County Route 676 (Middlesex County, New Jersey)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

County Route 676
N. Riverview Avenue
Woodbridge Avenue
Duclos Lane
Suttons Lane
Maintained by Middlesex County
Length: 1.55 mi[1] (2.49 km)
South end: Edmund Street in Edison
(near US 1)
Major
junctions:
CR 514 in Edison/Highland Park
NJ 27 in Edison
North end: Truman Drive South in Edison
County routes in Middlesex County
< CR 675 CR 677 >

County Route 676, abbreviated CR 676, is a county highway in Middlesex County, New Jersey, on the streets of Duclos Lane, North Riverview Avenue, Suttons Lane, and Woodbridge Avenue in Highland Park and Edison Township. It is 1.55 miles long from Edmund Street (near U.S. Route 1) to Truman Drive. Much of the Duclos Lane section from CR 514 to Route 27 straddles the Edison-Highland Park border. The speed limit is 25 miles per hour.[1]

Contents

[edit] Route description

[edit] North Riverview Avenue (Mileposts 0.00-0.19)

Route 676 begins at an intersection with Edmund Street in Edison.[1][2] The route heads northward as Riverview Avenue North, intersecting with Harrigan Street at .05 of a mile (.08 of a kilometre). Passing through residental areas, Route 676 intersects with Foyer Street and Holmes Street before merging into Woodbridge Avenue (CR 514) at .19 of a mile (.3 kilometres).[1][2] The desingnation of Riverview Avenue continues north past Woodbridge Avenue for another 371 feet to Apple Street.[3] An average of 8,061 people traveled this section of CR 676 in 2001.[1]

[edit] Woodbridge Avenue (Mileposts 0.20-0.24)

Woodbridge Avenue and Duclos Lane
Woodbridge Avenue and Duclos Lane

After leaving North Riverview Avenue, CR 676 has a short concurrency with CR 514 (Woodbridge Avenue) for 0.06 miles. The concurrency ends at the intersection of Woodbridge Avenue and Duclos Lane, where CR 676 continues north onto Duclos Lane. There is no parking on this area of CR 676, as a shoulder exists. This continues until Duclos Lane going south and Silver Lake Avenue going east of CR 514.[4][5]

[edit] Duclos Lane (Mileposts 0.25-0.74)

The Duclos Lane part of CR 676 is the second longest portion of County Route 676. The border between Edison and Highland Park runs along much of this section. This section also has the second most intersections of the streets that carry the CR 676 designation.[1] The intersection of Duclos Lane and Woodbridge Avenue has no traffic light currently, but Edison mayor Jun Choi and the town plan to add a traffic light to relieve congestion.[6]

Southbound along CR 676.
Southbound along CR 676.
Blade sign depicting CR 676 and Duclos Lane
Blade sign depicting CR 676 and Duclos Lane

Route 676 continues after Riverview Avenue and the concurrency with CR 514 along Duclos Lane, the borderline street of Highland Park and Edison. The first intersections are for Apple, Latonia and Franklin Streets (the latter, Franklin Street, located at .38 miles (.61 kilometres)). As Route 676 continues northward, it intersects with Wisteria and Lilac Streets, two roads that go into Edison and end a couple blocks later. Cherry Street intersects at .48 miles (.77 kilometres) in Highland Park. Soon afterwards, Route 676 intersects with Parker Road in Highland Park and Rose Street in Edison. Route 676 continues northward, intersecting with several other local roads in Highland Park, and at Lincoln Highway (Route 27), Duclos Lane becomes Suttons Lane, and County Route 676 continues north.[1]

Duclos Lane is named after the Duclos family, who lived in residence 66 at the intersection of what is now Route 27 and Adelaide Avenue in the late 19th century.[7] Edison Township Municipal Code prohibits patrons from parking anywhere on Duclos Lane due to traffic issues.[6]

[edit] Suttons Lane (Mileposts 0.75-1.55)

Train Culvert at MP 1.24
Train Culvert at MP 1.24

The Suttons Lane part of County Route 676 is the longest section of the route with eleven intersections.[1] Edison Township Municipal Code prohibits patrons from parking anywhere on Suttons Lane from Route 27 and 100 feet after due to no shoulder exists.[6] Starting at the Lincoln Highway intersection, it has a major curve just after the Gaskill Avenue intersection at milepost 0.92. Then the road makes a right turn after the Campbell Avenue junction at milepost 0.98.[1]

After the second curve is a set of speed bumps which continue until just before the Central Avenue intersection. Just after Central Avenue is a set of baseball fields for the Edison Boys Baseball League named Bobby Brownlie Way.[8] North of the fields is a train culvert for the Pennsylvania Railroad. There are two more junctions followed by the southern terminus of County Route 676 at Truman Drive South, just north of the train culvert.[1]

[edit] History

In the late 19th century, only the Duclos Lane section of what is now CR 676 had been built, but was not paved; Suttons Lane and Riverview Avenue did not exist at the time.[7] There were also not any housing developments along the road, only farmland. Houses were first built in the area during the 1920s. Approximately 80 residences were built in Highland Park during this time (75 owned, 5 not owned), but all of them were in town and the northernmost residence was on Crowells Lane.[7] The only intersections along Duclos Lane were the Lincoln Highway (present-day Route 27) and Woodbridge Avenue (present-day CR 514), which were then its termini. At the time Duclos Lane was the only connection in Highland Park from between Lincoln Highway and Woodbridge Avenue.[7]

Prior to the 600-series county route designations (1940s and 1950s), the Duclos Lane and Suttons Lane parts of CR 676 was designated as County Route 2S9.[9] The Woodbridge Avenue part was known as County Route 1R2 (present day CR 514), and the Riverview Avenue segment was known as County Route 1R12.[10]

[edit] Major intersections

Thirty-one intersections cross County Route 676 from its southern terminus at Edmund Street near U.S. Route 1 in Edison to its northern terminus at Truman Drive South near County Routes 674 and 692. County Route 676 is two lanes wide for its entire length.[1]

County Location Mile[1] Roads intersected Notes
Middlesex Edison 0.00 Edmund Street Southern terminus
0.19 ( County Route 514) Begin concurrency
0.25 Duclos Lane End concurrency
0.74 Lincoln Highway ( Route 27) Only traffic light on County Route 676[1]
1.55 Truman Drive South Northern terminus

[edit] References

[edit] See also

[edit] External links