The Newark Plank Road was a major artery between Hudson Waterfront at Paulus Hook (in today's Jersey City) and city of Newark further inland across the New Jersey Meadows. As its name suggests, a plank road was constructed of wooden planks laid side-to-side on a roadbed. Similar roads, the Bergen Point Plank Road, the Hackensack Plank Road and Paterson Plank Road, traveled to the locales for which they are named. The name is no longer used, the route having been absorbed into other streets and freeways.
In 1765, an act of the Assembly of the Province of New Jersey stated:
A road from New-Ark to the publick road in the town of Bergen, leading to Poulos Hook, and establishing ferries over the two small rivers, Passaick and Hackensack, which makes the distance from Poulus Hook to New-Ark eight miles, and will be a level and good road when the cause-ways are made ; and as said road will be very commodious for travelers, and give a short and easy access of a large country to the markets of the city of New-York and be of a general benefit both to city and country, it is hoped they will unite in the necessary expence of rendering said road for travellers and carriages, more especially since by said law the publick interest alone is regarded. [1]
A corporation sanctioned by the legislation to build a road and bridges over the Hackensack River and Passaic River as part of the developing colonial road network in New Jersey was established. Initially ferry service was instituted at the river crossings which operated until the bridges were completed in 1795. [2]
A charter to operate the road was granted on February 24, 1849, and it was renamed Newark Plank Road. [3] By 1869 Central Railroad of New Jersey's Newark and New York Railroad was running trains that mirrored the route, using the PD Draw and HD Draw. (The right of way through Bergen Hill is now used by Hudson-Bergen Light Rail West Side Branch). Public Service Railway Lines #1 ran along much of route until bustitution was implemented, keeping the old number now used by New Jersey Transit as part of the #1 bus route.
The Newark Plank Road begins at the Hudson River on Grand Street, where a ferry took travelers to New York. [4] The road then follows the course of Grand Street (CR 622) and Communipaw Avenue (CR 612) before crossing the Hackensack River on U.S. Route 1/9 Truck. After 1913, the bridge and its approach became part of the Lincoln Highway, one of the first transcontinental automobile routes across the United States.
After crossing the Hackensack River on the Lincoln Highway Hackensack River Bridge the road traverses Kearny Point, the southern tip of New Barbadoes Neck where the Hackensack and Passaic River meet. It ran parallel to the Morris Canal. It crosses the Lincoln Highway Passaic River Bridge. This section was part the transcontinental Lincoln Highway and retains that name. [5]
Ferry Street in the Ironbound section of Newark was part of the plank road, named after the ferry that would travel between Newark and points east. In 1849, "The Newark Plank Road Company" was hired to fix the road with planks for smoother travel. Ferry Street was then changed to "Plank Road." It was not completed within the fifty-year charter that it was given to accomplish the work. A legal dispute arose and the Hudson County section changed "Plank Road" to the Lincoln Highway while the Essex County section was changed back to "Ferry Street." [6]
Route 3 is a state highway in the northeastern part of New Jersey. The route runs 10.84 miles (17.45 km) from U.S. Route 46 (US 46) in Clifton, Passaic County, to US 1/9 in North Bergen, Hudson County. The route intersects many major roads, including US 46, which takes travelers to Interstate 80 (I-80) west for commuting out of the city-area, the Garden State Parkway and Route 21 in Clifton, Route 17 and the Western Spur of the New Jersey Turnpike (I-95) in East Rutherford, the Eastern Spur of the New Jersey Turnpike in Secaucus, and Route 495 in North Bergen, for traffic going to the Lincoln Tunnel into New York City. Route 3 serves as the main artery to the Lincoln Tunnel from I-80, in conjunction with a portion of US 46 and Route 495. Portions of the route are not up to freeway standards; with driveways serving businesses and bus stops. Despite this, many construction projects have been underway over the years to alleviate this issue. Route 3 also provided access to Hoffmann La Roche's former American headquarters in Nutley, the Meadowlands Sports Complex and American Dream in East Rutherford. The road inspired a story in The New Yorker in 2004 by Ian Frazier due to its views of the Manhattan skyline. Route 3 was originally the Lincoln Tunnel Approach and ended at the state line in the Hudson River, though it was scaled back following the construction of I-495; which is now Route 495 due to also not meeting interstate highway standards.
Route 17 is a state highway in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, that provides a major route from the George Washington Bridge, Lincoln Tunnel and other northeast New Jersey points to the New York State Thruway at Suffern, New York. It runs 27.20 mi (43.77 km) from an intersection with Route 7 and County Route 507 (CR 507) in North Arlington north to the New York state line along Interstate 287 (I-287) in Mahwah, where New York State Route 17 (NY 17) continues into New York. Between Route 7 and Route 3 in Rutherford, Route 17 serves as a local road. From Route 3 north to the junction with U.S. Route 46 (US 46) in Hasbrouck Heights, the road is an arterial road with jughandles. The portion of Route 17 from US 46 to I-287 near the state line in Mahwah is a four- to six-lane arterial with all cross traffic handled by interchanges, and many driveways and side streets accessed from right-in/right-out ramps from the right lane. For three miles (5 km) north of Route 4, well over a hundred retail stores and several large shopping malls line the route in the borough of Paramus. The remainder of this portion of Route 17 features lighter suburban development. The northernmost portion of Route 17 in Mahwah runs concurrently with I-287 to the New York state line.
U.S. Route 1/9 Truck is a United States Numbered Highway in the northern part of New Jersey that stretches 4.11 miles (6.61 km) from the eastern edge of Newark to the Tonnele Circle in Jersey City. It is the alternate route for US 1/9 that trucks must use because they are prohibited from using the Pulaski Skyway, which carries the main routes of US 1/9. It also serves traffic accessing the New Jersey Turnpike, Route 440, and Route 7. The route is a four- to six-lane road its entire length, with portions of it being a divided highway that runs through urban areas. From its south end to about halfway through Kearny, US 1/9 Truck is a freeway, with access to other roads controlled by interchanges.
For the purposes of this article, the Jersey City area extends North to Edgewater, South to Bayonne and includes Kearny Junction and Harrison but not Newark. Many routes east of Newark are listed here.
Paterson Plank Road is a road that runs through Passaic, Bergen and Hudson Counties in northeastern New Jersey. The route, originally laid in the colonial era, connects the city of Paterson and the Hudson River waterfront. It has largely been superseded by Route 3, but in the many towns it passes it has remained an important local thoroughfare, and in some cases been renamed.
County Route 508 is a county highway in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The highway extends 16.14 miles (25.97 km) from Route 10 in Livingston to Route 7 in Kearny.
The Gateway Region is the primary urbanized area of the northeastern section of New Jersey. It is anchored by Newark, the state's most populous city. It is part of the New York metropolitan area.
The Hackensack Plank Road, also known as Bergen Turnpike, was a major artery which connected the cities of Hoboken and Hackensack, New Jersey. Like its cousin routes, the Newark Plank Road and Paterson Plank Road, it travelled over Bergen Hill and across the Hackensack Meadows from the Hudson River waterfront to the city for which it was named. It was originally built as a colonial turnpike road as Hackensack and Hoboken Turnpike. The route mostly still exists today, though some segments are now called the Bergen Turnpike. It was during the 19th century that plank roads were developed, often by private companies which charged a toll. As the name suggests, wooden boards were laid on a roadbed in order to prevent horse-drawn carriages and wagons from sinking into softer ground on the portions of the road that passed through wetlands. The company that built the road received its charter on November 30, 1802. The road followed the route road from Hackensack to Communipaw that was described in 1679 as a "fine broad wagon-road."
Bergen Hill refers to the lower Hudson Palisades in New Jersey, where they emerge on Bergen Neck, which in turn is the peninsula between the Hackensack and Hudson Rivers, and their bays. In Hudson County, it reaches a height of 260 feet.
South Kearny, also known as Kearny Point, is an industrial district and distinct area of the western part of Hudson County, New Jersey at the northern end of Newark Bay in the town of Kearny, New Jersey. It is on the larger peninsula once called New Barbadoes Neck, which also include the other Kearny districts of the Uplands and the Kearny Meadows. It has been known as Kearny Point and, along Droyer's Point in Jersey City, marks the mouth of the Hackensack River to the east. The Passaic River flows along its western border opposite a similarly industrial portion of the Ironbound district of Newark. Most of the point is part of Foreign-Trade Zone 49.
The Hudson Waterfront is an urban area of northeastern New Jersey along the lower reaches of the Hudson River, the Upper New York Bay and the Kill van Kull. Though the term can specifically mean the shoreline, it is often used to mean the contiguous urban area between the Bayonne Bridge and the George Washington Bridge that is approximately 19 miles (31 km) long. Historically, the region has been known as Bergen Neck, the lower peninsula, and Bergen Hill, lower Hudson Palisades. It has sometimes been called the Gold Coast.
Bridge Street Bridge is a swing bridge over the Passaic River connecting Newark and Harrison, New Jersey. It is the 10th bridge from the river's mouth at Newark Bay and is 5.7 miles (9.2 km) upstream from it. Carrying vehicular traffic, the roadway is designated County Route 508.
Pershing Road is a road located entirely in Weehawken, New Jersey that travels for 0.42 miles (0.68 km) on the Hudson Palisades between Boulevard East and Weehawken Port Imperial, and carries the designation Hudson County Route 682. At County Route 505, the road meets 48th Street, one of the very few two-way streets in the urban grid of North Hudson, which travels west to Bergenline Avenue and Kennedy Boulevard. It is named for World War I hero John J. Pershing. Earlier names have included Clifton Road, named for the estate on whose land it was located, and Hillside Road, which would speak to its location.
The Jersey City and Bergen Point Plank Road was a road originally built in the 19th century in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States which ran between Paulus Hook and Bergen Point. The company that built the road received a charter on March 6, 1850 to improve one that had been built in the 18th century. It has subsequently become Grand Street and Garfield Avenue in Jersey City and Broadway in Bayonne. Plank roads were built during the 19th century, often by private companies as turnpike roads, in this case with a tollgate at Communipaw Junction. As the name suggests, wooden boards were laid on a roadbed in order to prevent horse-drawn carriages and wagons from sinking into softer ground on the portions of the road.
The Newark and New York Railroad was a passenger rail line that ran between Downtown Newark and the Communipaw Terminal at the mouth of the North River in Jersey City, bridging the Hackensack River and Passaic River just north of their mouths at the Newark Bay in northeastern New Jersey. The Central Railroad of New Jersey operated it from its opening in 1869. Though operations ended in 1946; portions remained in use until 1967.
The Winant Avenue Bridge is a vehicular movable bridge spanning the Hackensack River in Bergen County, New Jersey 14 miles (23 km) from its mouth at Newark Bay. Built in 1934, it is also known as the Route 46 Hackensack River Bridge and S46 Bridge, it carries U.S. Route 46 (US 46) in Little Ferry and Ridgefield Park. Owned and operated by the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT), the double leaf bascule bridge is located on a navigable reach. While there have been no requests since 1978, the Code of Federal Regulations last amended in 1999 requires 24-hour notice to be opened. The bridge has been minimally altered since its construction and is eligible for individual listing on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).
The Lincoln Highway Hackensack River Bridge is a vehicular vertical lift bridge crossing the Hackensack River at a point 1.8 mi (2.9 km) from the river mouth at Newark Bay in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. The bridge, along the route of the Lincoln Highway, carries U.S. Route 1/9 Truck and the East Coast Greenway between the West Side of Jersey City and Kearny Point in Kearny. The most recent of many crossings at the location, the current bridge was completed in 1954. It is owned by and operated by the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT), and is required by the Title 33 of the Code of Federal Regulations to open on signal for maritime traffic. In 2007 it was designated the Shawn Carson and Robert Nguyen Memorial Bridge.
The Lincoln Highway Passaic River Bridge is a vehicular moveable bridge crossing the Passaic River at a point 1.8 mi (2.9 km) from the river mouth at Newark Bay in northeastern New Jersey, United States. The vertical lift bridge, along the route of the Lincoln Highway, carries U.S. Route 1/9 Truck and the East Coast Greenway between the Ironbound section of Newark and Kearny Point in Kearny. Opened in 1941, it is owned by and operated by the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) and required by the Code of Federal Regulations to open on 4-hour notice for maritime traffic.
