    Paterson Plank Road | |
|---|---|
| Route information | |
| Component highways |  CR 601 fromPaterson toPassaic CR 120 fromWallington toEast Rutherford Route 120 in East Rutherford CR 681 fromSecaucus toJersey City |
| Passaic / Bergen County segment | |
| West end | Temple Street / Presidential Boulevard inPaterson |
| East end | Dead end inCarlstadt |
| Hudson County segment | |
| West end | Dead end inSecaucus |
| East end | CR 681 inJersey City |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | New Jersey |
| Highway system | |
Paterson Plank Road is a road that runs throughPassaic,Bergen andHudson Counties in northeasternNew Jersey. The route, originally laid in the colonial era, connects the city ofPaterson and theHudson River waterfront. It has largely been superseded byRoute 3, but in the many towns it passes it has remained an important local thoroughfare, and in some cases been renamed.
Portions of the road were at times called New Barbadoes Turnpike, fromNew Barbadoes Neck,[1] the name of the peninsula between the rivers it crossed, theHackensack and thePassaic. Manyplank roads in the United States were developed in the nineteenth century. These roads consisted of wooden boards laid adjacently to prevent coach and wagon wheels from getting bogged down in soft or swampy ground, thereby creating an even surface that would facilitate travel. Normally a toll was charged. This technology was applied to the Paterson Plank Road and similar roads, theHackensack Plank Road and theNewark Plank Road, which also traversed theHackensack Meadows to the cities for which they are named. TheBergen Point Plank Road travelled fromPaulus Hook to theKill Van Kull. The company which built the Paterson and New York Plank Road, as it was called, received its charter on March 14, 1851.[2] Over time it was upgraded and at one point hadstreetcar lines on its entire length operated by thePublic Service Railway as the15 Passaic, 17 Hudson, and 35 Secaucus.[3]
InPassaic County, Paterson Plank Road has become part ofCounty Route 601, traveling southeast from downtownPaterson through the city through where it is known as Main Street, and becoming Main Avenue inClifton andPassaic. The Clifton and Paterson sections of the road are never more than 2-3 blocks from the former railroad routeErie Railroad Main Line, much of the extra width of the street having been converted into vehicular parking. (The currentNew Jersey TransitMain Line is now located farther west.) This route passes high density commercial centers or the downtown of the three cities. A crossing of thePassaic River at the location was first created in thecolonial era, and was known asAcquackanonk Bridge burned during Washington's 1776 great retreat fromFort Lee. Today'sGregory Avenue Bridge was built on a slightly different alignment.[4]
After crossing intoBergen County, the road is called Paterson Avenue and designated asCounty Route 120, throughWallington, residential and light density commercial. The road becomes the border between Wallington to the north andEast Rutherford to the south. Shortly the end of Wallington is reached and Paterson Ave is then the border betweenCarlstadt and East Rutherford for a short distance but then the road dips into East Rutherford to avoid a hill (the bypass, which goes over the hill, is called Hoboken Road).
The road returns to its path along the Carlstadt-East Rutherford border atRoute 17 which it crosses over via an overpass, and is then designated asRoute 120 and Paterson Plank Road for a distance. This section of the highway is in the low-lying area known as the New Jersey Meadowlands, part of the floodplain of theHackensack River. Originally this section consisted of planks laid side-to-side to form a makeshift road to prevent carriage wheels from getting stuck in the swamp, but it has since been reclaimed.
Several new hotels, restaurants and nightclubs were built in anticipation of the increase in traffic fromAmerican Dream. The road passes to the north of theMeadowlands Sports Complex. The main road, Route 120, curves to the south to follow the eastern edge of the Sports Complex southward to NJ 3, but Paterson Plank Road continues eastward via an exit ramp. Shortly after crossing over the Western Spur of theNew Jersey Turnpike it reaches theHackensack River. The original bridge over the Hackensack River was destroyed by 1940.[5] There was a proposal to rebuild the bridge as part of an extension to theHudson–Bergen Light Rail,[6] but this was superseded by the newMeadowlands Rail Line, which traverses the Hackensack River via theBerrys Creek railroad bridge.[7]
The road picks up again inHudson County inSecaucus and designatedCounty Route 681.[8] A small riverfront park, Trolley Park is so named for the cars of theJersey City, Hoboken and Rutherford Electric Railway that passed or terminated there.[9] There is a bus park-and-ride in theNorth End. The road travels mostly southward through the residential area until it crosses over NJ 3, and then turns southeast, forming the main street of Secaucus Plaza, the town's medium density central business district. The road crosses over Route 3 again, near another park-and-ride. It crosses overU.S. Route 1/9 (Tonnelle Ave) inNorth Bergen and turns sharply southward to parallel it and is even heading south-southwest as it climbs the west sideNew Jersey Palisades toTransfer Station. It then travels southeast through Washington Park creating a border betweenUnion City andJersey City Heights.
At the edge of the cliff turning south-southwest it is joined by theWing Viaduct and descends the eastern side of the Palisades intoHoboken where it ends at Observer Highway.[10] In 2009, a study was funded for exploring the re-routing of the road near its terminus.[11] The last portion is one of the few roads that run along the face of theHudson Palisades escarpment other being theHackensack Plank Road, theWing Viaduct,Pershing Road, andBulls Ferry Road. Two streets join this part: Holland Street and Mountain Road,[12] the latter making a smaller and largerhairpin turn betweenJersey City Heights andHoboken. (Shippen Street inWeehawken makes a doublehairpin.)New Jersey Transit bus routes 82 and 85 make use of the road.[citation needed]
The entire route is inHudson County.
| Location | mi[13] | km | Destinations | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Secaucus | 0.0 | 0.0 | Dead end | Western terminus | |
| 0.6 | 0.97 |   Route 3 west –Clifton | Interchange | ||
| 1.3 | 2.1 |     I-95 south /N.J. Turnpike south | Westbound exit only; exit 16E on I-95 / Turnpike | ||
| 1.7 | 2.7 |  Route 3 toN.J. Turnpike (I-95) –Secaucus | Interchange | ||
| North Bergen | 2.2 | 3.5 |  US 1-9 / Union Turnpike | Interchange | |
| Union City | 3.7 | 6.0 |  CR 501 (Kennedy Boulevard) | ||
| 3.8 | 6.1 |  CR 617 (Summit Avenue) | |||
| Jersey City | 4.0 | 6.4 |   CR 663 south (Central Avenue) | Northern terminus of CR 663 | |
| Union City | 4.3 | 6.9 |   CR 685 north (Palisade Avenue) | Southern terminus of CR 685 | |
| 4.4 | 7.1 |  CR 683 north (South Wing Viaduct) | Southern terminus of CR 683 | ||
| Jersey City | 5.4 | 8.7 |  CR 681 east (Observer Highway) | Continuation east | |
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | |||||
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