New Jersey Route 4 - History

History

Route 4 was originally legislated in the 1927 New Jersey state highway renumbering to run from Cape May north to the George Washington Bridge, running through Pleasantville, Toms River, Freehold, Perth Amboy, Rahway, and Paterson. The route replaced portions of the alignments of several pre-1927 state highways including pre-1927 Route 14 between Cape May and Seaville, pre-1927 Route 19 between Seaville and Absecon, pre-1927 Route 4 between Absecon and Lakewood and between South Amboy and Rahway, a spur of pre-1927 Route 7 between Lakewood and Freehold. The rest of the proposed route was to be built on a new alignment. Of the pre-1927 state highways that Route 4 was to follow, pre-1927 Route 14 was originally legislated in 1917, pre-1927 Route 19 was legislated in 1923 but never built, pre-1927 Route 4 was created in 1916, and the spur of pre-1927 Route 7 was created in 1925. U.S. Route 9 was also designated along Route 4 between Absecon and Lakewood and from South Amboy to Rahway. By the 1940s, U.S. Route 9 was realigned to follow Route 4 between Lakewood and South Amboy, having followed portions of today’s Route 88, Route 35, and Route 71 and was extended south along Route 4 to Cape May. The section of present-day Route 4 was built between 1930 and 1934 to connect Paterson and the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee. There were plans made in 1936 to make this portion of Route 4 a limited-access road; however, World War II delayed plans for the expressway.

Route 4 had several former spur routes that existed prior to the 1953 New Jersey state highway renumbering. Route 4N was designated in 1939 from the portion of pre-1927 Route 4 between Brielle and Eatontown; it is now Route 71. Route S4 was defined in 1927 to run to the Outerbridge Crossing in Perth Amboy from present-day Route 35; it was eventually extended to the Garden State Parkway and this route is now Routes 440 and 184. Route S4A was planned in 1927 to run from Atlantic City across swamps to Tuckerton; only a small portion of this route was built and it is now Route 87. Route S4B was planned in 1929 to run Route 4 near Paterson northwest to the New York border, replacing a portion of what was legislated as Route 3 in 1927. The portion of this route that was built between Fair Lawn and Oakland is now Route 208. Route S4D was a never built spur in Teaneck proposed in 1938; the proposal was renumbered Route 303. Route 4A was created by the 1940s following a realignment of Route 4 (and U.S. Route 9) between Freehold and Cheesequake; it became Route 79 and a portion of Route 34 in 1953. Route 4 Parkway was planned in 1946 as a north–south parkway running from Cape May north to Route 6 (now U.S. Route 46) in Clifton, bridging the gap that existed along Route 4 between Rahway and Paterson; this proposal became Route 444 (Garden State Parkway). Route S4C was a planned route running from Route 4 in Bennett south to Cape May; the general alignment of this route is now Route 162 and Cape May County Route 626.

In the 1953 renumbering, Route 4 was defined to run along its current alignment between Route 20 in Paterson and the George Washington Bridge. Between Cape May and South Amboy, the Route 4 designation was dropped in favor of U.S. Route 9 while the portion of the route between South Amboy and Rahway became a part of Route 35. In the mid-1950s, plans resumed for an east–west limited-access road through Bergen County. Three alignments were proposed in 1956: one along Route 4, one along U.S. Route 46, and one in between the two routes. The alignment between the two routes was chosen due to the least disruption it would cause and it was built as Interstate 80. In the 1960s, recommendations were made to upgrade Route 4 to a full freeway but was cancelled due to feared disruption to residents.

Many improvements have been made to the existing Route 4 arterial. The Route 17 interchange in Paramus was rebuilt at a cost of $120 million in 1999, replacing the 1932 cloverleaf interchange by adding several flyover ramps. In 2002, construction was completed on a $32 million project that improved the interchange with Route 208 in Fair Lawn. This interchange saw improvements of the ramps and bridges, including the Route 208 bridge over Saddle River Road.