East of I-78 multiplex

WB at the beginning of the multiplex, where I-78 Exit 18 joins the roadway briefly to share the Annandale exit (Beaver Road).


If you take the US 22 East exit from I-78, only at the bottom of the grade do you find out that you can make a U-turn to either get into Annandale from heading eastbound, or end up heading westbound from exiting Annandale. And there's a state-name shield, too! US 22 East is straight ahead.


Heading west across the 1942 Raritan River bridge, built with dual spans for NJSHR 28 as part of the upgrade that is now US 22. This style of bridge with inlaid tiles mirrors an earlier one just to the south on US 202.


NJ 28 begins here and heads east on Easton Tpk., so this is an error. 28 used to continue west through North Branch to the west-side US 22 merge, so this error is based in history.


Old sign EB at the US 202/206 concurrency.

Bridge St. SB, former US 202/206.


Finally, here's US 22 WB under Grove St., over Mountain Ave., and at the US 202/206 interchange, featuring an arched pedestrian bridge over the WB-NB ramp. There's just something off about that sign. Maybe it's the Series D. The last photo's State Highway Route is "28-29", the link that completed the modern US 22 from NJSHR 28 in the west to NJSHR 29 (which followed US 202 south of here).


The EB Grove St. underpass, much the same as WB.


Heading east from there, I vastly prefer the assembly-on-a-sign in the first photo to the NJ shield errors in the other photos. Hey, there's even a state-name Interstate shield there! The second of the four NJ 22 photos shows how inane the whole detour is. Right there is a jughandle which makes a U-turn easy, but inexplicably traffic is signed to continue straight! I understand if the Thompson Ave. detour needs to use CR 527 for the U-turn, but any other traffic looking to head west instead of east should not face conflicting messages from signs and reality. Reality needs to win.


Original NJSHR 29 county line sign still stands. Figure out where the county line is, you'll find this on the EB side of US 22. Click either photo for a cast-iron closeup.


From the Land of U-Turns, west of the Garden State Parkway (GSP) on WB 22, where the median widens for a couple of miles. There are so many ramps snaking their way between parking lots for strip clubs, they have to be lettered.


Old street sign on US 22 EB in Union County.


Stuyvesant Avenue SB in Union (carrying NJ 82 EB traffic to the Garden State Parkway SB), which alerts you to be SLOW, because there's a SIDE ROAD AHEAD. I'm sure this "sign" dates from the construction of US 22 as an expressway through the area (it's now a Jersey freeway from here on east). It's very reminiscent of the former overpass along RI 403 that carried US 1.


The WB progression of signs at the GSP and NJ 82. US 22 WB runs along the GSP SB for a short distance, and EB follows NB. Slip ramps between those two highways and scattered ramps to and from NJ 82 squeeze in where possible; U-turn ramps (from WB, you take EB 82 to EB 22, and from EB, it's signed as WB 82 and SB GSP) complete the movements. From the GSP, some movements are made on local roads, such as NB GSP-WB 82.


Signage from the EB side through this area, but only the middle (little) sign is left now. You can't really be sure of what's going on; signage is great for getting you to the right route, but terrible at telling you what route you're actually on - NJDOT hadn't heard of the word TO at the time, apparently (as an extreme example, the last photo is for a U-turn to US 22 EB). Note in the first picture that the GSP shield on the left is new, while the one on the right is original and fading, yet strangely more legible. Old shields were also round, but there were square ones made for BGS's, while NJ doesn't make the squares anymore. Good for them.


Ingersoll Terr. is a dead-end street but it's mainly known as the ramp terminus from US 22 WB to NJ 82 EB. Boyd St. is a glorified driveway right where the ramp hits Ingersoll.


On US 22 EB just before the brief freeway through Newark. I snapped this one out the window, over my shoulder, without looking, heading the opposite direction. Even though I got a slightly better one actually heading EB, I prefer this shot.


Just west of Weequahic Park is this parking lot overpass with nothing on the south end (you're facing EB and WB, respectively) to connect to. According to the Straight Line Diagrams (thanks to Bill Mitchell for looking this up), this is a railroad bridge, and then Charles Lamb has told me that this is a remnant of the Union Line streetcar route from Newark to Somerville. Dan Moraseski says the bridge is from where the trolley left Broad Street (to the west) to cross the railroad tracks that parallel US 22. Anyone else want to chime in? By now, there is no trace of other embankment or connection anywhere else.


Again EB and WB (x2), the southern entrance to Weequahic Park is underneath an active but equally old railroad trestle, which itself is beneath the entrance to the park, which is at street level. Is it any wonder US 22 floods in this area?


They spelled it right! Frelinghuysen is NJ 27 right now, but you wouldn't know it; the sign atop this page is EB at the same exit, and there's only one LGS before it mentioning the exit as Frelinghuysen. It ends fairly silently at NJ 21 just to the north, and good signage doesn't really start until you get into Elizabeth to the south. Note that this new sign has no black square behind the shield. If one part of NJ signage is going to fall by the wayside, I'd pick the bland circular state route signage, but black squares behind shields would be a close second. (Lack of button copy is my third gripe, but I can only ask for so much.)


Old shield EB at the gore to the NJ 27 exit (barely signed at all, and certainly no NJ 27 shields in this direction).


EB approaching the end of US 22, with new signage a result of the new NJ 21 viaduct, but the contractor forgot two things: the ampersand should be the same size as the numerals "1" and "9", and the sign should be reflective.

West on US 22/I-78 WB
West on US 22/I-78 EB
Skip I-78 to western US 22
Back to US 22 main page

Onto NJ 31
Onto US 202/206
Onto I-287
Onto CR 527
Onto the Garden State Parkway
Onto NJ 82
Onto Frelinghuysen Ave., NJ 27
Eastward onto US 1-9
East/northward onto NJ 21
Back to NJ Roads
Back to Roads