U.S. Route 1/9 (US 1/9 or US 1-9) is the concurrency of US 1 and US 9 from their junction in Woodbridge in Middlesex County, New Jersey, north to New York City. The route is a multilane road with some freeway portions that runs through urbanized areas of North Jersey adjacent to New York City. Throughout most of its length in New Jersey, the road runs near the New Jersey Turnpike (Interstate 95 [I-95]). In Fort Lee, US 1/9 merges onto I-95 and crosses the Hudson River on the George Washington Bridge, where the two U.S. Routes split a short distance into New York. US 1/9 intersects several major roads, including I-278 in Linden, Route 81 in Elizabeth, I-78 and US 22 in Newark, Route 139 in Jersey City, Route 3 and Route 495 in North Bergen, and US 46 in Palisades Park. US 1/9 also serves as the primary access point to Newark Airport. Between Newark and Jersey City, US 1/9 runs along the Pulaski Skyway. Trucks are banned from this section of road and must use Truck US 1/9. The concurrency between US 1 and US 9 is commonly referred to as "1 and 9". Some signage for the concurrency, as well as the truck route, combines the two roads into one shield, separated by a hyphen (1-9) or an ampersand (1&9).Signage for US 1/9, Route 21, US 22, and I-78 in Newark. Retrieved on December 5, 2009.Signage for US 1/9 Truck along Route 7. Retrieved on December 5, 2009.
The current alignment of US 1/9 south of Elizabeth was planned as Route 1 in 1916; this road was extended to the Holland Tunnel in Jersey City in 1922. When the U.S. Highway System was created in 1926, US 1 and US 9 were marked concurrent through northern New Jersey between Rahway on the current alignments of Route 27 and Truck US 1/9. In 1927, Route 1 became Route 25, and Route 1 and Route 6 were legislated along the current US 1/9 north of Jersey City. US 1/9 originally went to the Holland Tunnel on Route 25; after the George Washington Bridge opened, the two routes were realigned to their current routing north of Jersey City. After the Pulaski Skyway opened in 1932, US 1/9 and Route 25 were routed to use this road, which soon had a truck ban resulting in the creation of Route 25T (now US 1/9 Truck). South of Newark, US 1/9 was moved from Route 27 to Route 25. In 1953, the state highways running concurrent with US 1/9 in New Jersey were removed. In 1964, the approaches to the George Washington Bridge were upgraded into I-95.
Route description
Middlesex and Union counties
US 1 and US 9 begin their concurrency at a directional interchange in Woodbridge, Middlesex County. US 1 comes from the southwest, where it serves the state capital of Trenton, along with New Brunswick and Edison; while US 9 comes from the south, where it serves the Jersey Shore region, along with the suburban communities of Freehold Township and Old Bridge Township; a short distance to the north of an interchange with the New Jersey Turnpike (I-95) and the Garden State Parkway. The combined US 1/9 runs northeast through business areas as a six-lane divided highway, coming to a partial cloverleaf interchange with Route 35 a short distance after the merge. From this interchange, the road continues as a surface road with some jughandles, passing over NJ Transit's North Jersey Coast Line.
A short distance later, US 1/9 crosses into Rahway, Union County, where the road crosses the Rahway River before intersecting Lawrence Street (County Route 514 [CR 514]) in the southbound direction. The highway turns more northeast, becoming known as Edgar Road in Linden. In Linden, US 1/9 passes through a mix of industrial and business areas, crossing under Conrail Shared Assets Operations' (CSAO) Linden Industrial Track line before passing between Linden Airport and the former Linden Assembly plant used by General Motors to the west. Following the intersection with South Stiles Street (CR 615), the road enters more urbanized areas of homes and businesses. After passing near a couple of cemeteries, the highway runs to the west of Phillips 66's Bayway Refinery before passing under a Staten Island Railway freight line that is used by CSAO. After this bridge, US 1/9 meets the western terminus of I-278 at a partial interchange with a northbound exit and southbound entrance from US 1/9. Past this interchange, US 1/9 continues into Elizabeth, where it intersects South Elmora Avenue/Bayway (Route 439) at the Bayway Circle, which has been modified to allow US 1/9 to run straight through. At this point, US 1/9 splits from Edgar Road. From the Bayway Circle, the road turns more to the east before making a sharp turn to the north-northeast and crossing the Elizabeth River on a skyway, which ends at the intersection with East Jersey Street. The road continues north through urban neighborhoods as Spring Street, passing under CSAO's Elizabeth Industrial Track line. The highway reaches an intersection with North Avenue, at which point US 1/9 turns into a freeway with a local–express lane configuration, carrying two local lanes and two express lanes in each direction for a total of eight lanes. The freeway comes to an interchange with the northern terminus of Route 81, and it continues around the west side of Newark Airport.
Essex and Hudson counties
US 1/9 continues into Newark, Essex County, with several ramps providing access to the airport as well as to McClellan Street and Haynes Avenue; the freeway also passes under the AirTrain Newark monorail line. At the north end of the airport property, the road reaches the large Newark Airport Interchange, where it has connections to I-78, US 22 westbound, and Route 21 northbound. Within this interchange, US 1/9 first has ramps to I-78, US 22, and Route 21 before turning east to parallel I-78 briefly prior to having more connections to I-78 as well as to Port Newark. Past the crossing of I-78, US 1/9 continues north, with the lanes splitting as it passes over the CSAO's Greenville Running Track, Lehigh Line, and Newark and Passaic Industrial Track at Oak Island Yard before coming to a northbound exit and southbound entrance with Delancy and South streets. The freeway continues through industrial areas as it comes to a southbound exit and northbound entrance for Wilson Avenue. Following this interchange, the directions of US 1/9 rejoin as the freeway continues northeast, with CSAO's Passaic and Harsimus Line running closely parallel to the northwest of the road. Along this stretch, the roadway comes to a bridge over CSAO's Newark and New York Industrial Track and Manufacturers Industrial Track lines. The local–express lane configuration of US 1/9 ends at an interchange with US 1/9 Truck and Raymond Boulevard that provides access to the New Jersey Turnpike (I-95). At this point, US 1/9 becomes the four-lane divided Pulaski Skyway. Trucks are banned from using the Pulaski Skyway and have to use US 1/9 Truck to bypass it.
The Pulaski Skyway carries US 1/9 between Newark and Jersey City. The skyway crosses the Passaic River into Kearny, Hudson County, where it passes over industrial areas and a Conrail Shared Assets Operations railroad spur, and the Hackensack River into Jersey City. In Jersey City, the skyway passes over PATH's Newark–World Trade Center line and CSAO's Northern Branch line before heading over US 1/9 Truck and the Northern Branch line again. At the east end of the Pulaski Skyway, US 1/9 reaches the Tonnele Circle, where it intersects with the northern terminus of US 1/9 Truck as well as the western terminus of Route 139. Here, US 1/9 head north on four-lane divided surface road called Tonnele Avenue, named for local landowner and politician John Tonnelé. The road passes over NJ Transit's Morris & Essex Lines and then CSAO's National Docks Secondary line before running through urban areas. It turns more to the north-northeast before reaching an interchange with Secaucus Road (CR 678). At this point, US 1/9 crosses into North Bergen. In this area, the road crosses over Amtrak's Northeast Corridor and coming to a channelized intersection with the eastern terminus of Route 3 that also provides access to eastbound Route 495. A short distance later, US 1/9 becomes a four-lane undivided road and reaches a partial interchange with Route 495; the only direct connection available is a ramp from westbound Route 495 to southbound US 1/9. After this, the road comes to a diamond interchange with Union Turnpike (CR 676) and Paterson Plank Road (CR 681). From this point, US 1/9 continues north-northeast, crossing NJ Transit's Hudson–Bergen Light Rail near the line's northern terminus at the Tonnelle Avenue Station. Past this station, the road runs to the east of CSX's North Bergen Yard and is still lined with businesses.
Bergen County US 1/9 continues into Fairview, Bergen County, where the name changes to Broad Avenue. Shortly after entering Fairview, the route passes over the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway's Edgewater Branch line, where it is briefly a divided highway. Turning north, the road passes more suburban areas before continuing into Ridgefield. In Ridgefield, US 1/9 becomes a divided highway prior to intersecting with southern terminus of Route 93. The median ends after this intersection, and the road turns northeast into mostly residential neighborhoods with a few businesses, intersecting with the western terminus of Route 5. Past Route 5, US 1/9 continues into Palisades Park, in a mile-long () district known as Koreantown. It soon reaches an interchange with US 46.
At this point, US 1/9 turns east off Broad Avenue to merge onto US 46, which is a four-lane divided highway. The highway makes a sharp turn to the north-northeast and has partial interchanges at both ends of the 5th and 6th streets frontage roads, which parallel the highway through residential areas and provide access to East Central Boulevard (CR 501). US 1/9/US 46 continues into Fort Lee, where it has access to a couple commercial areas before encountering the northern terminus of Route 63 at a westbound exit and eastbound entrance. The highway continues past more businesses and homes, angling northeast as it comes to an exit for Main Street (CR 56). Immediately past this point, the road turns east and encounters a complex interchange with I-95, the eastern terminus of Route 4, and the southern terminus of US 9W. Here, US 1/9/US 46 all join I-95 and continue to the southeast along a multilane freeway with local–express lane configuration consisting of four local lanes and four express lanes in each direction, passing numerous highrise buildings as it heads east to the George Washington Bridge over the Hudson River.
New York City At the New Jersey–New York state line on the bridge, US 46 ends and I-95 and US 1/9 continue into the borough of Manhattan in New York City. On the east bank of the river, the road passes over Amtrak's Empire Connection line. After an interchange with the Henry Hudson Parkway (NY 9A), the US 1/9 concurrency ends, and US 9 leaves the expressway at an interchange with Broadway at the George Washington Bridge Bus Station in Washington Heights. At that interchange, US 9 heads north on Broadway, while I-95/US 1 continues east (north) into The Bronx.
History