New Jersey Route 139

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Route 139

State Highway
Maintained by NJDOT and PANYNJ

Length:

2.77 mi^[1] (4.46 km)

Formed:

1988

West end:

Upper:

CR 501 in Jersey City
Lower:

US 1/9 in Jersey City

Major
junctions:

I-78/NJTP in Jersey City

East end:

I-78/Holland Tunnel

New Jersey State Highway Routes
< NJ 138		NJ 140 >

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Route 139

Route 139 is a state highway in Jersey City, New Jersey, extending the Pulaski Skyway east to the Holland Tunnel. Officially, Route 139 is concurrent with Interstate 78 between mileposts 1.20 and 2.77 ending at the New Jersey/New York State line in the Holland Tunnel. The New Jersey Department of Transportation charts Route 139 as two separate roadways: The 1.45 mile (2.24 kilometer) lower roadway, and the 0.83 mile (1.34 kilometer) upper roadway. Including the concurrency, the total length of Route 139 is 2.77 miles.

1 Route description
- 1.1 Viaducts
2 History
- 2.1 State Highway
3 Future developments
4 Major intersections
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Route description

New signage and construction work on Route 139.

Route 139 is essentially three distinct but connected highways: the Upper Level, the Lower Level, and the Holland Tunnel approach (the I-78 concurrency).

NJDOT officially charts the lower and upper levels as independent highways with a notation that the highway coincides with I-78. Classified as urban principal arterials, Route 139 divides at milepost 1.10. The Upper Level is independent with its own mileposts starting at 0.83 at the split. New signage has been placed at the Route 139 split, in which only the lower level is designated as westbound Route 139 to U.S. Route 1/9 and Interstate 280, and the upper level is signed towards Kennedy Boulevard and Jersey City with no Route 139 shield.

The upper level starts as milepost 0.83 with a westbound entrance onto the highway from Hoboken Avenue, an upward road from Coles Street and 18th Street in Downtown Jersey City. The first intersection is Palisade Avenue. Concord Street has an eastbound left lane exit while westbound is an intersection. It continues westbound through Jersey City's streets connecting travelers to the Heights district in the north and the Journal Square district to the south. After Summit Avenue, St. Paul's Avenue, a two way street, has an eastbound entrance to Route 139 while Bevan Street connects travelers to St. Paul's Avenue west. Its western terminus is at CR 501 (J.F. Kennedy Blvd), which connects to Bayonne and Union City.

The lower level is a short freeway under the city that takes travellers to US 1 and 9 (the Pulaski Skyway). It starts at Mile Marker 1.10 westbound continuing the 1.45 mile portion of Route 139. It is at the western terminus of the lower level that Route 139 ends and continues onward as the Pulaski Skyway with exits to northbound US 1 and 9 to Secaucus and southbound U.S. Route 1-9 Truck (connecting to Route 7 and Interstate 280).

The Route 139/I-78 concurrency is under the jurisdiction of the Port Authority. It starts on Jersey Avenue connecting travellers to Downtown Jersey City and Hoboken. It intersects with the one way Erie Street and Manila Avenue. Then it ends at Luis Muñoz Marín Boulevard signed as the "Last exit in NJ". The concurrency enters the Holland Tunnel where Route 139 ends at the NJ/NY state line and I-78 continues into New York City.

[edit] Viaducts

Two viaducts connect the upper and lower level of 139 with the concurrent section of 139 with Interstate 78. 12th Street is the east bound section of 78 and 139 and 14th Street is the westbound section. The section east of the viaducts is called Boyle Plaza.

The New Jersey Department of Transportation is undertaking a $92 million project that includes replacement of the concrete deck, retrofitting for earthquakes, repair of the substructure and superstructure, and construction of a shoulder on westbound 14th Street.^[2]

[edit] History

Route 139 was originally the business route for U.S. Route 1 and U.S. Route 9. Prior to the construction of the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, U.S. 1/9 cut through Jersey City and made its way into New York City via the Holland Tunnel, continuing north from there. Once the bridge was built, U.S. Route 1 and 9 were extended north through New Jersey on Tonnelle Avenue to Fort Lee, and the route to the Holland Tunnel became U.S. Route 1-9 Business.

In 1988, U.S. Route 1-9 Business was decommissioned as a U.S. Highway, as it did not connect back to its parent routes, and the route was renumbered Route 139. The number 139 was chosen because it was felt that the ampersand on "1&9" shields looked like a three.

Today, residents of Jersey City call this road the Divided Highway because of its two levels. The upper level replaced a surface road known as Hoboken Avenue along its eastern half. The lower level is also often referred to as the Covered Roadway. Several old maps show the upper level as Tunnel Avenue. Signage along the upper level of the highway identifies it simply as State Highway.

[edit] State Highway

Along Route 139 Upper Level, there are 3 street signs designating Route 139 simply as State Highway. The name has been used by some Jersey City Residents. Today the name is still used as the address for some of the businesses along the highway. These signs show a time capsule of State Highway's age throughout the years.

Route 139 'State Highway' at Bevan Street.

Route 139 'State Highway' at Palisade Avenue.

Route 139 'State Highway' at Central Avenue.

[edit] Future developments

Route 139 is currently undergoing a massive reconstruction effort by New Jersey to improve the accesses to the Holland Tunnel, a project expected to finish by 2010. This is due to severe deterioration of the viaduct section of this route, where the 1920s era steelwork (built to last 50 years) has rusted through completely in many of the beams supporting it.

[edit] Major intersections

[edit] Route 139 Lower Level exit list

Mile	Municipality	Destinations	Notes
0.00	Jersey City	US 1-9 Truck To NJ 7/I-280 - Jersey City/Kearny	Western Terminus
0.00		US 1-9 South - Pulaski Skyway	Western Terminus
0.30		US 1-9 North	Westbound Exit and Eastbound Entrance, to Tonnelle Circle
1.10		Kennedy Blvd - Jersey City	Unsigned NJ 139 Upper Level to CR 501. Splits into two highways.
1.20		I-78/New Jersey Turnpike To I-95	Begin NJ 139/I-78 concurrency
1.45		I-78 - 12th Street/14th Street, Jersey Avenue	Eastern Terminus, Jersey Avenue Intersection to Downtown Jersey City and Hoboken, 12th Street/14th Street to Holland Tunnel