Specifically, it is missing information about the part south of Elizabeth.

Route 1 Extension

The Route 1 Extension, which became part of Route 25 after the 1927 renumbering, is considered to be the first "super highway" in the United States.[1] It is now mostly US 1/US 9, with the northernmost section being Route 139. The highway was built to carry large amounts of traffic from the Holland Tunnel to the rest of the country.

The south end of the extension was at Edgar Road in Linden, just south of Elizabeth and the Bayway Circle . Edgar Road had been built as a shunpike in the 1800s, and now serves as part of US 1/US 9 south of the extension.

The road was built from 1927 to 1932, with all but the Pulaski Skyway finished by 1930. It was a full freeway, mostly elevated, from four blocks west of the Holland Tunnel to Newark Airport, and a high-speed surface road from there to Elizabeth (and beyond).

Planning

Chapter 253 of the 1922 New Jersey state laws extended Route 1:

Extension of Route #1, From the entrance of the vehicular tunnel under the Hudson River in Jersey City, thru the City of Jersey City and the County of Hudson, to, through and beyond the City of Newark in the County of Essex, through and beyond the City of Elizabeth in the County of Union to the point of beginning of said Route #1.

In summer 1923 the Highway Commission decided that this would be an entirely new route, from the Lincoln Highway (Route 1) southwest of Elizabeth to the Holland Tunnel. Existing roads, which passed through downtown Newark, were already experiencing major congestion. Frederick Lavis , Assistant Construction Engineer of the New Jersey State Highway Department , explained this decision:

The new highway will be the easterly end of the Lincoln Highway and will carry the greater part of the travel between New Jersey coast resorts, and Trenton, Philadelphia and points south of New York. It was to be made part of one of the main through routes from and to New York. It was stated that this route would undoubtedly be used as a main artery of transportation by trucks carrying freight from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and adjacent points to and from New York.

It was reported that the highway will assume many of the characteristics of a railway, except that the rolling stock will be autos and auto trucks. It was pointed out that in order that the maximum amount of traffic could pass, the highway would have to be free from interruption.

It was also decided that the road would have a minimum width of 50 feet, which would be enough room for five lanes (presumably with a center 'suicide lane'). At the time, it often took two or three hours to go the fifteen miles from New York City to the far border of Elizabeth, and the new highway would take off over an hour. Grades would be at most 3.5%, and curves would have radii of at least 1000 feet.

Construction

As part of the Holland Tunnel project, the Interstate Tunnel Commission widened the four blocks of 12th and 14th Streets in Jersey City from Jersey Avenue to Provost Street. 12th Street was widened to 100 feet west of Grove Street, with the remaining block, at the toll plaza, being 160 feet wide. 14th Street, and the two blocks of Jersey Avenue carrying westbound traffic to the 12th Street Viaduct , were widened to 100 feet. The Port of New York Authority later built the 14th Street Viaduct to avoid the turns to and from Jersey Street, but turned it over to the New Jersey State Highway Commission.

As part of the project, current TRUCK US 1/TRUCK US 9 was built under the Pennsylvania Railroad at Charlotte Circle and east to Tonnelle Circle. This was bypassed by the Pulaski Skyway, the last part of the route to be built; prior to its completion, traffic used what is now TRUCK US 1/TRUCK US 9.

The city of Elizabeth opposed the alignment along Spring Street, preferring the use of Division Street, but lost the case.

Later improvements

The bridge over the road on Magnolia Avenue in Elizabeth was built in 1934 as part of a widening of the road, which was already having problems with traffic. Other than that bridge, the Elizabeth River Viaduct , a railroad bridge, and the much-newer Route 81 interchange, every crossing in Elizabeth is at-grade.

The road from North Avenue in Elizabeth to the Newark Airport is now a freeway.

The Newark Viaduct was doubled in 1949, with a new four-lane northbound viaduct.

The 12th Street Viaduct was supplemented with the 14th Street Viaduct , opened on February 13, 1951.

Sources

• Vehicular Tunnels Need Broad Roads, New York Times March 15, 1925 page RE2
• Great Express Highways for New York Zone, New York Times November 21, 1926 page XX3
• Jersey Road Link Will Open July 4, New York Times June 19, 1927 page E21