Route 91 is a spur state highway in Middlesex County, New Jersey. The route runs as a spur of U.S. Route 1 along Jersey Avenue in North Brunswick Township to Van Dyke Avenue in the city ofNew Brunswick. At Van Dyke Avenue, Route 91 ends as a state route, and Jersey Avenue continues as County Route 693 to Route 27 in the center of New Brunswick. The mainline of Route 91 officially ends at the ramps to and from US 1 southbound and Orchard Street; the connector constructed from US 1 northbound is designated as Route 91 Connector. The route originates as the northernmost portion of the Trenton and New Brunswick Turnpike from Trenton to New Brunswick. The turnpike originated as a chartered highway in 1804, with the new roadway finished by 1806. The turnpike lived out its 99-year charter term, with the alignment of the turnpike turned over to local authorities in 1903. In 1927, the New Jersey State Highway Department designated State Highway Route 26 on the alignment of the turnpike, except for the portion on Jersey Avenue. This alignment was designated as Route 26A, a spur of State Highway Route 26 in 1941, and renumbered in the 1953 state highway renumbering as Route 91. The route has remained virtually untouched since.
Route description
Route 91 begins at an interchange with US 1 in the North Brunswick Township, New Jersey community of Adams. The route heads northward as Jersey Avenue, passing several fields and ponds, running parallel to US 1. A short distance later, Route 91 enters the industrial district of North Brunswick, where it reaches an intersection with Route 91 Connector, a spur from US 1 northbound to the Route 91 mainline. Paralleling the Northeast Corridor tracks to the west, Jersey Avenue passes through a small corporate park in North Brunswick. A short distance later, Route 91 intersects with CR 680, which connects Route 91 with nearby Route 27 and Route 26. Upon crossing How Lane, Route 91 crosses the township line and enters the city of New Brunswick. Route 91 continues northward along Jersey Avenue, passing through the industrial districts in the southeastern portion of the city. With the Northeast Corridor tracks nearby, Route 91 intersects with Triangle Road, where it meets a park & ride and the serviceroad to the Jersey Avenue station serving NJ Transit's Northeast Corridor Line. There, the highway also crosses a railroad spur from the train line. The highway continues, passing some commercial buildings, before the Route 91 designation terminates at an intersection with Van Dyke Avenue. Jersey Avenue continues into New Brunswick's center as Middlesex County Route 693.
History
Route 91 is the northernmost portion of the Trenton and New Brunswick Turnpike, a turnpike originally envisioned in 1795 to connect to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with New York City. However the $300,000 project only received minimal support and died later. Nine years after the original proposal was brought up, the New Jersey State Legislature developed a charter for a new turnpike from Trenton to New Brunswick. The charter passed on November 14, 1804, for a term of 99 years. The roadway itself was to be wide, running from Warren and Green Streets in Trenton to an unspecified location in New Brunswick. Construction progressed, and by 1806, the turnpike company started tolling the new roadway. A portion of Route 91 and Route 91 Connector was also the site of one of at least three tollgates on the turnpike. After construction of the Pennsylvania Railroad during the 1800s, the railroad was asked by locals to buy the turnpike. Plans fell apart soon after, and in 1903, when the charter term ended, the old turnpike was turned over to the locals. The New Jersey State Highway Department used the alignment of the Lincoln Highway to designate State Highway Route 26 during the 1927 state highway renumbering from Trenton to New Brunswick. The route continued into New Brunswick, where it would end at Mill Run. As Route 26 left the path of the Trenton and New Brunswick Turnpike to cross the railroad, State Highway Route 26A was designated in 1941 legislature to continue on the former turnpike to a former railroad crossing in North Brunswick Township. There, State Highway Route 26A continued, splitting onto a new alignment to stay northwest of the railroad, ending at Van Dyke Avenue. The existing Jersey Avenue beyond Van Dyke Avenue was taken over by Middlesex County as County Route 3R20, later renumbered County Route 693. During the second state highway renumbering in January 1953, the designation of Route 26 was truncated from Trenton to U.S. Route 1 in North Brunswick Township. With Route 26A no longer terminating at its parent highway, the suffixed spur was renumbered to Route 91, heading from U.S. Route 1 in Adams to Van Dyke Road. The route has changed little since designation.
