New Jersey Route 495
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| Route 495 |
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| Maintained by NJTPA, NJDOT, PANYNJ | |||||||||
| Length: | 3.45 mi[1] (5.55 km) | ||||||||
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| Formed: | 1959 (1937 as Route 3) | ||||||||
| West end: |   I-95/NJTP in Secaucus |
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| Major junctions: |
 NJ 3 in North Bergen US 1-9 in North Bergen CR 501 in Union City |
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| East end: |  NY 495 in New York City |
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Route 495 is a 3.45-mile (5.55 km) freeway that connects the New Jersey Turnpike (Interstate 95) at exits 16E and 17 to the Lincoln Tunnel, providing access to midtown Manhattan. Until 1989, the road was Interstate 495, but the Mid-Manhattan Expressway that would have connected it to New York's Interstate 495 (Long Island Expressway) was cancelled. The road is owned and operated by the New Jersey Department of Transportation between Route 3 and Park Avenue near the Union City/Weehawken border; the road between the Turnpike and Route 3 is owned by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, and the road east of Park Avenue, including the "helix" used to get down the New Jersey Palisades, is owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
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[edit] Route description
NJ 495 officially begins at the Exit 16E offramp of the northbound lanes of the New Jersey Turnpike near the boundary of Secaucus and North Bergen. The main roadway heads east through North Bergen, where it has a complex interchange with NJ 3 about 0.8 miles later. This interchange also provides access to US 1-9. After another 0.4 miles, it has interchange with County Route 501, which uses 30th Street and 31st Street as collector/distributor roads. East of this junction, NJ 495 enters Union City where there is an exit for Weehawken and Hoboken. NJ 495 then enters Weehawken as the roadway loops around itself (0.6 miles) to reach the entrance of the Lincoln Tunnel. At the New York state line, the road continues as New York State Route 495.
Since 1971, one of the westbound lanes is converted during the morning rush hour to a contraflow bus lane, known as the "XBL". It is used by buses headed east, mainly to the Port Authority Bus Terminal just past the Lincoln Tunnel in Manhattan, serving over 60,000 bus commuters each weekday morning.[2]
[edit] History
The road was built as an approach to the Lincoln Tunnel, with the first section opening December 22, 1937 with the first (now center) tube of the tunnel. This section ran only from the tunnel portal south through the toll booths to a plaza with Park Avenue and Hudson County Boulevard East. Marginal Street, providing access from Hudson County Boulevard East west over Park Avenue to 32nd Street and the Bergen Turnpike, was also opened at that time. On June 30, 1939, the Port Authority opened the rest of the approach, up the helix and west to Route 3, and it was designated as part of Route 3.
At completion, the approach west of Park Avenue was designated a state highway.[3]
The final section opened January 15, 1952 with the completion of the New Jersey Turnpike. The interchange (exit 16) only served traffic to and from the south; exit 17 at Route 3 served traffic towards the north on the Turnpike. The interchange has since been reconfigured, but the numbers remain the same (with the renumbering of 16 to 16E when the Western Spur of the Turnpike opened). In 1959, the road was renumbered from Route 3 to Interstate 495 (even though the road is far from meeting Interstate standards), but in 1989 I-495 was decommissioned. However, the last Interstate shield was not replaced by a state route marker until 2003.
[edit] Exit list
There are no exit numbers on NJ 495.
| County | Location | Mile[1] | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hudson | Secaucus | 0.00 |   I-95 / NJTP south to I-280 / I-78 – Newark |
Westbound exit and eastbound entrance |
| North Bergen | 0.19 |   I-95 / NJTP north to US 46 / I-80 – Clifton |
Westbound exit and eastbound entrance | |
| 0.78 | US 1-9 / NJ 3 east – Park & Ride |
Eastbound exit and westbound entrance | ||
| 0.78 |  NJ 3 west to GSP – Secaucus |
Westbound exit and eastbound entrance | ||
| 0.90 | US 1-9 – Ridgefield, Jersey City |
Westbound exit and eastbound entrance | ||
| Union City | 1.23 | CR 501 (John F. Kennedy Boulevard) |
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| 2.08 | Park Avenue – Union City, Weehawken, Hoboken | |||
| Weehawken | 2.23 | Kennedy Boulevard East – Weehawken | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance | |
| 2.50 | Hoboken | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance (Last Exit in N.J.) | ||
| 2.60 | Lincoln Tunnel toll plaza (eastbound only, $8.00 for 2-axle passenger vehicles during these times: Weekdays 6:00-9:00 a.m., 4:00-7:00 p.m., Sat. & Sun. 12:00 Noon-8:00 p.m. $6.00 all other times using E-Z Pass) | |||
| 3.45 | New York state line. Continues as New York State Route 495 into New York City. |
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[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b NJ 495 straight line diagram (PDF)
- ^ Cichowski, John. "PA brainstorms for ideas to speed bus trips to N.Y.C.", The Record (Bergen County), March 20, 2005. Accessed October 25, 2007. "XBL stands for exclusive bus lane, meaning it's dedicated only for Manhattan-bound buses from 6:15 to 10 a.m. Since 1971, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has been reversing one of its three Jersey-bound lanes during this period, a stroke of ingenuity that gets XBL commuters to the city 15 to 20 minutes faster than those using other lanes. XBL runs from the New Jersey Turnpike and Route 3 to Route 495 directly to one of the tunnel's two middle lanes."
- ^ HEALTH AND VITAL STATISTICS
[edit] External links
- Governors to Open New Tunnel Today, The New York Times December 21, 1937 (includes map of the tunnel approach)
- Approach to Open for Lincoln Tube, The New York Times June 30, 1939 (includes map)
- Kalman Seigel, Jersey Pike Opens Final 9-Mile Link, The New York Times January 16, 1952
- Armand Schwab Jr., City Linked to Super-Highway, The New York Times January 20, 1952 (includes map of the interchange)
- Kurumi - I-495 New York
- nycroads.com - NJ 495 Freeway
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