New Jersey

[DrSmith]

Doubly odd because the term "freeway" has no traction in NJ, and entrance signs are for toll roads. The only reference to freeways in NJ signage I remember seeing is "freeway ends" at the southern terminus of NJ 55. https://www.google.com/maps/@39.3445694,-74.9969318,3a,75y,160.63h,93.01t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sVhYg25SrWHzxoCHYqsRohw!2e0!5s20180801T000000!7i13312!8i6656

When I was young, Route 42 was called the Freeway, a shortened form of it's name, the North-South Freeway.  Although maybe that is disappearing from usage.

[roadman65]

I-78 when it ended in Watchung for many years had a FREEWAY ENDS sign there at Exit 41.

[jeffandnicole]

Doubly odd because the term "freeway" has no traction in NJ, and entrance signs are for toll roads. The only reference to freeways in NJ signage I remember seeing is "freeway ends" at the southern terminus of NJ 55. https://www.google.com/maps/@39.3445694,-74.9969318,3a,75y,160.63h,93.01t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sVhYg25SrWHzxoCHYqsRohw!2e0!5s20180801T000000!7i13312!8i6656

When I was young, Route 42 was called the Freeway, a shortened form of it's name, the North-South Freeway.  Although maybe that is disappearing from usage.

The younger crowd doesn't use it as much, but traffic reporter Bob Kelly (Fox29) uses it often in his traffic reports.

[storm2k]

Doubly odd because the term "freeway" has no traction in NJ, and entrance signs are for toll roads. The only reference to freeways in NJ signage I remember seeing is "freeway ends" at the southern terminus of NJ 55. https://www.google.com/maps/@39.3445694,-74.9969318,3a,75y,160.63h,93.01t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sVhYg25SrWHzxoCHYqsRohw!2e0!5s20180801T000000!7i13312!8i6656

There are others...
Route 15
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.056281,-74.6402725,3a,75y,329.48h,90.59t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sye2x_14s_QXUmn_twXDyHg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Route 18
https://www.google.com/maps/@40.1812819,-74.0736598,3a,75y,172.11h,78.62t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sCe-q61Q-I4VyB5hvrYKBVg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

It's not even the only Freeway Ends sign on 18!

And, if we're being fair, even if it's not used very much in the common lexicon in NJ, NJDOT does officially call these roads freeways, as evidenced by the prohibition signs at on-ramps.

[famartin]

Doubly odd because the term "freeway" has no traction in NJ, and entrance signs are for toll roads. The only reference to freeways in NJ signage I remember seeing is "freeway ends" at the southern terminus of NJ 55. https://www.google.com/maps/@39.3445694,-74.9969318,3a,75y,160.63h,93.01t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sVhYg25SrWHzxoCHYqsRohw!2e0!5s20180801T000000!7i13312!8i6656

There are others...
Route 15
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.056281,-74.6402725,3a,75y,329.48h,90.59t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sye2x_14s_QXUmn_twXDyHg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Route 18
https://www.google.com/maps/@40.1812819,-74.0736598,3a,75y,172.11h,78.62t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sCe-q61Q-I4VyB5hvrYKBVg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

It's not even the only Freeway Ends sign on 18!

And, if we're being fair, even if it's not used very much in the common lexicon in NJ, NJDOT does officially call these roads freeways, as evidenced by the prohibition signs at on-ramps.

Yes, very true. Those signs are everywhere. And NJDOT documents are full of the term "freeway".

[roadman65]

Recently I pointed out about the mileage sign on US 46 east of NJ 183 skipping over Dover for Denville and some pointed out why use Dover anymore because the fact New Jersey is so built up what once stood out along the roads now have blended into the development around them.

In essence US 46 from Hackettstown to Fort Lee is all developed pretty much where all of US 46 between those points is vastly suburban in character. Only US 46 from Columbia to Hackettstown is rural where towns along the way stand out and get noticed by the drivers. In fact from Hackettstown to NJ 31, is the longest non expressway stretch to not be signalized along the 71 mile route.  So I can see now why it really don't matter to even sign cities like the state did, however despite I-80 stealing the long distance it should use some references along its way.

Dover does still stand out as it is noticeable among Wharton and Rockaway around it. Denville is fine to use if NJDOT is back to signing mileages post Route numbered intersections and needs a control point at Route 15.  Denville, Rockaway, and Parsippany-Troy Hills blend together like Montville and Fairfield as do Little Falls/ Totawa and Wayne further east, so Denville is fine for that or even Rockaway. However Denville is where both I-80 andNJ 53 meet and probably stand out in the minds of locals.

My point is NJDOT should examine importance of each especially on the much more traveled roads.  US 9 does well with the mileage sign in Woodbridge SB at the Mall entrance where the 1997 install at the split from US 1 listed Cape May was not in the interest in the motorists who use that highway. It was more trivial than anything and the project manager of the US 1 and 9 split did right by not replacing it upon completion of the interchange.

[storm2k]

Ran across this article in the Courier News from last week that mentioned that the 206 bypass will now open in June. Guessing they're just doing finishing touches. So, that answers that.

[tolbs17]

Shouldn't the left shoulders be 10-12 feet wide? That's how it is here in North Carolina. If the freeway has 6 lanes or more.

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.6588846,-74.4377784,3a,29.6y,37.47h,84.11t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sfdQkkpHOxlNmOi_SZZbCEw!2e0!5s20201101T000000!7i16384!8i8192

[jeffandnicole]

Shouldn't the left shoulders be 10-12 feet wide? That's how it is here in North Carolina. If the freeway has 6 lanes or more.

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.6588846,-74.4377784,3a,29.6y,37.47h,84.11t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sfdQkkpHOxlNmOi_SZZbCEw!2e0!5s20201101T000000!7i16384!8i8192

I don't know the standard when 295 was built; it's possible a full left shoulder wasn't required at the time. NJDOT does add full left shoulders sometimes when a highway is rebuilt. This area of 295 was reconstructed about 10 years ago but they elected not to add the wider ahoulders.

Of course, if you think that is bad, they also have I-76 which doesn't have a left shoulder...and is up to 6 lanes wide in a single direction!
https://maps.app.goo.gl/zKNQkEXvfBcCWMfx8

[Alps]

Shouldn't the left shoulders be 10-12 feet wide? That's how it is here in North Carolina. If the freeway has 6 lanes or more.

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.6588846,-74.4377784,3a,29.6y,37.47h,84.11t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sfdQkkpHOxlNmOi_SZZbCEw!2e0!5s20201101T000000!7i16384!8i8192

Standard 10, desirable 12, minimum 4. There may be environmental or stormwater reasons why not to add pavement to the road here. The guide rail is set 10' back (it appears) so there was a conscious decision that part of the shoulder needed to remain unpaved.

[famartin]

NJDOT freeways are pretty notorious for not having full left shoulders. I'm not sure I can think of a single NJDOT road which has them. Maybe someone else can.

The NJTA, on the other hand, has them on most of the turnpike. The parkway is lacking in a lot of places, though, but that wasn't always NJTA... the NJHA had lower standards.

All that said... Everytime I see a disable vehicle in the left shoulder, I kinda shake my head, because if its hard getting out of the right shoulder, its damn near impossible getting out of the left sometimes.

[jeffandnicole]

NJDOT freeways are pretty notorious for not having full left shoulders. I'm not sure I can think of a single NJDOT road which has them. Maybe someone else can.

295 from Exits 13 to 23, then again from Exit 30 to 40.

NJ 42, the 4 lane-per-direction section from 295 to 55.

[storm2k]

Shouldn't the left shoulders be 10-12 feet wide? That's how it is here in North Carolina. If the freeway has 6 lanes or more.

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.6588846,-74.4377784,3a,29.6y,37.47h,84.11t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sfdQkkpHOxlNmOi_SZZbCEw!2e0!5s20201101T000000!7i16384!8i8192

78 in the Watchung Reservation is a kinda special case. They had to do some specific things for environmental reasons in order to get the road approved through there. The narrower shoulders may be part of that. It's why there's an overpass that's just for wildlife to cross the road, and also why all the signposts, light structures, etc. used to be brown, although that practice has stopped and newer signs and structures are just standard metal now.

Also, for a lot of roads in NJ, if they were originally 4 lanes and widened to 6, a lot of times that was done by eating into median space so they didn't have to acquire too much ROW or eat too much into their ROW buffers.

[tolbs17]

Shouldn't the left shoulders be 10-12 feet wide? That's how it is here in North Carolina. If the freeway has 6 lanes or more.

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.6588846,-74.4377784,3a,29.6y,37.47h,84.11t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sfdQkkpHOxlNmOi_SZZbCEw!2e0!5s20201101T000000!7i16384!8i8192

78 in the Watchung Reservation is a kinda special case. They had to do some specific things for environmental reasons in order to get the road approved through there. The narrower shoulders may be part of that. It's why there's an overpass that's just for wildlife to cross the road, and also why all the signposts, light structures, etc. used to be brown, although that practice has stopped and newer signs and structures are just standard metal now.

Also, for a lot of roads in NJ, if they were originally 4 lanes and widened to 6, a lot of times that was done by eating into median space so they didn't have to acquire too much ROW or eat too much into their ROW buffers.

That's unterstandable.

[famartin]

NJDOT freeways are pretty notorious for not having full left shoulders. I'm not sure I can think of a single NJDOT road which has them. Maybe someone else can.

295 from Exits 13 to 23, then again from Exit 30 to 40.

NJ 42, the 4 lane-per-direction section from 295 to 55.

I want to say those are all sections which were rebuilt in the not too distant past.

[jeffandnicole]

NJDOT freeways are pretty notorious for not having full left shoulders. I'm not sure I can think of a single NJDOT road which has them. Maybe someone else can.

295 from Exits 13 to 23, then again from Exit 30 to 40.

NJ 42, the 4 lane-per-direction section from 295 to 55.

I want to say those are all sections which were rebuilt in the not too distant past.

295 Exit 13-23 in 1992.
42 between 295 and 55 in 1999.
295 Exit 28-40 around 2010.

[Alps]

NJDOT freeways are pretty notorious for not having full left shoulders. I'm not sure I can think of a single NJDOT road which has them. Maybe someone else can.

295 from Exits 13 to 23, then again from Exit 30 to 40.

NJ 42, the 4 lane-per-direction section from 295 to 55.

nothing to see here

[NoGoodNamesAvailable]

All that said... Everytime I see a disable vehicle in the left shoulder, I kinda shake my head, because if its hard getting out of the right shoulder, its damn near impossible getting out of the left sometimes.

I think the purpose of 10 foot left shoulders is to allow for evasive maneuvers, not really for emergency stopping

[jeffandnicole]

All that said... Everytime I see a disable vehicle in the left shoulder, I kinda shake my head, because if its hard getting out of the right shoulder, its damn near impossible getting out of the left sometimes.

I think the purpose of 10 foot left shoulders is to allow for evasive maneuvers, not really for emergency stopping

Both. If you blow a tire or have a minor accident, easier to pull over 1 or 2 lanes to the left rather than 3 or 4 lanes to the right.

[famartin]

NJDOT freeways are pretty notorious for not having full left shoulders. I'm not sure I can think of a single NJDOT road which has them. Maybe someone else can.

295 from Exits 13 to 23, then again from Exit 30 to 40.

NJ 42, the 4 lane-per-direction section from 295 to 55.

nothing to see here

Wasn't that section reconstructed for the HOV addition during the 90s?

[Alps]

NJDOT freeways are pretty notorious for not having full left shoulders. I'm not sure I can think of a single NJDOT road which has them. Maybe someone else can.

295 from Exits 13 to 23, then again from Exit 30 to 40.

NJ 42, the 4 lane-per-direction section from 295 to 55.

nothing to see here

Wasn't that section reconstructed for the HOV addition during the 90s?

It definitely was west of there. Not sure what the eastern limit was.

[storm2k]

NJDOT freeways are pretty notorious for not having full left shoulders. I'm not sure I can think of a single NJDOT road which has them. Maybe someone else can.

295 from Exits 13 to 23, then again from Exit 30 to 40.

NJ 42, the 4 lane-per-direction section from 295 to 55.

nothing to see here

Wasn't that section reconstructed for the HOV addition during the 90s?

It definitely was west of there. Not sure what the eastern limit was.

287 was the eastern limit, so the wide left shoulders there are definitely a byproduct of the HOV build out.

[noelbotevera]

Any reason that the US 46/NJ 3 interchange is being rebuilt? I drove through there on my way to New York two weeks ago and didn't notice anything wrong with it. I think that there should be more lanes to 3 (rather than the middle lane on 46 being either/or), but that's my opinion. I could see why the even split exists (46 goes to GSP NB, 3 goes to GSP SB), so maybe it's worth keeping.

[Roadgeek Adam]

Any reason that the US 46/NJ 3 interchange is being rebuilt? I drove through there on my way to New York two weeks ago and didn't notice anything wrong with it. I think that there should be more lanes to 3 (rather than the middle lane on 46 being either/or), but that's my opinion. I could see why the even split exists (46 goes to GSP NB, 3 goes to GSP SB), so maybe it's worth keeping.

Death weaves, aging bridges, high traffic.

[noelbotevera]

Any reason that the US 46/NJ 3 interchange is being rebuilt? I drove through there on my way to New York two weeks ago and didn't notice anything wrong with it. I think that there should be more lanes to 3 (rather than the middle lane on 46 being either/or), but that's my opinion. I could see why the even split exists (46 goes to GSP NB, 3 goes to GSP SB), so maybe it's worth keeping.

Death weaves, aging bridges, high traffic.

That bad, huh? I didn't notice any weaving going EB (then again I was driving and in the correct lane to begin with), but I'm sure WB is a different story.