New Jersey Roads - Middlesex CR 656

Middlesex CR 656, Smith Street


Thrown into the Spaghetti Bowl/Tangle/Jersey Cluster, it just makes 287+440+95+9+501+184+514+444 (Garden State Parkway)+656 = 3130, for even greater mathematical fun.


These are all on Crows Mill Road SB. Crows Mill Road was cut in half by the interchange, with the southern leg now an industrial dead-end, and the northern road a minor suburban arterial. To get your bearings for the next set of photos, if you go straight at the last sign you will be on Industrial Avenue WB. Click on any of them for closeups, courtesy Scott Colbert.


You can tell this area is fun. All of the signs are old with maybe two exceptions. The first three are on Industrial Avenue EB, while the last one is just after Smith Street merges in from the right. You can clearly see in the second photo that NJ 440 once was EAST, and that the original shields were not square with black borders, but cutouts placed directly on the sign. This is ANCIENT. How ancient? Look at the third and fourth photos - there is NO I-287!!! It was just 440 WEST! These signs date from 1970, when the Tangle opened. Since I-287 existed, it can only be surmised that the shields were added when 440's directionality changed... but those are some old 287 shields. Much confusion.


WB at the end of Smith Street, where going straight is still Smith Street, but ends up becoming the southern part of Crows Mill Road. Just look at a map, that's the best advice I can give you.


EB at the northern part of Crows Mill Road.


At Smith St. EB just below the great NJ tangle. The ramp from the EB side does indeed only go to NB US 9. To go SB on 9, you use an upcoming left-side U-turn to Smith St. WB, which a ramp from US 9 SB also uses to access the WB direction. At this point, US 9 straddles the Garden State Parkway, and NJ 440 just stopped being I-287 as of the New Jersey Turnpike (I-95).


East of the tangle, EB.


At that Fayette St. sign above, Smith St. splits in two, with the southern half retaining the name and the northern half retaining the lane count (two EB, two WB, divided). The northern half is the Rt. 440 Connector, even though it heads straight from Smith St. into the middle of Perth Amboy, with only one intersection at Florida Grove Rd. One can get from NJ 440 (NB) to its connector, or also from US 9 or the Parkway NB, but not from one SB road. Truly curious. This photo was taken by Scott Colbert.


Tossing in an oddball, this is on Smith St. WB at NJ 35, and there are others like it. Not everyone can afford fab body mods like these.

Onto NJ 440
Onto US 9
Onto I-287
Onto the Garden State Parkway
Onto NJ 35
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