New Jersey Route 23 - History

History

Route 23 uses part of two 19th-century roads, the Newark-Pompton Turnpike, which was built between 1806 and 1811, and the Paterson-Hamburg Turnpike, which was incorporated in 1806. Due to realignments, the current alignment of Route 23 bypasses the intersection of these two turnpikes. In the original system of New Jersey highways, the Newark-Pompton Turnpike and Paterson-Hamburg Turnpike were combined to form pre-1927 Route 8, which ran from Montclair to the New York border near Unionville, New York, running along the alignment of current Route 23 north to Sussex and following present-day Route 284 north of Sussex. In the 1927 New Jersey State Highway renumbering, Route 23 was designated to run from Route 9 (now County Route 506) in Verona north to the New York border near Port Jervis, replacing pre-1927 Route 8 from Verona to Sussex.

In the 1955 plan for the Interstate Highway System, an Interstate Highway was planned along the Route 23 corridor between Interstate 80 in Wayne and Interstate 287 in Pompton Plains, also connecting to a proposed Interstate along the Route 3 corridor. However, this proposed Interstate was never built. Plans were made in the early 1960s for a Route 23 freeway running from Interstate 80 north to Interstate 84 in Port Jervis, New York, providing improved freeway access to northwestern New Jersey. This proposed freeway, which was to cost $120 million, was cancelled in the early 1970s due to financial troubles and feared environmental issues. A 1966 proposal called for Route 23 to be extended south as a freeway to Interstate 287 in Piscataway in Middlesex County, running parallel to the Garden State Parkway. This $300 million freeway was added to planning maps in 1969 as Route 807 but was also cancelled in the early 1970s.

In the late 1970s, the New Jersey Department of Transportation made plans to rebuild the section of Route 23, at the time a four-lane undivided road, between Interstate 80 and Interstate 287 to a six-lane freeway between Interstate 80 and Alps Road and a six-lane surface road north of Alps Road. Construction on these improvements began in 1983 and were completed in 1986. With these improvements to the route, many traffic circles were removed, including one at U.S. Route 46 that was replaced with a complex interchange. In 2008, the "Spaghetti Bowl" interchange with Interstate 80 and U.S. Route 46 was improved, costing $70 million.

In 2010, the New Jersey Department of Transportation began plans to move Route 23 to a new alignment through Sussex. With this project, the current bridge over the Papakating Creek is to be replaced and a new road for the southbound lanes is planned to be built, while the current Route 23 will become northbound only. The project is planned to last from July 2012 to November 2014.