New Jersey Route 26
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Route 26 |
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| Livingston Avenue Maintained by NJDOT |
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| Length: | 2.54 mi[1] (4.09 km) | ||||||||
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| Formed: | 1927 | ||||||||
| South end: |  US 1 in North Brunswick |
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| North end: |  CR 620 in New Brunswick(continues as  CR 691) |
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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. The speed limit along Route 26 ranges from 30 mph (50 km/h) to 45 mph (75 km/h).[2]
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.[3]
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[edit] Route description
| Communities[4] |
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Route 26 begins at an exit on U.S. Route 1 in North Brunswick. The road begins by going to the west, but turns and moves to the north.[1] The road crosses under Route 1 at .49 miles and accesses the Route 1 south exit. The route passes several businesses and crosses a traffic light at How Lane (CR 680), which begins on the left. The road continues, passing more businesses and crosses 14th Street and Hermann Avenue.[1] Hermann Avenue, which begins to the right, will take you to Route 171. Route 26 continues, now going through New Brunswick. At 2.54 miles, Route 26 meets up with Nassau Street in New Brunswick and ends. Livingston Avenue, which was designated Route 26, continues under the designation Middlesex County Route 691.[1] An average of 14,000 people traveled Route 26 in 1999.[1]
[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.[5]
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.[6][7]
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.[8]
[edit] Major junctions
| County | Location | Mile[1] | Roads intersected | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Middlesex | North Brunswick Township | 0.00 | U.S. Route 1 |
Southern terminus |
| 0.87 | U.S. Route 1 |
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| 1.48 |  CR 680 (How Lane) |
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| 1.89 | 14th Street, Hermann Avenue | |||
| New Brunswick | 2.54 | Nassau Street | Northern terminus |
[edit] Related routes
There were two routes related to Route 26. The first was Route 26A, a spur into New Brunswick on the west side of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Route 26A is now numbered as Route 91. The second route, 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.[9] It opened ca. 1929, and became part of U.S. Route 1 in the 1953 renumbering.[8]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f New Jersey Department of Transportation. Route 26 straight line diagram. Retrieved on 2007-04-09.
- ^ Speed Limits for Route 26
- ^ New Jersey Department of Transportation. Route 171 straight line diagram. Retrieved on 2007-06-19.
- ^ Rand McNally. Motor Carriers' Road Atlas [map], Deluxe edition. (2007) Page 66, section G10. Retrieved on 2007-06-11.
- ^ Road Conditions Reported Usual, The New York Times, May 12, 1929
- ^ 1947 Map of Middlesex County Rutgers University, accessed on June 14, 2007
- ^ 1954 Map of Middlesex County Rutgers University, accessed on June 14, 2007
- ^ a b 1953 New Jersey state highway renumbering - Wikisource
- ^ 1927 New Jersey state highway renumbering - 26 and S26
