New Jersey Route 53

New Jersey Transit's Morristown Line

freeway was planned for the route in 1966, running from a planned Route 24 freeway in Morris Plains north to a planned Route 208 freeway in Greenwood Lake in Passaic County

power lines.^[1][3] Further north, Route 53 comes to an interchange with Route 10.^[1]

divided highway. Immediately after I-80, the route interchanges with U.S. Route 46 and ends at the intersection with Bloomfield Avenue.^[1]

Route 32 (now U.S. Route 202) between Morris Plains and Morristown, and Route 24 (now Route 124) between Morristown and Newark. The portion of pre-1927 Route 5 between Morris Plains and Denville, however, was not replaced by a different route and became Route 5N to distinguish it from a newly created Route 5.^[6] The northern terminus of Route 5N was at U.S. Route 46/Route 6 (Bloomfield Avenue) in Denville; when those routes were moved to a bypass, Route 5N's northern terminus remained at Bloomfield Avenue.^[7] In the 1953 New Jersey state highway renumbering, Route 5N was renumbered to Route 53.^[8]

freeway was planned for the Route 53 corridor, intended to reduce traffic congestion. The freeway was intended to run from a planned Route 24 freeway in Morris Plains and continue north, crossing Interstate 80 and Route 23 before ending at a planned Route 208 freeway near Greenwood Lake in Passaic County that would connect to the New York State Route 208 freeway that was to continue north into Orange County, New York.^[9] In 1967, the northern terminus of the Route 53 freeway was cut back to Interstate 80. This freeway was designated Route 178 in 1969.^[10] Right-of-way acquisition began for the freeway but was stopped in 1971 due to lack of funds. The freeway was officially cancelled in 1975 when NJDOT did not include it in the five-year highway program. Despite the cancellation of the proposed freeway, several large corporations in Morris County pushed for the freeway to be built as it would reduce commuter traffic on Route 53 and US 202 in the area.^[11]