New Jersey

[roadman65]

The Parkway was acknowledging 600 routes for a bit, but then started to remove them ie. Exit 77 in Berkeley.

The Highway Authority used to sign 6xx routes sometimes. Once they were merged into the Turnpike Authority, that stopped, because the Turnpike Authority doesn't sign anything other than Interstate/US/State routes on its signs in terms of shields.

The Parkway still signs 500 series though.  Even though the Turnpike don't ( although the Hawks Bridge Road exit in Carneys Point on the SB side does sign CR 540) the GSP does.

That's on me, I should have included the 5xx routes, they have more or less adopted NJDOT's standard that the 5xx network is a series of state secondary highways, albeit maintained and signed by the counties (but why the numbers persist across county lines unlike the 6xx routes).

Because the numbering convention is a state thing and not individual counties choosing the numbers.

[roadman65]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/54480415@N08/54300173221
I think this is interesting how on NJ Route 49 they list the free section of the  Turnpike as just US 40 with a TO NJ Turnpike shield unlike nearby NJ 140.

On Route 140 they not only consider the free section still as the Turnpike but on the ramp to I-295 South they have Turnpike South text there considering even the NJ approach to the Delaware Memorial Bridge as the Turnpike.

[74/171FAN]

This time the I-80 sinkhole is in the center lane around Exit 34.

[SignBridge]

I've never heard of these kinds of problems on an Interstate before. What is it with this road or this part of New Jersey?

[chrisg69911]

I've never heard of these kinds of problems on an Interstate before. What is it with this road or this part of New Jersey?

Lots of abandoned mines around, 2 of which 80 was built directly on top of in this area.

[74/171FAN]

This time the I-80 sinkhole is in the center lane around Exit 34.

You can see the sinkhole in this article.

[storm2k]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/54480415@N08/54300173221
I think this is interesting how on NJ Route 49 they list the free section of the  Turnpike as just US 40 with a TO NJ Turnpike shield unlike nearby NJ 140.

On Route 140 they not only consider the free section still as the Turnpike but on the ramp to I-295 South they have Turnpike South text there considering even the NJ approach to the Delaware Memorial Bridge as the Turnpike.

I might be misremembering, but I feel like in older times, they used to sign the mainline roadway as 40 to the Turnpike as well and didn't consider the start of the Turnpike until after 40 exits the roadway about a mile past the 130/49 interchange. That's more or less stopped now, but you can tell those signs are from the late 90s/early 00s before the mainline roads got a bunch of sign replacements. Technically the Turnpike starts in the middle of the 130/49 interchange (you can see the NJTA mile markers start in the GSV there and the roadway is clearly paved and marked to NJTA standards, not NJDOT or DRBA) but the roadway is Route 40 through that small stretch.

[74/171FAN]

This time the I-80 sinkhole is in the center lane around Exit 34.

You can see the sinkhole in this article.

I-80 WB will be closed in the area tonight so the area can undergo testing as well.

[SignBridge]

What sort of testing are they going to do? Maybe drive a group of heavy vehicles down the road and see if more sink holes appear ?

[Rothman]

What sort of testing are they going to do? Maybe drive a group of heavy vehicles down the road and see if more sink holes appear ?

That's how load testing of bridges is done.

[02 Park Ave]

What sort of testing are they going to do? Maybe drive a group of heavy vehicles down the road and see if more sink holes appear ?

Perhaps they would be using ground penetrating radar, as they do on Oak Island.

[SignBridge]

What sort of testing are they going to do? Maybe drive a group of heavy vehicles down the road and see if more sink holes appear ?

That's how load testing of bridges is done.

LOL, Well that sounds about right! Thanks!

[ixnay]

Westbound lanes of I-80 in Wharton reopen following closure for testing

[74/171FAN]

Westbound lanes of I-80 in Wharton reopen following closure for testing

Corrected link.

[74/171FAN]

90 underground holes found under I-80 in New Jersey: official  (It may be a few weeks before I-80 EB is reopen.)

[TheGrassGuy]

Did any NJ counties ever have alternate county route numbering systems? Is there documentation for those?

(I am confident about Bergen [at least twice], Middlesex, and possibly Hunterdon.)

MIDDLESEX CO:
- 2R10 = Lincoln Blvd (607) at Union Ave (NJ-28)
- 4R11 = Main St (former 614) at US-130, until 2013 (https://www.alpsroads.net/roads/nj/us_130/n.html)

[webny99]

That section of 80 is sitting on a stretch of several old mines in the area, dating back to the year 1750. They're old iron mines, and the one that finally gave is NJDEP #239, the Mount Pleasant Mine. It's not the first one in Wharton to collapse, leading to a sinkhole, The Orchard Mine gave way in 2000, leading to a 15x30 sinkhole on North Main Street. Seems inevitable that the Mount Pleasant Mine was eventually gonna give way as well. Just be thankful no one was hurt.

Interesting. This is obviously a much deeper issue than a standard road repair. With no indication yet of when I-80 could reopen, I wonder how long it could take to get fixed. I think at some point they'd have to consider a temporary fix to allow one or more lanes to be reopened, similar to the I-95 bridge fire in Philly.

The backup on I-80 isn't quite as bad today since most people probably know about the closure by now, but that only means things have gotten worse on the local roads as drivers find alternates through the area.

The left shoulder (about 4' wide) and the left and center travel lanes are unaffected. Originally the right lane wasn't affected as well, but they had to dig into that lane to get to the edge of the compromised area.

The roadway remains closed as they are using the unaffected lanes to assist with the preparation of the repairs, and for equipment to have good access to the area that needs to be filled.  Since it's Christmas week, overall there's less traffic especially at rush hour so the detoured routes aren't affected as much.  Basically a short-term issue to allow repairs to be completed faster.  The rains now aren't going to help though.

If the repairs were to continue behind Jan 1, they may need to reassess the traffic options.

I see this has already been mentioned, but I-80 eastbound is expected to remain closed for 3+ weeks after more sinkholes were found.

In addition, the detour has been modified to keep traffic off the local streets as much as possible.

[Mr. Matté]

Did any NJ counties ever have alternate county route numbering systems? Is there documentation for those?

Before the 600s system, looks like most counties just numbered their routes from 1 and up. Other counties might have had yet another numbering system, Mercer for example by the 1930s used some single/2-digit numbers, longer roads broken into suffixes, and other "S-##" spurs too.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:1950_Census_Enumeration_District_Maps_-_New_Jersey (look for the county-based maps)
https://geography.rutgers.edu/historical-maps-of-new-jersey

[bmitchelf]

Why would anyone take that

That section of 80 is sitting on a stretch of several old mines in the area, dating back to the year 1750. They're old iron mines, and the one that finally gave is NJDEP #239, the Mount Pleasant Mine. It's not the first one in Wharton to collapse, leading to a sinkhole, The Orchard Mine gave way in 2000, leading to a 15x30 sinkhole on North Main Street. Seems inevitable that the Mount Pleasant Mine was eventually gonna give way as well. Just be thankful no one was hurt.

Interesting. This is obviously a much deeper issue than a standard road repair. With no indication yet of when I-80 could reopen, I wonder how long it could take to get fixed. I think at some point they'd have to consider a temporary fix to allow one or more lanes to be reopened, similar to the I-95 bridge fire in Philly.

The backup on I-80 isn't quite as bad today since most people probably know about the closure by now, but that only means things have gotten worse on the local roads as drivers find alternates through the area.

The left shoulder (about 4' wide) and the left and center travel lanes are unaffected. Originally the right lane wasn't affected as well, but they had to dig into that lane to get to the edge of the compromised area.

The roadway remains closed as they are using the unaffected lanes to assist with the preparation of the repairs, and for equipment to have good access to the area that needs to be filled.  Since it's Christmas week, overall there's less traffic especially at rush hour so the detoured routes aren't affected as much.  Basically a short-term issue to allow repairs to be completed faster.  The rains now aren't going to help though.

If the repairs were to continue behind Jan 1, they may need to reassess the traffic options.

I see this has already been mentioned, but I-80 eastbound is expected to remain closed for 3+ weeks after more sinkholes were found.

In addition, the detour has been modified to keep traffic off the local streets as much as possible.

Why would anyone take that detour instead of just going directly south on 15?

[webny99]

In addition, the detour has been modified to keep traffic off the local streets as much as possible.

Why would anyone take that detour instead of just going directly south on 15?

Of course you wouldn't under normal traffic conditions, but you can't have all of I-80's traffic doing that, hence why there is (presumably) a closure or local traffic only restriction on that short stretch of N Main St.  Sure it's a little longer to take the ramp under 15 and U-turn, but there's way more capacity to handle the interstate volumes, and it's signal controlled which keeps traffic moving more consistently.

[TheGrassGuy]

Any places in NJ that have had alternate county routes? I know Bergen County has had like 3 layers of county routes to varying degrees of signage. Middlesex County also used to have a system involving letters and numbers that then got replaced with the conventional 600 system, for which some signs linger. I think Hunterdon County may have also had one based on memories of early 2009-ish Google Maps (CR 629 = "Co Rd 5"? CR 513 = "RR 1"? CR 512 = "RR 2"?). No clue if those were ever signed.

To what extent were these documented?

Found direct evidence of "Railroad 1" on (and right off of) CR-512 west of US-206. Always thought it was a remnant of an earlier system where "RR 1" was reinterpreted as "Railroad 1" but really stood for "Regional Route 1" or something.

Issue is, this is in Somerset County, not Hunterdon.

[NE2]

Any places in NJ that have had alternate county routes? I know Bergen County has had like 3 layers of county routes to varying degrees of signage. Middlesex County also used to have a system involving letters and numbers that then got replaced with the conventional 600 system, for which some signs linger. I think Hunterdon County may have also had one based on memories of early 2009-ish Google Maps (CR 629 = "Co Rd 5"? CR 513 = "RR 1"? CR 512 = "RR 2"?). No clue if those were ever signed.

To what extent were these documented?

Found direct evidence of "Railroad 1" on (and right off of) CR-512 west of US-206. Always thought it was a remnant of an earlier system where "RR 1" was reinterpreted as "Railroad 1" but really stood for "Regional Route 1" or something.

Issue is, this is in Somerset County, not Hunterdon.

Those were probably rural routes, which was a post office thing, not a highway route number.
https://pe.usps.com/text/pub28/28c2_021.htm

[dgolub]

Did any NJ counties ever have alternate county route numbering systems? Is there documentation for those?

(I am confident about Bergen [at least twice], Middlesex, and possibly Hunterdon.)

MIDDLESEX CO:
- 2R10 = Lincoln Blvd (607) at Union Ave (NJ-28)
- 4R11 = Main St (former 614) at US-130, until 2013 (https://www.alpsroads.net/roads/nj/us_130/n.html)

You're definitely correct about Bergen County.  This document includes the old route numbers: https://www.eastcoastroads.com/pdfs/bergen-cr.pdf

[storm2k]

Here's a question. Is NJDOT starting to move away from the old text only "No Turns" sign to indicate that you can only go straight thru an intersection? This is 202-206 at Hills Drive in Pluckemin, and a little further up 202-206 at River Rd. Both now have both R3-1 and R3-18 signs to indicate no right, left, or u-turns. The text based No Turns sign is still a standard in the current 11th edition MUTCD (it's R3-3) and both of these intersections had standard No Turns signs until the last couple of years when they were replaced. Was curious if NJDOT is changing this statewide or something.

[Roadgeek Adam]

This 1954 map lists them all. 1R2 was signed in Highland Park for eternity, cause it's CR 514. 3R21 is still signed on How Lane