Department of Transportation
- "State Ready to Push Traffic Off Major Roads in Air Raid". The Sunday Times. New Brunswick, New Jersey. March 15, 1953. pp. 1, 39. Retrieved January 17, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- Cohen, A. Burton. "Hudson County Boulevard Bridge Plaza." Purdue Engineering Review 21, No. 4 (May 1926): 3-6, 22.
- "The Hudson Boulevard: The Old and New Commissions—The Opposition, The Proposed Route". The New York Times. August 12, 1873. p. 8. Retrieved March 29, 2010.
- "Jersey City's Bicycle Parade: It Was Held Yesterday on the Hudson Boulevard and Was a Big Thing". The New York Times. August 30, 1896. p. 6. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
- "Opening the Boulevard: Wheelmen Parade Along Hudson County's New Driveway". The New York Times. November 29, 1895. p. 10. Retrieved 2010-07-02.
- "Short Runs Near Town Pleasant Now". The New York Times. March 23, 1913. Part Nine, p. 9. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
- Hannigton, Dia (November 12, 2017). "Hit-and-run deaths on Kennedy Blvd. spur action", The Union City Reporter. pp 1 and 6.
- "Preserve the Palisades: Cyclists to work for this purpose and the Hudson County Boulevard". The New York Times. November 11, 1895. p. 8. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
- "Kennedy Boulevard named fifth most dangerous road in New Jersey for pedestrians" Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine. The Hudson Reporter. March 21, 2011
- Hague, Jim (August 19, 2011). "Pedestrian bridge set for North Bergen-Union City? County officials receive grant that will check feasibility of overpass" Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine. The Hudson Reporter.
- "BOARD OF CHOSEN FREEHOLDERS COUNTY OF HUDSON: CAUCUS AGENDA". HudsonCountyNJ.com. November 22, 2010.
- Pope, Gennarose (March 25, 2012). "Bridge of troubled Kennedy Boulevard". The Union City Reporter. pp. 1 and 12.
External links
