New Jersey State Highway 23
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New Jersey State Highway 23 is a state highway in New Jersey, United States. It runs from Bloomfield Avenue in Verona, New Jersey to the border with New York at Montague Township, New Jersey. Total length of the road is 52.63 miles (84.69 km).
At one time, NJ 23 may have extended southeastward from its current terminus down Bloomfield Avenue toward Newark, New Jersey.
History
NJ 23 uses part of two 19th-century roads, the Newark-Pompton Turnpike and the Paterson-Hamburg Turnpike. In the original system of New Jersey highways, these two roads combined to form Route 8. In 1927, the current numbering system was adopted and the road was designated NJ 23. Today, the road bypasses the intersection of the turnpikes.
Route Description
NJ 23 originates at Bloomfield Avenue, NJ 506, in Verona and heads north along Pompton Avenue through Cedar Grove on a four-lane undivided highway. The road crosses from Essex to Passaic counties at Little Falls, and then crosses the Passaic River into Wayne. Here, the road leaves the Pompton Turnpike briefly as it passes two shopping malls and enters the "Spaghetti Bowl" interchange with US 46 and I-80.
North of I-80, the road rejoins the route of the Pompton Turnpike and expands to freeway standards for a short time as it picks up US 202. Just north of Alps Road, the Pompton Turnpike again leaves NJ 23 and US 202, which continue north. After US 202 splits away, NJ 23 crosses into Pequannock, in Morris County. Here, the road is a six-lane divided highway with at-grade intersections.
At the north end of Pequannock, Pompton Turnpike rejoins NJ 23 for a brief time before it heads to an intersection with the Hamburg Turnpike in Riverdale. NJ 23 then climbs a hill past I-287 and runs through Kinnelon and Butler, where the road drops to four lanes, still divided by a Jersey barrier.
Here, NJ 23 joins the Hamburg Turnpike – or at least its northbound lanes do. The road splits as it passes two reservoirs for the Newark public water supply. The two roads come together again in West Milford. The road hugs the line between West Milford and Jefferson, during which the infamous Clinton Road leaves at a traffic light on the northbound lanes, for several miles until it crosses into Hardyston, in Sussex County, where the divided highway ends. NJ 23 is a two-lane road from here to the state line.
NJ 23 continues past Franklin, Hamburg, Sussex, and through Wantage to the edge of High Point State Park, the highest elevation on the road. It then descends through Montague to the state line. Traffic continues on Orange County Route 15 for less than one-half mile to an interchange with I-84 and an intersection with US 6 in Port Jervis.
External links
- Photos of NJ 23 in Wayne (http://www.njfreeways.com/NJNJ-23NPTBPictures.html)
- NJDOT straight line diagram of NJ 23 (http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/refdata/sldiag/00000023__-.pdf) (NJDOT) (straight line diagram)