New Jersey Roads - NJ 23 - N. of 46/80 (with US 202)


North of US 46/I-80 (with US 202)



The lowliest of US 202's multiplexes is with Alt. CR 511, and the whole thing is county maintained. As you can see, NJ 23 and US 202 multiplex for a while more, before 202 leaves at what once was a traffic circle and is now a T with a long NB 202 ramp off of the 23 mainline. Click on the photos to see the old big yellow squares around the original county shields on these signs, which I photographed years ago.


SB signage of the same interchange, where US 202 leaves NJ 23, also the beginning of the SB service road (basically a frontage road). Once again, click to see the old county shields.


Two more photos from that interchange. The first is on old NJ 23 NB, now an extension of the NB service road as it enters Mountain View. The second is one of the only shield-specific milemarkers in the state just as US 202 NB traffic merges with NJ 23, and as you can see the shield isn't much larger than the milemarker (no more than 12 inches square).


Straight right arrow off a freeway - except in this case, it really is a side street T-ing at the NB side, though there is an overpowered loop for SB 23/202. North of here, 23/202 become an expressway with business access.


SB BGS for Alps Road. This is the northernmost BGS before I-287, as NJ 23 turns into a typical NJ arterial - six lanes, business access, traffic lights, Jersey barriers, jughandles.


One from the old Newark-Pompton Turnpike, or here in Pompton Plains just Turnpike, the former alignment of NJ 23 from Wayne to Riverdale. It crosses 23 in Riverdale to get to the Paterson-Hamburg Turnpike, where NJSHR 23 turned left, and if you turn left there now you will merge into NJ 23 in West Milford on your way to Hamburg.


Newark-Pompton Tpk. carries Alt. CR 511 by the time it gets back to 23. Crossing to the east side, it then facilitates a NB-SB U-turn. I've never seen a U-turn sign without an arrow somewhere on it, and this should have one pointing left with the adjacent sign.


NB at I-287; the rest of the signs aren't either old or button copy.


SB, same deal. Each of the CR 694 signs is pointing to NB I-287; the short portion of 287 that opened before the rest of the highway probably wiped out an existing 694-23 connection (or local road serving that function). I-287 was initially planned to interchange much further south, where NJ 23 and US 202 multiplex; that part of the highway is built very wide with the potential for C-D lanes and at least until recently no development on either side. The expense of cutting through relatively more populated areas such as Pequannock and Franklin Lakes eventually moved the alignment to its present location, where the short portion mentioned above was built.


Northbound heading toward Sussex County. The Kinnelon/Butler LWS under the 511 shield really needs to be an LGS (and I'm sure it will be, now that I put this sign on my page).


Classic overpass on Canistear Rd. north from NJ 23.

SB back toward Oak Ridge.


Nonreflective sign taken facing into the sun, Clinton Rd. SB (Butler and Newark are the control cities for NJ 23 SB).


Sussex-style tunnel signage comes to a bridge for once - I'm guessing this was a very popular cutoff between NJ 23 to the south and NJ 94 to the west. These are NB and SB respectively, on the NJ 23/CR 517 duplex.

Again NB.


SB and then NB, the beginning of NJ 284 in Sussex, which was NJ 84 until the completion of I-84 in New York forced NY 84 to be renumbered. Normally, NY allows route duplication, but see, NJ-NY 84 would have interchanged with I-84, and that just doesn't quite work. By the way, 284 goes to Unionville and Middletown, which are both in New York; for the rest of New Jersey the road is 50 MPH and two lanes.


Well, which is it? Still NB.


Scratchy old large speed-limit sign on the CR 519 duplex.


Even older, because this photo was taken by Michael Summa in 1974. Good luck finding a white square in Sussex County.








Up to and then descending from High Point into Montague, and ultimately Port Jervis, NY, traces of NJ 23's old alignment can be seen through the woods, old grades still intact and clear of trees. When NJ 23 was widened from two to three lanes, adding an uphill truck/slow lane, the sharpest curves were rounded off.


Another NB view of an old alignment.


Unlike New York, which is generous in its mention of NJ 23 (with circular shields!), New Jersey doesn't sign either I-84 or Orange County 15. The latter is incidental (this is the only mention of it along the entire short route), but I-84 is a pretty important route, and most drivers who came this far north on NJ 23 are going to use it.

Into the NJ 23/US 46/I-80 interchange
Onto US 202 alone

Old NJ 23
Back to the NJ 23 main page

Onto Alt. CR 511
Onto I-287
Onto CR 511
Onto NJ 94
Onto NJ 284
Onto CR 519
Onto I-84
NJ 23 on Steve Anderson's nycroads.com
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