The New Jersey Department of Transportation lists CR 501 as a single highway with a length of 53.0 miles (85.3km), which includes both road sections and the connection along NY 440.
Route description
Middlesex County
View east at the west end of CR 501 at CR 529 in South Plainfield
At its intersection of 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.[citation needed]
CR 501 northbound on John F. Kennedy Boulevard in Bayonne
Immediately northeast of Journal Square, CR 501 crosses over 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]
In Bergen County, CR 501 leaves its concurrency with Route 63 in Palisades Park, using Central Boulevard to connect to the concurrency with US 1/9/46 and Route 93. It is then concurrent with Route 93 until it reaches that route's northern terminus at the interchange with Route 4 in Englewood. CR 501 continues north from this interchange through Rockleigh, crossing the New York State Line and becoming NY 340.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed]
CR 501 (JFK Boulevard) southbound at Bergen Avenue in Jersey City
Prior to being renamed in honor of John F. Kennedy in the 1960s, 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.[citation needed] (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]
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CR 529 in South Plainfield 
NY 440 at the New York state line
NY 340 at the New York state line
