New Jersey Route 26

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Route 26

Length:

2.54 mi^[1] (4.09 km)

Formed:

1927

South end:

US 1 in North Brunswick

North end:

Nassau Street in New Brunswick
(continues as

CR 691)

New Jersey State Highway Routes
< NJ 25		NJ 27 >

Route 26 is a state highway in New Jersey, United States, running 2.54 miles (4.09 km) along Livingston Avenue from U.S. Route 1 in North Brunswick Township northeast to Nassau Street at the to the border of New Brunswick. Prior to the 1953 renumbering, the route continued southwest along US 1 to Trenton.

Livingston Avenue inside New Brunswick, southwest of Suydam Street, is the 1.08-mile (1.74 km) County Route 691. The 0.39 miles (0.63 km) from Suydam Street to its end at George Street is part of State Route 171, also maintained by Middlesex County.

1 History
- 1.1 Route S26
2 See also
3 References
4 External links

[edit] History

The road from New Brunswick to Trenton was built in the 19th century as the Trenton and New Brunswick Turnpike, commonly called the Straight Turnpike due to its complete lack of curves. The road eventually fell into disrepair in favor of the older road via Princeton, which became part of the Lincoln Highway in 1913 and pre-1927 Route 13 in 1916.

In 1926, the turnpike was legislated into the state highway system as an unnumbered route. It received its number, Route 26, in the 1927 renumbering, and was reconstructed by the state. Except for the bridge over the Pennsylvania Railroad (now Amtrak's Northeast Corridor) in North Brunswick, the road was completed by early 1929.

The road was taken over by the state from the New Brunswick city line at Nassau Street to Brunswick Circle near Trenton. A short piece of the turnpike southwest of Brunswick Circle to the Trenton city line at Spruce Street had been taken over ca. 1920 as part of pre-1927 Route 13. Inside New Brunswick, the old turnpike (Livingston Avenue) was County Route 3R16, but was signed as part of Route 26 to its end at Route S28 (George Street). A spur along Jersey Avenue, which was taken over as Route 26A, provided direct access to Route 27 in New Brunswick.

Most of the Calhoun Street Extension from Brunswick Circle to the Calhoun Street Bridge in Trenton was taken over ca. 1932, but nothing indicates it was part of Route 26. It provided an alternate route into Pennsylvania, bypassing downtown Trenton. The Trenton Freeway, opened ca. 1953, was built as an extension of Route 26, running from Brunswick Circle through downtown into Pennsylvania.

In the 1953 renumbering, Route 26 was truncated to run only in the New Brunswick area, as the rest was part of U.S. Route 1.

[edit] Route S26

Route S26 was also defined in the 1927 renumbering as a short spur of Route 26, running from just north of the Pennsylvania Railroad overpass in North Brunswick east to the junction of Route 25 and Route 25M, now the junction of U.S. Route 1, U.S. Route 130 and Route 171. It opened ca. 1929, and became part of U.S. Route 1 in the 1953 renumbering.