County Route 501 (New Jersey)

County Route 501 marker

County Route 501

CR 501 highlighted in red

Route information

Length:

40.24 mi^[1] (64.76 km)

Southern section

Length:

10.12 mi^[1] (16.29 km)

West end:

CR 529 in South Plainfield

Major
junctions:

I‑287 in Edison

Route 27 in Metuchen

US 1 in Edison

G.S. Parkway / US 9 in Woodbridge

East end:

Route 440/NY 440 in Perth Amboy

Northern section

Length:

30.12 mi^[1] (48.47 km)

South end:

Route 440/NY 440 in Bayonne

Major
junctions:

Route 139 in Jersey City

Route 495 in Union City

US 1-9 / US 46 in Palisades Park

Route 4 in Englewood

North end:

NY 340 in Rockleigh

Location

Counties:

Middlesex, Hudson, Bergen

Highway system

County routes in New Jersey

500-series

←

CR 585

CR 502

→

County Route 501, abbreviated CR 501, is a county highway in New Jersey in two segments spanning Middlesex, Hudson and Bergen Counties. The southern section runs from South Plainfield to Perth Amboy, the northern section runs from Bayonne to Rockleigh, and the two sections are connected by New York State Route 440 across Staten Island.

The New Jersey Department of Transportation lists CR 501 as a single highway with a length of 53.07 miles (85.41 km), which includes both road sections as well as the connection along NY 440.

Route description

Middlesex County

County Route 501 is signed east-west in Middlesex County. The western (southern) terminus of County Route 501 is at CR 529 in South Plainfield. From there, the route heads east to Metuchen, where it has a short concurrency with Route 27. It then continues east, crossing the Garden State Parkway between Exits 127 and 129 in Woodbridge, following concurrencies with Route 184 and Route 440 to the southern section's eastern terminus at the Outerbridge Crossing.

Hudson County (John F. Kennedy Boulevard)

The northern section of CR 501 starts at the Route 440/Bayonne Bridge junction in Bayonne, making its way north to Route 63 in North Bergen. The highway crosses Route 139 to the Holland Tunnel and Route 495 to the Lincoln Tunnel.

At its junction with Route 63 in North Bergen, CR 501 begins a concurrency with Route 63 into Bergen County, while John F. Kennedy Boulevard loops around the northern end and heads south to Guttenberg, West New York and Weehawken.

Hudson County Boulevard Bridge

Major points on CR 501/Kennedy Boulevard include Marist High School, New Jersey City University, Saint Peter's University, Journal Square, Union City High School, and four County parks: Stephen R. Gregg (Bayonne) Park and Mercer Park in Bayonne, Lincoln Park in Jersey City and James J. Braddock (North Hudson) Park in North Bergen.

Immediately northeast of Journal Square, CR 501/Kennedy Boulevard crosses over Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) railroad tracks on an open-spandrel concrete arch bridge completed in 1926. The bridge is a pared-down version of a more ambitious elevated plaza scheme proposed by consulting engineer Abraham Burton Cohen. Cohen's office constructed a model using slot cars to demonstrate traffic flow through the plaza.^[2]

Prior to being renamed in honor of John F. Kennedy in the 1960s, the street was known as Hudson Boulevard. While there was discussion of building a county long road as early as the 1870s,^[3] parts of Hudson County Boulevard were officially opened in 1896.^[4]^[5]^[6] By 1913 it was completed, and considered to be fine for "motoring",^[7] and included Boulevard East. Taken as a single road, the circuitous route of west and east sections of the entire boulevard runs from the southern tip of the county at Bergen Point to its northern border with Bergen County and south again to the Hoboken city line.^[8]

The Boulevard was named the fifth most dangerous road for pedestrians in New Jersey, and the most dangerous road in Hudson County for pedestrians in a February 2011 report by the non-profit Tri-State Transportation Campaign. The road was the location of six pedestrian fatalities between 2007 and 2009, which account for a little more than a fifth of Hudson County's 29 pedestrian deaths in the three-year period.^[9] County officials had expressed interest in building a pedestrian bridge that crosses Kennedy Boulevard at 32nd Street, at the Union City-North Bergen border at least since 2001.^[10] The two cities contracted a company to build the bridge for just over $4 million in November 2010.^[11] Construction plans began in May 2011, and field work began later that August.^[12]

County Route 501 in Palisades Park, New Jersey as Central Boulevard

In 2013 Kennedy Boulevard was one of two main thoroughfares in Hudson County (the other being Route 1 & 9) that were listed among the Tri-State Transportation Campaign's list of the top ten most dangerous roads for pedestrians in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. The Boulevard, which ranked #6 on the list, was cited for the six pedestrian fatalities that occurred on it from 2009 to 2011.^[13]

Bergen County

In Bergen County, CR 501 leaves its concurrency with Route 63 in Palisades Park, using Central Boluevard to connect to the US 1/9/46 concurrency and Route 93. It is then concurrent with Route 93 until it reaches that route's northern terminus at Route 4 in Englewood. CR 501 continues north from this junction through Rockleigh, crossing the New York State Line and becoming New York State Route 340.

Major intersections

County	Location	mi^[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Middlesex	South Plainfield	0.00	0.00	CR 529 (Stelton Road)	Southern terminus
	Edison	2.03	3.27	I‑287 north	Exit 3 on I-287
	Metuchen	3.36	5.41	Route 27 north (Middlesex Avenue) – Rahway	West end of NJ 27 overlap
		3.61	5.81	Route 27 south (Lake Avenue) – Highland Park	East end of NJ 27 overlap
		3.81	6.13	CR 531 (Main Street)
	Edison	4.68	7.53	US 1 – Newark, New Brunswick	Interchange
	Edison	5.70	9.17	CR 514 (Woodbridge Avenue) to N.J. Turnpike
	Woodbridge Township	6.99	11.25	Route 184 begins	West end of NJ 184 overlap
		7.10	11.43	G.S. Parkway north / N.J. Turnpike	Exit 129 on the GSP
		7.33	11.80	US 9 – Rahway, South Amboy	Interchange
	Perth Amboy	8.22	13.23	Route 184 east to Route 35 – Business District Route 440 south to US 9 / G.S. Parkway south / N.J. Turnpike	Interchange, east end of NJ 184 overlap, west end of NJ 440 overlap
		8.38	13.49	Route 35	Interchange
		8.65	13.92	CR 653 (Amboy Avenue) to Route 440 north	Northbound exit is via NJ 35 exit
		9.23	14.85	CR 611 (State Street) – Perth Amboy	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
Arthur Kill		10.12	16.29	Outerbridge Crossing
Richmond	Staten Island	10.12	16.29	NY 440 north – Staten Island	New York border
Gap in route
Richmond	Staten Island	22.95	36.93	NY 440 south – Staten Island	New York border
Kill van Kull		22.95	36.93	Bayonne Bridge
Hudson	Bayonne	23.71	38.16	Avenue A	Southbound exit and entrance
		23.73	38.19	Route 440 north to N.J. Turnpike – Jersey City	Interchange, north end of NJ 440 overlap
		27.12	43.65	Route 440	Interchange, access via West 63rd Street
	Jersey City	31.15	50.13	Route 139 (State Highway) – Holland Tunnel, Lincoln Tunnel	Western terminus of NJ 139 upper level
	North Bergen	34.03	54.77	Route 495 to N.J. Turnpike – Lincoln Tunnel	Interchange
	Union City	34.35– 34.39	55.28– 55.35	CR 505 north (37th Street/38th Street)
	North Bergen	37.21	59.88	Route 63 begins	South end of NJ 63 overlap
Bergen	Fort Lee	39.13	62.97	Route 5 – Ridgefield, Edgewater	Access provided by way of Bergen Boulevard
	Palisades Park	39.62	63.76	Route 63 north – George Washington Bridge	North end of NJ 63 overlap
		39.90	64.21	US 1-9 / US 46	Interchange, access provided by 5th Street/6th Street
		40.52	65.21	Route 93 south – Ridgefield, Fairview	South end of NJ 93 overlap
	Englewood	42.78	68.85	Route 4 – New York City	Interchange
		42.86	68.98	Route 93 ends / Van Nostrand Avenue	Northern terminus of NJ 93
		43.86	70.59	CR 505 (Palisades Avenue) – Teaneck, Bergenfield
	Closter	49.61	79.84	CR 502 (Old Closter Dock Road) to US 9W / Palisades Parkway – Westwood, Alpine
	Rockleigh	53.07	85.41	NY 340 north	New York border, northern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi