New Jersey Route 26

Livingston Avenue
Route information
Maintained by NJDOT
Length	2.54 mi (4.09 km)
Existed	1927–present
Location
Country	United States
State	New Jersey
Highway system
New Jersey State Highway Routes Interstate US State Scenic Byways

Route 26 is a state highway in New Jersey, United States, running 2.54 miles (4.09 km) along Livingston Avenue from U.S. Route 1 in North Brunswick Township northeast to Nassau Street at the to the border of New Brunswick. Prior to the 1953 renumbering, the route continued southwest along US 1 to Trenton. The speed limit along Route 26 ranges from 30 mph (50 km/h) to 45 mph (75 km/h).

Livingston Avenue inside New Brunswick, southwest of Suydam Street, is the 1.08-mile (1.74 km) County Route 691. The 0.39 miles (0.63 km) from Suydam Street to its end at George Street is part of State Route 171, also maintained by Middlesex County.

Route description

NJ 26 blade sign in North Brunswick

Route 26 begins at an interchange with U.S. Route 1 in the community of North Brunswick Township. The route heads westward as the Livingston Avenue Extension, crossing southward of a pond to the north a car dealership. Approaching the Northeast Corridor line maintained by Amtrak and New Jersey Transit, Route 26 curves to the north, crossing under U.S. Route 1 and paralleling Route 91 (Jersey Avenue). Passing to the east of a railroad fork, Route 26 parallels the Northeast Corrdior tracks as Livingston Avenue, crossing through industry and intersecting with the Route 26 Connector soon after. Passing to the west of an industrial and commercial park, the highway continues northward, crossing the commercial districts of North Brunswick and intersecting with North Oaks Boulevard, which connects Route 26 and Route 1 via a residential complex.

Continuing northward through the commercial district, Route 26 enters a more residential region around the intersection with Jessica Lane. The highway continues northward, intersecting with Middlesex County Route 680 (How Lane) at a traffic light a short distance later. Route 26 continues northward along Livingston Avenue, passing to the east of residential homes to the west of commercial businesses. The route enters the northernmost business districts of North Brunswick, intersecting with local roads along with crossing through a large amount of businesses. After a while, Route 26 intersects with 14th Street and Hermann Avenue at a traffic light. Hermann Avenue heads eastward towards the town hall and Route 171. Livingston Avenue continues northward, crossing through industrial, commercial and residential districts in seconds of each other. At the intersection with 12th Street, the highway enters New Brunswick. Entering a further residential district, Route 26 enters further into New Brunswick, intersecting with Nassau Street, where the state-maintenance and designation ends. Livingston Avenue, which was designated Route 26, continues under the designation Middlesex County Route 691.

History

Trenton and New Brunswick Turnpike

Route 26 followed a majority of the Trenton and New Brunswick Turnpike, a gravel toll road envisioned in 1795 to connect Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with New York City. People raised money for the new turnpike, which was to cost $300,000 (1795 USD) by selling 75,000 shares of $4. From there, officials would request charters from New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania for creation of the highway. Although officials in cities like New Brunswick were supportive of the plan, sufficient funds were not raised and the plans eventually folded. On November 14, 1804, the plans for a turnpike went forward once again, with the New Jersey State Legislature chartering the Trenton and New Brunswick Turnpike, a new toll road between the two cities. In Trenton, the turnpike was to begin at either Warren or Green Streets, heading along the current U.S. Route 1 corridor to New Brunswick, where it would end. The new charter had a term for 99 years as a corporation. 2000 stocks of the corporation were to be sold at $2,000 (1804 USD). Tolls for the highway would cost from half a center to two cents a mile, as approved by the State Legislature.

On August 9, 1805, the commissioners of the turnpike met in the community of Kingston to appoint officers and begin to lay out the new highway. Enough of the 2,000 shares had been subscribed, and the commissioners went ahead and approved a survey map created of the turnpike. By 1806, the turnpike was opened and tolls were being collected on the new highway. On November 28, 1806, a second charter was passed in the legislature to grant fines of $20 (1806 USD) for evading tolls or defacing property along the turnpike. In 1807, the alignment was completed, and Henry Gallatin, a United States Secretary of the Treasury, reported the alignment of the 25-mile (40 km) long turnpike was nearly stright except for an "obstruction" at Sand Hills, where they had to dig into the hill to create the highway. The new turnpike was 36 feet (11 m) wide and had stone abutments for the new wooden bridges.

The turnpike was heavily-used, using all transportation styles at the time. There were three tollgates along the turnpike, one at around 4 miles (6.4 km) from Trenton, one at Ridge Road and one at the current railroad crossing for Route 1. Toll collectors on the turnpike would often have a hard time counting the amount of horses at a tollgate due to kicked up smoke and dust. During the War of 1812, the turnpike gained record usage, moving goods between Philadelphia and New York. A third supplement was added to the charter in January 1814, with the turnpike corporation would have to upgrade the road in eighteen months or face removal of tolls. If they didn't, tollgates would be removed from the turnpike. Although the corporation upgraded the route in 1827, the road was still very tough to travel for passengers and people hauling expensive goods. During the early 1800s, the turnpike was profiting off of stagecoach companies, which had about six different lines winding through the turnpike. When the Delaware and Raritan Canal and Camden and Amboy Railroad were constructed during the 1800s, the profits began to dwindle and the turnpike could not handle the expenses for stagecoaches.

To add insult to injury, in 1832, the New Jersey State Legislature approved the Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad, a railroad to connect the two cities. A further note was made that the railroad could acquire the old turnpike for railroad right-of-way to connect Philadelphia and New York. That December, the railroad company attempted to merge the turnpike company into theirs, but faced opposition. In 1834, the turnpike company requested the choice to put another railroad on their turnpike right-of-way, but the monopoly from the Delaware and Raritan Canal and Camden and Amboy Railroad immediately opposed. Later that year, the Philadelphia and Trenton gained a controlling stock in the turnpike company, with hopes to lay the tracks on the right-of-way. The railroad company petitioned the state legislature to let them lay tracks, but the votes turned against their favor. After the Camden and Amboy commadeered control of the Philadelphia and Trneton Railroad, a secret truce was made in 1835, which left the construction of a railroad to become a dead proposal, and the turnpike remained a turnpike. However, the turnpike was already hurting for funds, as passenger and most stagecoach traffic had moved to the Camden and Amboy Railroad. The only stagecoach line that remained went out of business after becoming the only stagecoach line along the turnpike, which cut funds at a large rate.

By 1858, the turnpike had basically begun to fold in, with tolls only being charged at one gate for several years and most traffic had moved to rails rather than road. That year however, there were some upgrades to the former road, but not by much. In 1867, the competitor Camden and Amboy Railroad merged with the United New Jersey Railroad to create a new company. In December 1871, the company then became part of the Pennsylvania Railroad, which became a major part of railroads at that point. The railroad also took over jurisdiction of the turnpike. In 1899, people from Trenton and nearby Penns Neck came forth to the railroad to help reconstruct the old turnpike road, but no full proposal ever came forward. By 1903, the 1804 charter had expired that year, and the new roadway was under public control, but was still in a derilict condition.

Route 26 is designated

In 1926, the turnpike was legislated into the state highway system as an unnumbered route. It received its number, Route 26, in the 1927 renumbering, and was reconstructed by the state. Except for the bridge over the Pennsylvania Railroad (now Amtrak's Northeast Corridor) in North Brunswick, the road was completed by early 1929.

The road was taken over by the state from the New Brunswick city line at Nassau Street to Brunswick Circle near Trenton. A short piece of the turnpike southwest of Brunswick Circle to the Trenton city line at Spruce Street had been taken over ca. 1920 as part of pre-1927 Route 13. Inside New Brunswick, the old turnpike (Livingston Avenue) was County Route 3R16, but was signed as part of Route 26 to its end at Route S28 (George Street). A spur along Jersey Avenue, which was taken over as Route 26A, provided direct access to Route 27 in New Brunswick.

1965 shield of NJ 26 on its newer alignments of CR 691 and NJ 171

Most of the Calhoun Street Extension from Brunswick Circle to the Calhoun Street Bridge in Trenton was taken over ca. 1932, but nothing indicates it was part of Route 26. It provided an alternate route into Pennsylvania, bypassing downtown Trenton. The Trenton Freeway, opened ca. 1953, was built as an extension of Route 26, running from Brunswick Circle through downtown into Pennsylvania.

Trenton Freeway and truncation

There were two routes related to Route 26. The first was Route 26A, a spur into New Brunswick on the west side of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Route 26A is now numbered as Route 91. The second route, Route S26, was also defined in the 1927 renumbering as a short spur of Route 26, running from just north of the Pennsylvania Railroad overpass in North Brunswick east to the junction of Route 25 and Route 25M, now the junction of U.S. Route 1, U.S. Route 130 and Route 171. It opened ca. 1929, and became part of U.S. Route 1 in the 1953 renumbering.

In the 1953 renumbering, Route 26 was truncated to run only in the New Brunswick area, as the rest was part of U.S. Route 1.

Major intersections

The entire route is in Middlesex County.

Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
North Brunswick Township	0.00	0.00	US 1 north	Southern terminus of Route 26.
	0.87	1.40	US 1 south (Route 26 Connector)
	1.48	2.38	CR 680 (How Lane)
New Brunswick	2.54	4.09	Nassau Street To CR 620	Northern terminus of Route 26. Route continues northward as CR 691
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

External links

• Middlesex County 691 straight line diagram (PDF)
• Route 26 by NJ Route Log