Interstate 280 (New Jersey)
Essex Freeway | ||||
Route information | ||||
Auxiliary route of I-80 | ||||
Maintained by NJDOT and NJTA | ||||
Length | 17.85 mi[1] (28.73 km) | |||
Existed | 1958–present | |||
NHS | Entire route | |||
Major junctions | ||||
West end | I-80 in Parsippany-Troy Hills | |||
East end | I-95 Toll / N.J. Turnpike in Kearny | |||
Location | ||||
Country | United States | |||
State | New Jersey | |||
Counties | Morris, Essex, Hudson | |||
Highway system | ||||
|
Interstate 280 (I-280) is a 17.85-mile (28.73 km)
A part of present-day I-280 in Newark west of the Stickel Bridge was legislated as
Route description
The terrain becomes urban soon after exit 10, when it enters Orange. Here, I-280 narrows back to six lanes and heads onto a depressed alignment with frequent overpasses, running a short distance to the south of NJ Transit's Morristown Line.[1][2] Along this portion, the roadway has ramps to Essex Avenue, Day Street, and Center Street.[1] Continuing into East Orange, the freeway passes under more streets as it runs next to the Morristown Line, passing south of Brick Church station and interchanging with Harrison and Clinton streets. Near East Orange station, I-280 comes to a full interchange with the Garden State Parkway, which also has access to CR 509 and Oraton Parkway.[1][2] Following this junction, the highway widens to eight lanes before becoming 10 lanes at the border with Newark.[1]
After crossing under more city streets, the roadway comes to exit 13, a left-side exit and entrance to and from the west accessing 1st Street and a ramp from the east to Orange Street.[1][2] At this point, the total number of lanes on the road decreases from 10 to four and I-280 eastbound heads up and over the exit 13 ramps, rejoining the westbound lanes on a bridge over 1st Street, Orange Street, and NJ Transit's Newark Light Rail line. As the road returns to surface level and begins to parallel NJ Transit's Morris & Essex Lines and Montclair-Boonton Line to the north, an unused bridge carries the western end of the 1954 section of freeway over the railroad to Orange Street east of Duryea Street.[1][2][3] After this, I-280 passes under Clifton Avenue, which it has access to, and Nesbitt Street. It rises again to pass over Martin Luther King Boulevard, which is also has access to, Broad Street, and Route 21.[1] Just after a large interchange with Route 21, I-280 crosses the Passaic River again on the six-lane William A. Stickel Memorial Bridge, a 125-foot (38 m) vertical-lift bridge, into Harrison, Hudson County.[1][2][4]
I-280 continues to run just north of the railroad as a six-lane freeway through Harrison, reaching an interchange with CR 508.[1][2] The road continues southeast through urban surroundings before turning east and passing to the north of a railroad yard, splitting from the railroad line as it runs into Kearny and enters the New Jersey Meadowlands. At the final interchange with CR 508, I-280 has access to the Holland Tunnel via Route 7, US 1/9 Truck, and Route 139. Past CR 508, the freeway narrows to four lanes and comes to the toll plaza for the New Jersey Turnpike (Interstate 95) at exit 15W, at which point I-280 ends. Full access is provided with the Western Spur of the New Jersey Turnpike, which carries through I-95 traffic; ramps to and from the north on the Eastern Spur of the New Jersey Turnpike allow for access to the Lincoln Tunnel via Route 495.[1][2]
Replacement of partial access in central Harrison with service roads, a new interchange, and an overpass (to improve access to Harrison Avenue, the PATH station, and Red Bull Arena, and to give north–south passage to local street traffic) is in the planning stages.[5][6]
History
What is now the easternmost part of I-280 was legislated as
Around the time the Stickel Bridge opened, the Essex Freeway was planned to connect US 46 in Morris County east to the New Jersey Turnpike in Hudson County, with the intention of alleviating traffic along
Construction progressed slowly, starting in 1960 near Orange. There were many obstacles that had to be overcome when constructing I-280. The first was whether to build the highway on an elevated or depressed alignment through urbanized areas of East Orange and Newark. Following opposition to the elevated option, it was decided to build I-280 on a depressed alignment through the area.
The construction of I-280 destroyed a large part of the historic urban cores of Orange, East Orange, and Newark, while providing a path for shoppers to head to shopping malls in surrounding suburban communities rather than shop in aging downtowns that had been disrupted by the highway construction.[19] Many commercial buildings and historic Victorian homes in Orange and East Orange were demolished in the process.[20][19]
I-280 fully opened west from Newark to I-80 in Parsippany–Troy Hills in 1973.[21] The portion of I-280 east of Newark was planned on an alignment that would disrupt the fewest homes and would utilize existing railroad and utility right-of-way.[22] The section east from Newark to the New Jersey Turnpike was built in 1979–1980.[23] In the 1966 plans, I-280 was to continue east to I-78 in Jersey City near the Holland Tunnel, following the CR 508 and Route 7 corridors; this was planned again in the 1970s but never built.[18][24]
In the 1990s, the Route 58 designation was officially removed from I-280 through Newark.[25][26] In 2001, the state determined the Stickel Bridge over the Passaic River and its approaches were structurally deficient and was going to need to be replaced after sections of it were falling apart.[4][27][28] Instead of replacing the bridge, in 2007, the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) decided to rehabilitate it at a lower cost.[4] Reconstruction of the bridge was completed in April 2009 at a cost of $33 million (equivalent to $45.6 million in 2023[29]).[30]
I-280, like many other highways in New Jersey, once had solar powered emergency
Exit list
County | Location | mi[1] | km | Exit | Destinations | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Delaware Water Gap | Direct access to I-80 express lanes; I-80 exit 47A | |||||
– | To US 46 – Mahwah, Morristown | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance to/from I-80 local lanes | ||||
1.55 | 2.49 | 1 | To US 46 / Edwards Road / New Road | US 46 not signed eastbound | ||
CR 609 ) | Signed as exits 4A (south) and 4B (north) | |||||
4.95 | 7.97 | 5 | The Caldwells | Signed as exits 5A (south) and 5B (north) | ||
CR 634 ) | Signed as exits 6A (south) and 6B (north) westbound | |||||
8.23 | 13.24 | 8 | CR 577 (Prospect Avenue) – West Orange, Cedar Grove | Signed as exits 8A (south) and 8B (north) | ||
9.64 | 15.51 | 9 | Mount Pleasant Avenue ( CR 660) – West Orange, Montclair | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance | ||
9.91 | 15.95 | 10 | CR 508 – West Orange, South Orange, Montclair | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance | ||
Orange | 10.61 | 17.08 | 11 | Center Street – Orange | Eastbound exit only | |
10.80 | 17.38 | 11B | Day Street / Essex Avenue – Orange | Westbound exit only | ||
East Orange | 11.48 | 18.48 | 11A (EB) 12A (WB) | Harrison Street / Clinton Street – East Orange | No westbound signage for Harrison Street | |
12.32 | 19.83 | 12B | G.S. Parkway / Oraton Parkway | Toll plaza on ramp | ||
Newark | 13.18 | 21.21 | 13 | First Street – Branch Brook Park | Left eastbound exit and westbound entrance | |
13.40 | 21.57 | Orange Street / 6th Street | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance | |||
13.74 | 22.11 | 14A | Clifton Avenue | Westbound exit and entrance | ||
14.11 | 22.71 | 14 | Martin Luther King Boulevard – Rutgers University | Eastbound exit and entrance | ||
14.42 | 23.21 | 15 | Route 21 – Newark, Belleville | |||
Passaic River | 14.53 | 23.38 | William A. Stickel Memorial Bridge | |||
Hudson | Harrison | 14.92 | 24.01 | 16 | Harrison, Newark | Access via CR 508 |
Kearny | 16.86 | 27.13 | 17 | CR 508 – Jersey City, Kearny | Signed as exits 17A (east) and 17B (west); last eastbound exit before toll | |
17.05 | 27.44 | Exit 15W Toll Plaza | ||||
17.25 | 27.76 | – | US 46 – Trenton | Exit 15W on the Western Spur | ||
17.85 | 28.73 | – | Lincoln Tunnel, Secaucus | Exit 15W on the Eastern Spur | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi |
See also
- U.S. Roads portal
- New Jersey portal
- Route 25AD
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s New Jersey Department of Transportation. "Interstate 280 Straight Line Diagram" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Transportation. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Google (January 6, 2010). "Overview Map of I-280" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved January 6, 2010.
- ^ Bureau of Information Management and Technology Planning Geographic Information Systems (May 3, 2018). New Jersey Municipal Boundaries With Roads (PDF) (Map). Scale not given. Trenton: New Jersey Department of Transportation. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
- ^ a b c Caldwell, Dave (May 27, 2007). "With Repairs and New Paint, a Bridge Is Getting Its Life Extended". The New York Times. Retrieved January 7, 2010.
- ^ McNab, Matthew (July 24, 2012). "Designs for New Interstate 280 Exit Interchange in Harrison to Start Simulation Phase". Jersey Journal. Retrieved October 17, 2013.
- ^ Harrison, NJ Interstate Route 280 Ramp Improvements Study (PDF) (Report). Jacobs Engineering Group. Retrieved November 22, 2013.[page needed]
- ^ "Title 27. Highways 27 § 6-1". New Jersey Statutes. February 19, 2021. Retrieved July 5, 2022 – via FindLaw.
ROUTE NO. 25A. Beginning at a point in State Highway Route No. 25 in Jersey City and extending via Jersey City, Kearny, Harrison, across the Passaic river at or near the present Bridge street bridge between the counties of Essex and Hudson to and connecting with State Highway Route No. 21 and Clifton avenue in Newark.
- ^ "Newark Traffic Eased: Ramp From Stickel Bridge to Broad Street Is Opened". The New York Times. September 2, 1950. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
- ^ New Jersey Department of Highways. "1953 renumbering". New Jersey Department of Highways. Archived from the original on June 28, 2011. Retrieved July 31, 2009 – via Wikisource.
- ^ "New Road Signs Ready in New Jersey". The New York Times. December 16, 1952. p. 41. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved July 20, 2009.
- ^ Report on East–West and Route 10 Freeways and Connections (Report). New Jersey State Highway Department. 1948.[page needed]
- OCLC 4165975. Retrieved December 22, 2009.
- ^ New Jersey State Highway Department (1957). FAI 105 Interstate Highway Corridor: Recommendation Report (Report). New Jersey State Highway Department.[page needed]
- ^ Wright, George Cable (September 19, 1958). "New Roads with New Numbers Will Parallel Old U.S. Routes". The New York Times. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
- ^ Honig, Milton (April 1, 1959). "Depressed Road Backed in Essex". The New York Times. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
- New Jersey State Assembly (March 2, 1961). Public Hearing on the Depression of Essex Freeway (Report). New Jersey State Assembly.[page needed]
- ^ Tri-State Transportation Commission (1962). Regional Highways: Status Report (Report). Tri-State Transportation Commission.[page needed]
- ^ a b Tri-State Transportation Commission (1966). Transportation 1985: A Regional Plan (Report). Tri-State Transportation Commission.[page needed]
- ^ a b Jacobs, Andrew (April 25, 1999). "Knocked Down, Yes. Knocked Out, Never.; The Town of Orange, No Stranger to Bad News, Struggles to Make Sense of Police Shooting and Its Aftermath". The New York Times. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
The 1967 riots that devastated Newark didn't help, but many old-timers say the worst blow was delivered by the bulldozers and wrecking balls that built Interstate 280. Begun in 1961 and opened 12 years later, the east-west highway sliced Orange in half, destroyed a broad swath of the two-mile-wide town and then carried many residents to the emerging suburban frontier in Essex and Morris Counties. Main Street, once lined with stores, three movie theaters and numerous restaurants, also suffered as I-280 introduced shoppers to the mall.
- ^ HANDS, Inc (April 2010). Heart of Orange Neighborhood Plan (PDF) (Report). HANDS, Inc. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 25, 2015.[page needed]
- ^ "More Tieups for the Motorists: Impossible Task?". The New York Times. October 21, 1973. p. 98. Retrieved January 7, 2010.
- ^ New Jersey Department of Transportation (1967). Interstate Route 280: Stickel Bridge to I-95 (Report). New Jersey Department of Transportation.[page needed]
- State Farm Insurance; Rand McNally (1983). State Farm Road Atlas (Map). State Farm Insurance.[page needed]
- ^ Tri-State Regional Planning Commission (1975). Maintaining Mobility (Report). Tri-State Regional Planning Commission.[page needed]
- ^ New Jersey Department of Transportation (1990). "Route 58 Straight Line Diagram" (1990 ed.). New Jersey Department of Transportation.
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(help) - ^ New Jersey Department of Transportation (1997). "Interstate 280 Straight Line Diagram" (1997 ed.). New Jersey Department of Transportation.
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(help) - ^ Sterling, Guy (April 20, 2001). "A Bridge Too Old: State Looks to Fix the Stickel". The Star-Ledger. p. 1.
- ^ Sterling, Guy (May 2, 2001). "Elevated Route 280 Section Drops Chunks on Newark: Authorities Block Off Parts of Two Streets". The Star-Ledger. p. 25.
- Gross Domestic Product deflatorfigures follow the MeasuringWorth series.
- ^ New Jersey Department of Transportation. "I-280 Stickel Bridge Rehabilitation & Reconstruction Overview, Construction Updates, Commuter Information". New Jersey Department of Transportation. Retrieved January 7, 2010.
- ^ Barlas, Thomas (February 28, 2007). "Last Call for N.J.'s Roadside Call Boxes". The Press of Atlantic City.[page needed]
External links
- An expanded view of road jurisdiction near the confluence of US 46, I-95 / NJTurnpike, I 280, NJ 7 and CR 508 in Kearny
- The Roads of Metro New York - Interstate 280 (New Jersey)
- New Jersey Roads: Interstate 280
- I-280 (Greater New York Roads)