New Jersey

[Roadgeek Adam]

They are connected. 527 is on a series of anonymous concurrencies in New Brunswick like 514 is through Highland Park and New Brunswick.

[roadman65]

https://maps.app.goo.gl/HaZKmW9S24GoZxZJA?g_st=ac

The new NJ 440 signage sucks.  Why is NJ 184 even mentioned here?  Sure it connects NJ 440 to NJ 35, but it immediately ends! The old signage didnt mention Route 184 at all.

It was signed for Route 35 and Amboy Avenue only.


https://maps.app.goo.gl/yJPCPpucvDPJNGdA7?g_st=ac

Then on King George Road at Route 184 its signed WB , but the route terminates immediately.

[FLAVORTOWN]

Is Middlesex County re-routing CR-657/CR-649 or is there a contractor screwup? The new signs outside Metropark station say CR-649, that road is CR-657 currently.

[storm2k]

They are connected. 527 is on a series of anonymous concurrencies in New Brunswick like 514 is through Highland Park and New Brunswick.

Not according to the state. The SLD shows it ending at 18 in East Brunswick and then it picks up again on George St at Paul Robeson Blvd (formerly Commercial Ave), it then follows George St until 27 where it has a silent concurrency with 527 the few blocks over to Easton Ave. This is different than 514 which does have a silent concurrence with 27 from Johnson Dr in New Brunswick to Woodbridge Ave in Highland Park.

[NE2]

They are connected. 527 is on a series of anonymous concurrencies in New Brunswick like 514 is through Highland Park and New Brunswick.

Not according to the state. The SLD shows it ending at 18 in East Brunswick and then it picks up again on George St at Paul Robeson Blvd (formerly Commercial Ave), it then follows George St until 27 where it has a silent concurrency with 527 the few blocks over to Easton Ave. This is different than 514 which does have a silent concurrence with 27 from Johnson Dr in New Brunswick to Woodbridge Ave in Highland Park.

https://njsld.org/NJDOT/SLD/SheetViewer/00000527__/41/4

MP 45.28-46.04 See NJ 172 MP 0.76-0.00
MP 42.92-45.28 See NJ 18 MP 38.89-41.37

[roadman65]

I was correct.  CR 527 is concurrent with all of NJ 172.  Just as in Hackettstown CR 517 is concurrent with NJ 182, the route is here.

Although New Brunswick has a left turn prohibition on George Street and Route 27 where I assume CR 527 turns left onto 27 SB to Easton Avenue.   However,  that situation happens quite commonly with route numbers elsewhere.   In the Bronx, US 1 SB from Fordham Road to Webster Ave is interrupted,  but TO US 1 SB shields are posted at a previous intersection circumventing the prohibited turn.

US 1 in Washington,  DC is another on Constitution Ave to NW 14th Street.  CR 577 and again CR 527 in Millburn, NJ is another.

[storm2k]

I was correct.  CR 527 is concurrent with all of NJ 172.  Just as in Hackettstown CR 517 is concurrent with NJ 182, the route is here.

Although New Brunswick has a left turn prohibition on George Street and Route 27 where I assume CR 527 turns left onto 27 SB to Easton Avenue.   However,  that situation happens quite commonly with route numbers elsewhere.   In the Bronx, US 1 SB from Fordham Road to Webster Ave is interrupted,  but TO US 1 SB shields are posted at a previous intersection circumventing the prohibited turn.

US 1 in Washington,  DC is another on Constitution Ave to NW 14th Street.  CR 577 and again CR 527 in Millburn, NJ is another.

That stretch of George Street is closed off to traffic now anyway from Bayard St to Albany St. They started doing that during the pandemic and have kept it closed off and acting as a pedestrian space only.

As for the concurrency, when a route officially has a concurrency, the SLD will note "Begin Concurrency", which it does NOT do with 527 on the stretch of 18 through East Brunswick and New Brunswick. It's a non connected segment.

[NE2]

https://njsld.org/NJDOT/SLD/SheetViewer/00000527__/41/4

MP 45.28-46.04 See NJ 172 MP 0.76-0.00
MP 42.92-45.28 See NJ 18 MP 38.89-41.37

As for the concurrency, when a route officially has a concurrency, the SLD will note "Begin Concurrency", which it does NOT do with 527 on the stretch of 18 through East Brunswick and New Brunswick. It's a non connected segment.

So CR 527 also has a gap at CR 522 and CR 506? Dolphin poo.

Hell, a random sampling of county route overlaps shows that none are marked on the primary route.

[storm2k]

NJDOT posted some updates about the 206 widening project in Hillsborough. There's a couple of progress pictures in there. Unsurprisingly, the completion date of the project has slipped again. Now it looks like it won't be done until well into 2027 as the final stage (listed as Median barrier and final paving NB/SB) is now scheduled to start in Spring 2027.

I did drive through there a couple of weeks ago and there is visible progress on the widening that can be seen throughout the project. Hopefully the state and its contractors don't run into too many delays that push completion of this project even further back. This was supposed to be done a couple of years ago, but the pandemic and issues with the original contractor obviously created massive delays on this project as is.

[storm2k]

Also seen today, NJDOT will be rebuilding two bridges over the D&R Canal. The important one is the Griggstown Causeway, which is fairly heavily used and will be fully closed during the rebuild. There is a PIC site for it here with the presentation about the projects. The other one is Chapel Dr that connects to Pillar of Fire in Zarepath, but that one is not as important to traffic movements. The state is handling the rebuilding of both of these instead of Somerset County, even though Somerset County hosted a study on the replacement of the Griggstown Causeway Bridge last year. I'm guessing because it traverses the Canal and touches the State Park, this is more in the state's jurisdiction than the county even though the existing bridge is a county bridge and the roadway carries a county route (CR632).

Also should add that unfortunately it doesn't look like there's any plans for the GC project to include any sort of flood mitigation efforts as part of the rebuild. I would not be surprised if there just isn't a ton they could do short of raising the height of the bridge substantially which is likely not easily accomplished. However, the GC floods very easily (same for the Blackwells Mills Causeway further north of this spot) and has to be frequently closed during storms.

[Mr. Matté]

Somerset County is fully responsible for the one-lane bridge over the Millstone River (next to CR 533) while the state is handling the wooden-decked bridge over the Canal (next to Canal Road). Looks like the county's study deals with the former.

[NJRoadfan]

US-206 is cursed. Between the bypass delays and this project..... Also back when they widened it from the circle down to where it drops to 2 lanes currently was delayed by many years for some reason. The bridges say 2003, but was under construction for YEARS before that.

[storm2k]

US-206 is cursed. Between the bypass delays and this project..... Also back when they widened it from the circle down to where it drops to 2 lanes currently was delayed by many years for some reason. The bridges say 2003, but was under construction for YEARS before that.

Planning for the 206 widening started in the 1970s. I remember going down 206 in the late 80s-early 90s on a Saturday morning where it would be a solid backup from Dukes Pkwy E until at least New Amwell, sometimes further). The usual NIMBYism contributed to a lot of the delays, including lawsuits from Montgomery Township, which is why the bypass ends short of the Montgomery Township line instead of at at Pike Run where it was supposed to originally end. One of the lawsuits that the state settled with Montgomery Twp basically put a moratorium on plans to do any expansion of the road until after 2005. Between them and Princeton, this is why the roadway expansion plans always end at the Hillsborough Twp line. So it's less that the roadway is cursed and more

[roadman65]

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1AXU2qnXdN/

Cape May Ferry closed due to ice.  Not the ICE in the news or in Minneapolis,  but ice due to weather.

[The Ghostbuster]

Ice Ice Baby: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rog8ou-ZepE.

[roadman65]

I heard that the unbuilt ( and now abandoned) Route 18 in Wall got canceled due to it being proposed over ancient Indian burial grounds.

Is this true?

[storm2k]

I heard that the unbuilt ( and now abandoned) Route 18 in Wall got canceled due to it being proposed over ancient Indian burial grounds.

Is this true?

No. Per Steve Anderson's page, one of the main blockers was a farmer who would not sell his land because he did not want the freeway built and was going to further ensure it would never pass through his land by deeding the land to some environmental group after his death so it could not be sold or taken by the state. I have no idea how much that's truth and how much is apocryphal at this point, but I've never heard anything about a burial ground being the blocker to the extension.

[Rothman]

I heard that the unbuilt ( and now abandoned) Route 18 in Wall got canceled due to it being proposed over ancient Indian burial grounds.

Is this true?

No. Per Steve Anderson's page, one of the main blockers was a farmer who would not sell his land because he did not want the freeway built and was going to further ensure it would never pass through his land by deeding the land to some environmental group after his death so it could not be sold or taken by the state. I have no idea how much that's truth and how much is apocryphal at this point, but I've never heard anything about a burial ground being the blocker to the extension.

Meh.  The story about blocking eminent domain in such a manner rings false to me given usual ways for States to work around owners after due process...unless NJ is different somehow.

[RobbieL2415]

I heard that the unbuilt ( and now abandoned) Route 18 in Wall got canceled due to it being proposed over ancient Indian burial grounds.

Is this true?

No. Per Steve Anderson's page, one of the main blockers was a farmer who would not sell his land because he did not want the freeway built and was going to further ensure it would never pass through his land by deeding the land to some environmental group after his death so it could not be sold or taken by the state. I have no idea how much that's truth and how much is apocryphal at this point, but I've never heard anything about a burial ground being the blocker to the extension.

Why didn't the state use is eminent domain powers?

[storm2k]

Someone struck this sign on 78 westbound at Exit 40 and sheared off the entire bottom half. This is going to need to come down, and given the age of the structure it's attached to, I'll bet NJDOT takes the structure down as well and replaces it with a ground mount sign. This was, I believe, the last 1980s vintage non-reflective button copy sign that remained on 78. Its counterpart on the eastbound side was replaced (still on its overhead structure) some years ago, and the random other ones that have existed across 78 have slowly disappeared and been replaced with new signs over the last number of years. In fact this sign is so old you could still see the reflections of older lettering when the control cities on the sign were changed. This is also the only interstate interchange I know of that uses "The Plainfields" as a control city--a very NJDOT thing. But 531 does pass through North Plainfield, Plainfield, and South Planfield on its way to its southern end in Edison, all in a row.

[roadman65]

Someone struck this sign on 78 westbound at Exit 40 and sheared off the entire bottom half. This is going to need to come down, and given the age of the structure it's attached to, I'll bet NJDOT takes the structure down as well and replaces it with a ground mount sign. This was, I believe, the last 1980s vintage non-reflective button copy sign that remained on 78. Its counterpart on the eastbound side was replaced (still on its overhead structure) some years ago, and the random other ones that have existed across 78 have slowly disappeared and been replaced with new signs over the last number of years. In fact this sign is so old you could still see the reflections of older lettering when the control cities on the sign were changed. This is also the only interstate interchange I know of that uses "The Plainfields" as a control city--a very NJDOT thing. But 531 does pass through North Plainfield, Plainfield, and South Planfield on its way to its southern end in Edison, all in a row.

That sign was added in an early 1980s sign project that added exit numbers to the interstate then.  However, it only featured Gillete and Watchung because the freeway between Exits 41 and 48 wasn't completed yet.  Traffic who passed Exit 40 going Westbound was just entering from Exit 41 where The Plainfields weren't of interest to motorists.  Then when the 41-48 segment opened to traffic, The Plainfields were then added hence the fact the old lettering is very noticeable as the sun bleach didnt effect the sign board under the former lettering.

[roadman65]

https://maps.app.goo.gl/s3GqNiB7Q3uXQHvSA

I like the new Newark Aiport signage on guide signs.  Better than the previous white on brown signs.

[SignBridge]

https://maps.app.goo.gl/s3GqNiB7Q3uXQHvSA

I like the new Newark Aiport signage on guide signs.  Better than the previous white on brown signs.

Still too much legend on the signs as is typical of NJDOT. I don't think we need 3 place names on the 78-West sign.

[roadman65]

https://maps.app.goo.gl/s3GqNiB7Q3uXQHvSA

I like the new Newark Aiport signage on guide signs.  Better than the previous white on brown signs.

Still too much legend on the signs as is typical of NJDOT. I don't think we need 3 place names on the 78-West sign.

I think people in the area know where Hillside and Irvington are and is a waste of space to be used.

Sign as Clinton and be done.