Route 20, known locally as McLean Boulevard, is a

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

that runs 4.15 miles (6.68 km) in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

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. It runs along the east side of Paterson,

Passaic County Passaic County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of New Jersey that is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the population of Passaic County was enumerated at 524,118, an increase of 22,892 (4.6%) from t ...

, following the west bank of the

Passaic River Passaic River ( ) is a river, approximately long, in Northern New Jersey. The river in its upper course flows in a highly circuitous route, meandering through the swamp lowlands between the ridge hills of rural and suburban northern New Jersey, ...

between

U.S. Route 46 U.S. Route 46 (US 46) is an east–west U.S. Highway completely within the state of New Jersey, running for , making it the shortest signed, non-spur U.S. Highway. The west end is at an interchange with Interstate 80 in New Jersey, Intersta ...

and River Street ( County Route 504), at which point County Route 504 begins. It is a four- to six-lane

divided highway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

for most of its length that runs through residential and commercial areas of Paterson, intersecting with

Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one o ...

and Route 4 at interchanges. The northernmost part of the route is a county-maintained

one-way pair A one-way pair, one-way couple, or couplet refers to that portion of a bi-directional traffic facilitysuch as a road, bus, streetcar, or light rail linewhere its opposing flows exist as two independent and roughly parallel facilities. Descriptio ...

that follows 1st and 2nd Avenues.

Route description

Route 20 begins at an interchange with

and County Route 630 (Crooks Avenue) just north of the

Garden State Parkway The Garden State Parkway (GSP) is a controlled-access toll road that stretches the north–south length of eastern New Jersey from the state's southernmost tip near Cape May to the New York state line at Montvale. Its name refers to New Jersey ...

on the border of Clifton and Paterson. The road follows the bend of the

directly north of

Dundee Lake Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mi ...

, heading to the north into Paterson as McLean Boulevard, a four-lane

. The route runs in between the Passaic River to the east and two large cemeteries to the west before coming to an interchange with

and Market Street. Past Interstate 80, Route 20 becomes a six-lane divided highway that heads under

New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway The New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (or New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad and also known as the Susie-Q or the Susquehanna) is a Class II American freight railway operating over 400 miles (645 km) of track in th ...

's New Jersey Subdivision line and through a mix of residential and commercial areas. The next interchange along the route is for Route 4 (Broadway), with access to both eastbound Route 4 and westbound Broadway from both directions. The road continues further north as a four-lane divided highway, heading through more urbanized areas of Paterson. It crosses County Route 651 (East 33rd Street/Morlot Avenue), which crosses the Passaic River to become County Route 78 (Morlot Avenue) in Bergen County. Route 20 continues to follow the Passaic River as a road through commercial areas, featuring an intersection with County Route 652 (5th Avenue). Past this intersection, the route proceeds through urban areas, turning west and splitting into a

. Here, the route becomes county maintained, with the northbound direction following 1st Avenue and the southbound direction following 2nd Avenue before coming to an end at County Route 504 (River Street).

History

The present-day routing of Route 20 north of Market Street was legislated in 1927 as part of Route 3, which was to run from the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

border at

Greenwood Lake Greenwood Lake is an interstate lake approximately long, straddling the border of New York and New Jersey. It is located in the Town of Warwick and the Village of Greenwood Lake, New York (in Orange County) and West Milford, New Jersey (in ...

Secaucus Secaucus ( ) is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the town's population was 16,264, In addition, the present day routing south of Route 4 was also legislated as part of that route, which was to run from the

George Washington Bridge The George Washington Bridge is a double-decked suspension bridge spanning the Hudson River, connecting Fort Lee, New Jersey, with Manhattan in New York City. The bridge is named after George Washington, the first president of the United St ...

Cape May Cape May consists of a peninsula and barrier island system in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is roughly coterminous with Cape May County, New Jersey, Cape May County and runs southwards from the New Jersey mainland, separating Delaware Bay fro ...

. In 1929, the western terminus of Route 3 was moved to Paterson as Route S4B (now

Route 208 The following highways are numbered 208: Canada * Nova Scotia Route 208 *Prince Edward Island Route 208 * Quebec Route 208 China * China National Highway 208 Japan * Japan National Route 208 United States * Alabama State Route 208 * Californ ...

) was planned to replace the alignment of Route 3 from Paterson to the New York border.State of New Jersey, Laws of 1929, Chapter 126. McLean Boulevard through Paterson was built by the 1930s. A new highway was to be built connecting the two, bypassing the Paterson Plank Road to the north. In the

1953 New Jersey state highway renumbering On January 1, 1953, the New Jersey Highway Department renumbered many of the State Routes. This renumbering was first proposed in 1951 in order to reduce confusion to motorists. A few rules were followed in deciding what to renumber: *No state ro ...

, Route 20 was legislated to follow the former alignment of Route 3 between Paterson and

East Rutherford East Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the borough's population was 10,022, reflecting an increase of 1,109 (+12.4%) from the 8,913 counted in the 2010 census.

as Route 3 was moved to the Route S3 freeway that was built between East Rutherford and Clifton. By this point, the Paterson Plank Road was no longer in the state highway system. Another

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

routing of Route 20 was planned in 1959.State of New Jersey, Laws of 1959, Chapter 4. This road, which was to be a six-lane freeway called the Paterson Peripheral, was to run from Clifton north to the existing Route 20 in downtown Paterson. This road was completed between the Garden State Parkway and Valley Road by 1969 and north to Interstate 80 in 1975. Upon completion, this road received the Route 20 designation. In 1972, the state once again took over maintenance of the Paterson Plank Road from Route 3 to Route 17 in East Rutherford and made it a part of the route.State of New Jersey, Laws of 1972, Chapter 209. As it became clear that these three sections of Route 20 weren't going to be connected, especially after the designation of the Great Falls Historic District, they received three different route designations by the 1990s. The freeway section of Route 20 from the Garden State Parkway to Interstate 80 was designated Route 19, the section between Route 3 and Route 17 was designated Route 120, and the Route 20 designation was retained along McLean Boulevard through Paterson. The unfinished section of Route 20 that was to connect McLean Boulevard to Paterson Plank Road was built as a northern extension of the Route 21 freeway in 2000.

Major intersections

References

External links

New Jersey Highway Ends: 20Speed Limits for Route 20
{{DEFAULTSORT:New Jersey Route 020 020 Transportation in Passaic County, New Jersey Limited-access roads in New Jersey

Route description

History

Major intersections

See also

References

External links