I-78 Destination Translation Guide

[_Simon]

From what I gather, no one had heard of any of the places along the I-78 corridor when it was signed in the 60's,  so I guess the engineers just decided to look at a hagstrom map and pick out some destinations;  unfortunately no one had ever heard of them then, nor does anyone have any clue where they are now.  Half of these destinations don't even have Wikipedia pages, and are so far removed from being a census-designated place that in some cases (West Portal), the I-78 signage itself is literally the most popular place the words exist.  How municipalities with now-decent (and rich) populations like Bedminster, Bridgewater, and Warren aren't signed along an interstate that cuts right through their borders amazes me.

Destination	Exit Number(s)	Translation
Warren Glen(n)	6, 7	Holland Township
West Portal	7, 11	A part of Bloomsbury with no houses or businesses.
Pattenburg	11	Pattenburg Rd in Jugtown Mountain
Jutland	12	Union Township
Norton	12	Clinton, Spruce Run
Cokesbury	20	Cokesbury Rd in Lebanon
Oldwick	24	Tewksbury
Lamington	26	Bedminster, Readington
Bernardsville	33	Bedminster, Mt Airy Road
Martinsville	33	Bridgewater
Warrenville	36	Warren, Green Brook

[NJRoadfan]

Except that most of those places are real destinations. The locals generally use the place names. Bernardville is an actual municipality not to be confused with Bernards Township. Just be happy they didn't post Liberty Corner at Exit 33 (they did on I-287).

West Portal likely refers to the rail tunnel that runs under Jugtown Mountain and I-78.

Keep in mind that many of these place names usually have post offices and thus mailing addresses bearing the names too.

[_Simon]

As Steve always says, the locals aren't the intended target of guide signs.  I chose these destinations in particular because better more-well-known destinations exist for them.   What if instead of Morristown/Somerville, you had Pepack & Gladstone/Green Knoll?  What if instead of Flemington/Washington you had Ringoes/Buttzville, and instead of The Plainfields/Watching/Gillette, you had Meyersville/Mountainside/Sand Spring (All real places of equal caliber to the ones on my list)?

[agentsteel53]

Ringoes/Buttzville

that would quickly climb into the ranks of both "most stolen" and "most requested to be autographed by a rock and roll celebrity".

[NE2]

that would quickly climb into the ranks of both "most stolen" and "most requested to be autographed by a rock and roll celebrity".

Until about 1967, Route 69 ended at Buttzville. Heheheheheheheh.

[agentsteel53]

Until about 1967, Route 69 ended at Buttzville. Heheheheheheheh.

that sounds ... anatomically challenging.

[NJRoadfan]

and instead of The Plainfields/Watching/Gillette, you had Meyersville/Mountainside/Sand Spring (All real places of equal caliber to the ones on my list)?

Meyersville is fine, but CR-531 ends in the Gillette section of Long Hill Twp. CR-531 doesn't go to Mountainside at all, and where the hell is Sand Spring? Its not even on the official place name list (which NJDOT uses)! http://www.state.nj.us/cgi-bin/infobank/localsearch.pl

[Alps]

The following are definitely named places: Jutland, Cokesbury, Oldwick, Lamington, Bernardsville. The following probably were places once, but have been subsumed into a greater entity: Pattenburg, Norton, Martinsville, Warrenville. Warren Glen and West Portal are made up just to upset you.

[NE2]

West Portal's real. How can a place with the "Fred Duckworth Log Cabin" not be real? http://bethlehemnj.org/westportal.php

[roadman65]

Bedminster is listed on the 1998 installed statewide mileage signs that appear periodically along I-78.  Indeed it is listed there on I-78 Local Westbound in Newark at Exit 56, as well as I- 78 WB west of CR 531, and eastbound just east of Exit 18 as destination point.  The only issue with that is that there is no mention of Bedminster at Exit 29 on its exit guides as that would be the access to the city streets of Bedminster via I-287 NB and Exit 21.  However, the Bedminster Township border is marked along I-78 very clearly.

You also have to remember that when I-78 was first opened to traffic, NJ was a rural state and these places did stand out as there was no development around them to make it part of the giant metropolis that the Garden State is now.  Nonetheless, these places are still recognized by locals even though if I-78 was built today, it might be signed differently.

[jwolfer]

From what I gather, no one had heard of any of the places along the I-78 corridor when it was signed in the 60's,  so I guess the engineers just decided to look at a hagstrom map and pick out some destinations;  unfortunately no one had ever heard of them then, nor does anyone have any clue where they are now.  Half of these destinations don't even have Wikipedia pages, and are so far removed from being a census-designated place that in some cases (West Portal), the I-78 signage itself is literally the most popular place the words exist.  How municipalities with now-decent (and rich) populations like Bedminster, Bridgewater, and Warren aren't signed along an interstate that cuts right through their borders amazes me.

Destination	Exit Number(s)	Translation
Warren Glen(n)	6, 7	Holland Township
West Portal	7, 11	A part of Bloomsbury with no houses or businesses.
Pattenburg	11	Pattenburg Rd in Jugtown Mountain
Jutland	12	Union Township
Norton	12	Clinton, Spruce Run
Cokesbury	20	Cokesbury Rd in Lebanon
Oldwick	24	Tewksbury
Lamington	26	Bedminster, Readington
Bernardsville	33	Bedminster, Mt Airy Road
Martinsville	33	Bridgewater
Warrenville	36	Warren, Green Brook

I-195 has some of these... CR 527/526( exit 21) Jackson/Siloam... Siloam is a bend in the road... then exit 22 is Jackson Mills/Georgia

In my mind exit 21 should be Jackson/Englishtown and exit 22 should be Jackson/Howell

[Interstatefan78]

What about 29 Morristown Somerville both refers to I-287 exit 35 for Morristown, but 17-13 for Somerville also Exit 40 translates to North Plainfield while Exit 57 refers to Newark downtown and airport along with US-1 South Elizabeth

[_Simon]

What about 29 Morristown Somerville both refers to I-287 exit 35 for Morristown, but 17-13 for Somerville also Exit 40 translates to North Plainfield while Exit 57 refers to Newark downtown and airport along with US-1 South Elizabeth

what

[Alps]

What about 29 Morristown Somerville both refers to I-287 exit 35 for Morristown, but 17-13 for Somerville also Exit 40 translates to North Plainfield while Exit 57 refers to Newark downtown and airport along with US-1 South Elizabeth

I need a translation guide.

[signalman]

What about 29 Morristown Somerville both refers to I-287 exit 35 for Morristown, but 17-13 for Somerville also Exit 40 translates to North Plainfield while Exit 57 refers to Newark downtown and airport along with US-1 South Elizabeth

I need a translation guide.

I do too.  I have an idea what he's trying to say, but there's too many run on sentences.  And the exit 40 and 57 shit from I-78 is insignificant at best.  For the record, I had to read his post 4 times in order to get a vague idea of what he's trying to say.  Even what little I could deceipher took up too much of my time for my liking.

[Zeffy]

What about 29 Morristown Somerville both refers to I-287 exit 35 for Morristown, but 17-13 for Somerville also Exit 40 translates to North Plainfield while Exit 57 refers to Newark downtown and airport along with US-1 South Elizabeth

Attempting to translate that into anything coherent...

What about I-78 Exit 29 for Morristown / Somerville that refers to I-287 Exit 35 for Morristown, and Exits 13-17 for Somerville? Also, Exit 40 is for North Plainfield, while Exit 57 refers to downtown Newark and Newark Liberty International Airport along with Exit 58 to US 1&9 South referring to Elizabeth.

Well, that's my interpretation anyway.

[signalman]

That was my interpretation as well.  It took my several attempts to read it to break it down into English though.

[roadman65]

Exit 29 is clear of where it goes though.  There is no need to interpret the Exit 29 guide sign.  I understand what he means about Exit 40, as it has "The Plainfields" which I can easily understand why he means that it "translates to North Plainfield" in his post.  Exit 57 I will leave alone because that exit was added to NJ 21 long after I left New Jersey.  I am not too familiar with it now as when I lived there Exit 57 just went into the Newark Airport tangle and at the time it, of course did have different signing.

[hubcity]

I-195 has some of these... CR 527/526( exit 21) Jackson/Siloam... Siloam is a bend in the road... then exit 22 is Jackson Mills/Georgia

In my mind exit 21 should be Jackson/Englishtown and exit 22 should be Jackson/Howell

For 22, I'd consider Jackson/Freehold. The road Exit 22 leads to never quite touches Howell, though it's close enough that you might want to put it as a destination. (The locality "Georgia" was never much more than the intersection of Georgia Rd. & Jackson Mills Rd. It never even merited a post office, unlike Adelphia, a portion of Howell Township that at least has its own zip code.)

If I were allowed verbose signs for the exits - and given that the townships are fairly large, one might consider further guidance than just the township name - I'd mark them thusly:

Exit 21: Central Jackson/West Freehold/Englishtown
Exit 22: North Jackson/Freehold/West Howell
Exit 28A: Howell/Lakewood
Exit 28B: Freehold Boro/Old Bridge
Exit 31A: East Lakewood/Brick
Exit 31B: East Howell/Farmingdale (Allaire State Park)

And that's why I'm not desigining signs. 

[roadman65]

I-195 has some of these... CR 527/526( exit 21) Jackson/Siloam... Siloam is a bend in the road... then exit 22 is Jackson Mills/Georgia

In my mind exit 21 should be Jackson/Englishtown and exit 22 should be Jackson/Howell

For 22, I'd consider Jackson/Freehold. The road Exit 22 leads to never quite touches Howell, though it's close enough that you might want to put it as a destination. (The locality "Georgia" was never much more than the intersection of Georgia Rd. & Jackson Mills Rd. It never even merited a post office, unlike Adelphia, a portion of Howell Township that at least has its own zip code.)

If I were allowed verbose signs for the exits - and given that the townships are fairly large, one might consider further guidance than just the township name - I'd mark them thusly:

Exit 21: Central Jackson/West Freehold/Englishtown
Exit 22: North Jackson/Freehold/West Howell
Exit 28A: Howell/Lakewood
Exit 28B: Freehold Boro/Old Bridge
Exit 31A: East Lakewood/Brick
Exit 31B: East Howell/Farmingdale (Allaire State Park)

And that's why I'm not desigining signs. 

While your are at it, should not Pt. Pleasant be for NJ 34 SB instead of Brielle?  Also, while you are on NJ 34, make Colts Neck/ Matawan for NJ 34 NB and give Newark/ Atlantic City for the Parkway that has NO Control Points.