County Route 501 (New Jersey)#Hudson County (John F. Kennedy Blvd.)

File:2018-05-20 12 39 34 View east along Middlesex County Route 501 (New Durham Road) at Middlesex County Route 529 (Stelton Road) on the border of Piscataway Township and South Plainfield in Middlesex County, New Jersey.jpg

CR 501 is signed east-west in Middlesex County. The western (southern) terminus of CR 501 is at the intersection of Stelton Road (CR 529) in South Plainfield. From there, the route heads east to Metuchen, where it has a short concurrency with Route 27. It then continues east, crossing the Garden State Parkway between Exits 127 and 129 in Woodbridge, following concurrencies with Route 184 and Route 440 to the southern section's eastern terminus at the Outerbridge Crossing.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

The northern section of CR 501 begins in Hudson County, New Jersey and is known as Kennedy Boulevard. It starts at the intersection of Route 440/Bayonne Bridge in Bayonne, making its way north to Route 63 in North Bergen. The highway crosses over Route 139 to the Holland Tunnel and Route 495 to the Lincoln Tunnel.

At its intersection of Route 63 in North Bergen, CR 501 begins a concurrency with Route 63 into Bergen County, while Kennedy Boulevard loops around the northern end of the county and heads south through Guttenberg, West New York and Weehawken, where it is known as Boulevard East.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

File:2021-09-19 12 32 52 View north along Hudson County Route 501 (Kennedy Boulevard) from the overpass for the rail line between New Jersey State Route 440 and West 63rd Street in Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey.jpg

Major points on Kennedy Boulevard include Marist High School, New Jersey City University, Saint Dominic Academy, Saint Peter's University, Journal Square, Union City High School, North Bergen High School, and four Hudson County parks: Stephen R. Gregg (Bayonne) Park and Mercer Park in Bayonne, Lincoln Park in Jersey City and James J. Braddock (North Hudson) Park in North Bergen.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

Immediately northeast of Journal Square, CR 501 crosses over PATH railroad tracks on an open-spandrel concrete arch bridge completed in 1926. The bridge is a pared-down version of a more ambitious elevated plaza scheme proposed by consulting engineer Abraham Burton Cohen. Cohen's office constructed a model using slot cars to demonstrate traffic flow through the plaza.Cohen, A. Burton. "Hudson County Boulevard Bridge Plaza." Purdue Engineering Review 21, No. 4 (May 1926): 3-6, 22.

The boulevard continues north through Jersey City Heights, passing Dr. Leonard J. Gordon Park. In the area once known as Transfer Station, it enters North Hudson.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

File:2018-07-22 13 35 12 View north along Bergen County Route 501 (Central Boulevard) at 5th Street in Palisades Park, Bergen County, New Jersey.jpg

In Bergen County, CR 501 leaves its concurrency with Route 63 in Palisades Park, using Central Boulevard to connect to the concurrency with US 1/9/46 and Route 93. It is then concurrent with Route 93 until it reaches that route's northern terminus at the interchange with Route 4 in Englewood. CR 501 continues north from this interchange through Rockleigh, crossing the New York State Line and becoming NY 340.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

In 1808, the Perth Amboy Turnpike was legislated to run from Perth Amboy to Bound Brook. The company struggled to complete their road, having petitioned in 1820 to the state legislature to extend the time to complete the road. They were unsuccessful, as the road was only completed as far as Piscataway.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

File:2020-10-11 16 55 18 View south along Hudson County Route 501 (John F. Kennedy Boulevard) at the exit for Bergen Avenue in Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey.jpg

Prior to being renamed in honor of John F. Kennedy in the 1960s, Kennedy Boulevard was known as Hudson Boulevard. While there was discussion of building a county long road as early as the 1870s,{{Cite news|date=August 12, 1873|title=The Hudson Boulevard: The Old and New Commissions—The Opposition, The Proposed Route|page=8|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1873/08/12/archives/the-hudson-boulevard-the-old-and-new-commissionsthe-opposition-the.html|access-date=March 29, 2010}} parts of Hudson County Boulevard were officially opened in 1896.{{Cite news|date=August 30, 1896|title=Jersey City's Bicycle Parade: It Was Held Yesterday on the Hudson Boulevard and Was a Big Thing|page=6|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1896/08/30/archives/jersey-citys-bicycle-parade-it-was-held-yesterday-on-the-hudson.html|access-date=March 26, 2010}}{{Cite news|date=November 29, 1895|title=Opening the Boulevard: Wheelmen Parade Along Hudson County's New Driveway|page=10|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1895/11/29/archives/opening-the-boulevard-wheelmen-parade-along-hudson-countys-new.html|access-date=2010-07-02}} By 1913 it was completed, and considered to be fine for "motoring",{{Cite news|date=March 23, 1913|title=Short Runs Near Town Pleasant Now|at=Part Nine, p. 9|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1913/03/23/archives/short-runs-near-town-pleasant-now-one-of-fifty-miles-describes.html|access-date=2016-06-20}} and included the road's eastern section, Boulevard East, into which Kennedy Boulevard forks at 91st Street.{{citation needed|date=November 2017}} (The fork that continues north merges with Bergen Boulevard.Hannigton, Dia (November 12, 2017). "Hit-and-run deaths on Kennedy Blvd. spur action", The Union City Reporter. pp 1 and 6.) Taken as a single road, the circuitous route of west and east sections of the entire boulevard runs from the southern tip of the county at Bergen Point to its northern border with Bergen County and south again to the Hoboken city line.{{Cite news|date=November 11, 1895|title=Preserve the Palisades: Cyclists to work for this purpose and the Hudson County Boulevard|page=8|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1895/11/11/archives/preserve-the-palisades-cyclists-to-work-for-this-purpose-and-the.html|access-date=2010-12-06}}

The Boulevard was named the fifth most dangerous road for pedestrians in New Jersey, and the most dangerous road in Hudson County for pedestrians in a February 2011 report by the non-profit Tri-State Transportation Campaign. The road was the location of six pedestrian fatalities between 2007 and 2009, which account for a little more than a fifth of Hudson County's 29 pedestrian deaths in the three-year period.[http://www.hudsonreporter.com/view/full_stories_home/12436597/article--Kennedy-Boulevard-named-fifth-most-dangerous-road-in-New-Jersey-for-pedestrians---?instance=up_to_the_minute_lead_story_left_column "Kennedy Boulevard named fifth most dangerous road in New Jersey for pedestrians"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303202714/http://www.hudsonreporter.com/view/full_stories_home/12436597/article--Kennedy-Boulevard-named-fifth-most-dangerous-road-in-New-Jersey-for-pedestrians---?instance=up_to_the_minute_lead_story_left_column|date=2016-03-03}}. The Hudson Reporter. March 21, 2011 In November 2017 county officials launched a safety campaign for Kennedy Boulevard's five most dangerous intersections, based on accident data:

• 25th Street in Bayonne
• Lexington Avenue in Jersey City
• 36th Street in Union City
• 51st Street in West New York
• 91st Street in North Bergen

County officials had expressed interest in building a pedestrian bridge that crosses Kennedy Boulevard at 32nd Street, at the Union City-North Bergen border since at least.Hague, Jim (August 19, 2011). [http://www.hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/2373671/article-Pedestrian-bridge-set-for-North-Bergen-Union-City--County-officials-receive-grant-that-will-check-feasibility-of-overpass "Pedestrian bridge set for North Bergen-Union City? County officials receive grant that will check feasibility of overpass"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303201223/http://www.hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/2373671/article-Pedestrian-bridge-set-for-North-Bergen-Union-City--County-officials-receive-grant-that-will-check-feasibility-of-overpass|date=2016-03-03}}. The Hudson Reporter. The two cities contracted a company to build the bridge for just over $4 million in November 2010.[https://web.archive.org/web/20110927031145/http://www.hudsoncountynj.org/Data/Sites/1/11-22-2010_caucus.pdf "BOARD OF CHOSEN FREEHOLDERS COUNTY OF HUDSON: CAUCUS AGENDA"]. HudsonCountyNJ.com. November 22, 2010. Construction plans began in May 2011, and field work began later that August.Pope, Gennarose (March 25, 2012). "Bridge of troubled Kennedy Boulevard". The Union City Reporter. pp. 1 and 12.

{{jcttop|length_ref=}}

{{NJint

|county=Middlesex

|cspan=18

|location=South Plainfield

|mile=0.0

|road={{jct|state=NJ|CR|529|name1=Stelton Rd}}

|notes= Western terminus}}

{{NJint

|location=Edison

|mile=2.0

|type=

|road={{jct|state=NJ|I|287|dir1=north}}

|notes=Exit 3 (I-287)}}

{{NJint

|location=Metuchen

|lspan=3

|mile=3.3

|type=concur

|road={{jct|state=NJ|NJ|27|dir1=north|name1=Middlesex Ave|city1=Rahway}}

|notes=Western end of the concurrency with Route 27}}

{{NJint

|mile=3.6

|type=concur

|road={{jct|state=NJ|NJ|27|dir1=south|name1=Lake Ave|to2=to|I-Toll|95|NJTP2||city1=Highland Park}}

|notes=Eastern end of the concurrency with Route 27}}

{{NJint

|mile=3.8

|road={{jct|state=NJ|CR|531|name1=Main St}}

|notes=}}

{{NJint

|location=Edison

|lspan=3

|mile=4.6

|road={{jct|state=NJ|US|1|city1=Newark|city2=New Brunswick|I-Toll|95|NJTP2||to2=yes}}

|notes=Interchange}}

{{NJint

|mile=5.7

|road={{jct|state=NJ|CR|514|name1=Woodbridge Ave|to2=to|I-Toll|95|NJTP2}}

|notes=}}

{{NJint

|mile=6.2

|road={{jct|state=NJ|CR|616|county1=Middlesex|dir1=east|name1=New Brunswick Ave}}

|notes=Western terminus of CR 616}}

{{NJint

|location=Woodbridge Township

|lspan=3

|mile=6.9

|type=concur

|place={{jct|state=NJ|NJ|184|dir1=begins}}

}}

{{NJint

|mile=7.1

|road={{jct|state=NJ|to1=yes|I-Toll|95|NJTP2||GSP||dir3=north}}

|notes=Partial cloverleaf interchange}}

{{NJint

|mile=7.3

|road={{jct|state=NJ|US|9|city1=Rahway|city2=South Amboy}}

|notes=Partial cloverleaf interchange}}

{{NJint

|location=Perth Amboy

|lspan=7

|mile=7.7

|road={{jct|state=NJ|CR|655|county1=Middlesex|name1=Florida Grove Rd}}

|notes=}}

{{NJint

|mile=8.2

|mspan=3

|type=concur

|road={{jct|state=NJ|NJ|35}}

|notes=Eastern terminus of Route 184}}

{{NJint

|mile=none

|place=Western end of the freeway section}}

{{NJint

|mile=none

|type=concur

|road={{jct|state=NJ|NJ|440|dir1=south|to2=to|I-Toll|95|NJTP2||GSP2||US|9|dir4=south|dir5=south}}

|notes=Western end of the concurrency with Route 440}}

{{NJint

|mile=8.3

|type=incomplete

|road={{jct|state=NJ|NJ|35|dir1=south}}

|notes=Westbound exit only}}

{{NJint

|mile=8.6

|type=incomplete

|road={{jct|state=NJ|road|Amboy Ave}}

|notes=Eastbound exit is via Route 440 exit; access via CR 653}}

{{NJint

|mile=9.2

|road={{jct|state=NJ|road|State St|road|High St|city1=Perth Amboy}}

|notes=Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; access via CR 611; last eastbound exit before toll}}

{{jctbridge

|river=Arthur Kill

|lspan=2

|mile=10.1

|mspan=2

|type=etc

|bridge=Outerbridge Crossing (eastbound toll on Staten Island)}}

{{NJint

|mile=none

|road={{jct|state=NY|NY|440|dir1=north|location1=Staten Island}}

|type=concur

|notes=Continuation into New York

{{jctgap|col=6|text=Connection made via NY 440 ({{convert|12.7|mi|2|disp=or|abbr=on}})}}

{{jctint

|river=Kill van Kull

|lspan=2

|mile=22.85

|mspan=2

|road={{jct|state=NY|NY|440|dir1=south|city1=Staten Island}}
{{jct|state=NJ|NJ|440|dir1=begins}}

|type=concur

|notes=Continuation into New York; southern terminus of Route 440}}

{{jctbridge

|mile=none

|type=etc

|bridge=Bayonne Bridge (southbound toll on Staten Island)}}

{{NJint

|county=Hudson

|cspan=10

|location=Bayonne

|lspan=4

|type=incomplete

|mile=23.7

|road=Avenue A

|notes=Southbound exit and entrance; last southbound exit before toll}}

{{NJint

|mile=23.7

|mspan=2

|type=concur

|road={{jct|state=NJ|NJ|440|dir1=north|to2=yes|I-Toll|78|NBEX2||city1=Jersey City}}

|notes=Northern end of the concurrency with Route 440}}

{{NJint

|mile=none

|place=Northern end of the freeway section}}

{{NJint

|mile=27.1

|road={{jct|state=NJ|to1=yes|NJ|440}}

|notes=Access via West 63rd Street}}

{{NJint

|location=Jersey City

|lspan=3

|mile=29.3

|road={{jct|state=NJ|CR|612|county1=Hudson|name1=Communipaw Ave}}

|notes=}}

{{NJint

|mile=31.1

|type=

|road={{jct|state=NJ|US|1-9|name1=Tonnele Circle}}

}}

{{NJint

|mile=31.1

|road={{jct|state=NJ|NJ|139|dir1=east|location1=Holland Tunnel|location2=Lincoln Tunnel}}

|notes=Western terminus of the upper level of Route 139}}

{{NJint

|location_special=North Bergen

|mile=34.0

|road={{jct|state=NJ|NJ|495|to2=to|I-Toll|95|NJTP2||location1=Lincoln Tunnel}}

|notes=Interchange; former I-495}}

{{NJint

|location=Union City

|mile=34.3

|road={{jct|state=NJ|CR|505|dir1=north|name1=38th St}}

|notes=Southern terminus of CR 505}}

{{jctbridge

|location_special=North Bergen

|mile=37.2

|type=concur

|place={{jct|state=NJ|NJ|63|dir1=begins}}

}}

{{NJint

|county=Bergen

|cspan=10

|location=Fort Lee

|mile=39.1

|road={{jct|state=NJ|NJ|5|city1=Ridgefield|city2=Edgewater}}

|notes=Access via Bergen Boulevard}}

{{NJint

|location=Palisades Park

|lspan=3

|mile=39.6

|type=concur

|road={{jct|state=NJ|NJ|63|dir1=north|location1=G.W. Bridge}}

|notes=Northern end of the concurrency with Route 63}}

{{NJint

|mile=39.9

|road={{jct|state=NJ|US|1-9|US|46}}

|notes=Interchange; access via 5th/6th Streets}}

{{NJint

|mile=40.5

|type=concur

|road={{jct|state=NJ|NJ|93|dir1=south|name1=Grand Ave|city1=Ridgefield|city2=Fairview}}

|notes=Southern end of the concurrency with Route 93}}

{{NJint

|location=Englewood

|lspan=4

|mile=42.7

|type=

|road={{jct|state=NJ|NJ|4|location1=New York|city2=Paterson}}

|notes=Interchange}}

{{NJint

|mile=42.8

|type=concur

|road={{jct|state=NJ|CR|501|dir1=south|nolink1=yes|name1=Van Nostrand Ave}}
{{jct|state=NJ|NJ|93|dir1=ends}}

|notes=Northern terminus of Route 93; one-way pair begins}}

{{NJint

|mile=43.8

|road={{jct|state=NJ|CR|505|name1=Palisades Ave|city1=Teaneck|city2=Bergenfield}}

|notes=}}

{{NJint

|mile=45.0

|road={{jct|state=NJ|CR|501|dir1=south|name1=Hudson Ave|nolink1=yes}}

|notes=Northern terminus of one-way pair}}

{{NJint

|location=Closter

|mile=49.6

|road={{jct|state=NJ|CR|502|name1=Old Closter Dock Rd|city1=Westwood|city2=Alpine|to2=to|US|9W}}

|notes=}}

{{NJint

|location=Rockleigh

|mile=53.0

|road={{jct|state=NY|NY|340|dir1=north|city1=Sparkill}}

|notes=Continuation into New York}}

{{jctbtm|keys=concur,incomplete,etc}}

• {{Portal-inline|U.S. Roads}}
• {{Portal-inline|New Jersey}}

{{reflist}}

{{Commons category|County Route 501 (New Jersey)}}

{{Attached KML|display=title,inline}}

• [http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/refdata/sldiag/enlarged_view_02.pdf An enlarged view of road jurisdiction at the Fort Lee approaches to the George Washington Bridge]
• [http://www.alpsroads.net/roads/nj/cr_501/ New Jersey Roads: County Route 501 and NJ 63, NJ 93]
• [http://www.alpsroads.net/roads/nj/log/51.html#501 NJ State Highways: CR 200-514]

501

501

501

501

New Jersey County Route 501