New Jersey Route 81

Route S100 (planned in 1938)

Route S100 was originally proposed as a freeway on the rough alignment of present-day Route 81 in 1938, running between the proposed Route 100 freeway (now the New Jersey Turnpike) and U.S. Route 1/9 and Route 25. However, Route S100 was not built.[3] The original plan in the early 1960s for what is now Route 81 was to connect Newark International Airport with Elizabeth Seaport, bypassing Humboldt Avenue, which at the time was designated Route 164; Humboldt Avenue is no longer a state highway.[4][5] The planned route was initially numbered Route 76, but was renumbered to Route 81 when Interstate 80S in the southern part of the state became Interstate 76.[6] In 1966, Route 81 was legislated to run parallel to the New Jersey Turnpike from Exit 13 near the Goethals Bridge north to the vicinity of North Avenue, and head west along the southern edge of the airport to U.S. 1 & 9.[7] By the 1970s, it was decided by the state of New Jersey to have Route 81 start at a new interchange 13A of the New Jersey Turnpike.[5] In 1975, Governor Brendan Byrne requested $882 million in bonds to construct several roads in New Jersey, including Route 81.[8]

Northbound view along Route 81 at North Avenue in Elizabeth

The state allocated a total of $50 million for construction of Route 81 in 1976, with $16.6 million to be used within the next year, and the design for the proposed road, which was to provide a direct link to Newark Airport, began.[9][10] The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey was responsible for designing the road and half of the $1.6 million cost was to be paid for by the port authority while the state and the New Jersey Turnpike Authority were to split the other half.[10] In 1977, the state wanted the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to pay the $50 million to build Route 81 and filed suit.[11] However, the State Court of Appeals ruled in 1978 that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey could not help build the road as it needed permission from both the New Jersey and New York legislatures, who wanted the port authority to focus on mass transit construction to airports.[12]

With the construction of the new interchange on the New Jersey Turnpike, a service area along the turnpike named after William Halsey was subsequently closed down.[13] Exit 13A, in turn, revitalized the Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal area. A retail center has arisen on the east side of the New Jersey Turnpike in an Urban Enterprise Zone, accessible from the North Avenue exit off Route 81.[14][15] With the construction of the Jersey Gardens outlet mall, Exit 13A was reconstructed by Schoor DePalma Inc and financed by mall owner Glimcher Realty Trust.[16][17]