New Jersey Route 4
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Route 4 |
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| Length: | 10.83 mi (17.43 km) | ||||||||
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| Formed: | 1934 | ||||||||
| West end: |  NJ 20 in Paterson |
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| Major junctions: |
 NJ 208 in Fair Lawn GSP in Paramus NJ 17 in Paramus CR 503 in Hackensack  NJ 93/CR 501 in Englewood |
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| East end: |    I-95/US 1-9/US 9W in Fort Lee |
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Route 4 is a state highway in Bergen County and Passaic County, New Jersey, United States, that is also known as the Mackay Highway. The highway stretches 10.83 miles from Route 20 (McLean Boulevard) in Paterson to U.S. Route 9W at the George Washington Bridge approach in Fort Lee.
Today's stretch of NJ 4 was completed by 1934, not long after the opening of the George Washington Bridge in 1931. With the opening of both the Bridge and Route 4, much of Bergen County became accessible to those who wished to escape to the suburbs, but wanted to retain easy access to New York City. From 1920 to 1940, despite the slowdowns resulting from the Great Depression, Bergen County's population nearly doubled, growing from 210,643 to 409,646 residents in that twenty-year period.
Originally, NJ 4 was projected to go all the way to Cape May. Parts of Route 35 and U.S. Route 9 south of Woodbridge Township bore the NJ 4 designation prior to 1953. The Garden State Parkway was originally designed to bypass this stretch of NJ 4, and a stretch built prior to 1953 between Union and Woodbridge Township appeared on maps as "4 PKY". To this day, the New Jersey Department of Transportation's internal reference number for the Parkway is NJ 444, commemorating the proposal.
[edit] Route description
Route 4 starts in Paterson at the intersection of Broadway and East 43rd Street. Route 4 becomes a divided highway at McLean Boulevard and runs concurrent to Broadway crossing out of Paterson and Passaic County and into Elmwood Park and Bergen County.
Broadway continues east with businesses lining both sides of the roadway, and runs concurrently with Route 4 through Fair Lawn, ending at the interchange of Route 208. Route 4 continues on the same path east. While not a freeway yet, the access to the road becomes limited, but businesses still line the road. Route 4 then enters Paramus and its huge shopping district. There it has an interchange with Route 17. As the road leaves Paramus it becomes a freeway and businesses no longer line the route. Route 4 then enters River Edge, Hackensack, Teaneck and Englewood. In Teaneck, Eastbound Route 4 goes from three lanes down to two at the Belle Avenue exit, widening back to three lanes when the highway approaches Englewood. This constriction causes frequent backups during morning rush hours and many other points throughout the day. Route 4 then ends at U.S. Route 9W, a huge interchange at the George Washington Bridge approach.
[edit] Related routes
Route 4 had several former spur routes:
Route 4A, now Route 79
Route 4N, now Route 71
Route 4 Parkway, now Route 444 (Garden State Parkway)
Route S4 in Perth Amboy, now Routes 440 and 184- Route S4 in Absecon, now Route 157
Route S4A, now Route 87
Route S4B, now Route 208
Route S4C, now Route 162
Route S4D, never built, but proposal was renumbered Route 303
