New Jersey is well known for having a slate of rather elaborate highway interchanges in places where most other states would not, and the connection between I-80, US 46 and NJ 94 at Columbia is one of the more elaborate. US 46 is the origional route through here along the Delaware River, bypassing Columbia as an old 4 lane divided highway (it originally went through this little town) and continuing northward into the Delaware Water Gap. Later on, I-80 appeared on the scene and complicated matters CONSIDERABLY. The result is this tangle of ramps and roadways that connect US 46 to I-80, the toll bridge to Pennsylvania, NJ 94 and local streets in the town. In fact, this interchange covers more land area than the main part of the town. US 46 was cut back from the north to this interchange at that time.
At the north edge of this agglomeration is a popular travelors' service area, including a large TA truck stop. Getting from the truck stop to eastbound I-80 (legally) involves going eastward on the north frontage road, turning across the SWbound NJ 94 lane, going through the little 'mini-rotary' crossover to the northeast and then around the cloverleaf to EB I-80 (although I did see a car 'cheat' on the 'cross the SWB lane' part when I was there in June). It can get similarly convoluted going in a few other directions here, too.
Another interesting tidbit here is the connection between westbound I-80 and Earle Road (just north of the railroad). This entrance/exit is little more than a surface intersection, and, from a cursory read of the map, appears to serve no real need.
Although this is not readily apparent to motorists simply blowing through on I-80, this is an amazingly complex connection that ably does its part to make New Jersey's highways more interesting than they perhaps really should be. :-)
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This page © Michael G. Koerner |
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