Kinderkamack Road
For the northern portion of the roadway, from River Edge to Montvale, it is known as Kinderkamack Road. In Hackensack, the roadway is known as Hackensack Avenue, River Street, and Moonachie Road. In Little Ferry, it is named Liberty Street, and in Moonachie to its southern terminus in Carlstadt it is known as Moonachie Road and Washington Avenue, respectively.
Kinderkamack comes from the language of the Lenape Native Americans, meaning "place of ceremonial dance and worship." During the American Revolutionary War, General Lafayette's division camped in what is now Oradell at Kinderkamack and Soldier Hill Roads.
Route description
While signage directing traffic to CR 503 exists on westbound Route 3, CR 503 officially begins at Route 120. Traffic following Route 120 around the Meadowlands Sports Complex exits (or enters) in East Rutherford, while CR 503 traffic continues straight ahead into Carlstadt. Through the industrial area of the borough of Carlstadt, the four-lane highway, divided in some sections, is called Washington Avenue.
At Moonachie Avenue, CR 503 crosses into Moonachie and becomes known as Moonachie Road. The highway continues as a two-lane road through Little Ferry, there called Liberty Street, where it intersects US 46. Entering South Hackensack, the road again becomes Moonachie Road and continues into Hackensack. At the end of Moonachie Road, CR 503 then turns left onto the four-lane River Street, which passes under Interstate 80 and the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway's New Jersey Subdivision line. Near the Fairleigh Dickinson University campus, River Street becomes Hackensack Avenue, which shortly crosses Route 4 and then the Coles Brook into River Edge near The Shops at Riverside mall.
Near the Steuben House in River Edge, CR 503 turns left onto Main Street and crosses the Pascack Valley Line at grade before turning northward onto Kinderkamack Road. Kinderkamack Road itself begins just south of the interchange with CR 503 and Main Street, at Johnson Avenue. CR 503 then continues north through Oradell, Emerson, Westwood, Hillsdale, Woodcliff Lake, Park Ridge, and Montvale. Most of this ten-mile (16 km) stretch is two-lane road with some dividers and margins while running through the suburbs. In Emerson, a divider is present while crossing the Pascack Valley Line in between Ackerman Avenue and Linwood Avenue. In Westwood, it comes to an interchange with CR 502 at Old Hook Road. The northbound and southbound alignments split briefly in Montvale, where the highway again crosses the Pascack Valley Line one more time at Grand Avenue (CR 2).
At the New York state line, Kinderkamack Road becomes four-lane Pearl Street and NY 304 in the village of Pearl River, becoming a freeway shortly after.
Major intersections
The entire route is in Bergen County.
Location | mi | km | Destinations | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
East Rutherford | 0.00 | 0.00 | Route 120 south to I-95 / N.J. Turnpike / Route 3 – Sports Complex | Southern terminus | |
Paterson Plank Road east | Interchange; northbound exit and entrance | ||||
Route 120 north (Paterson Plank Road) – North Arlington, Lyndhurst, Wallington, Hackensack | Interchange; southbound exit and northbound entrance | ||||
Little Ferry | 3.26 | 5.25 | US 46 (Sylvan Avenue) – Lodi, Ridgefield Park | ||
Hackensack | 7.04 | 11.33 | Route 4 to G.S. Parkway | Interchange | |
Westwood | 12.97 | 20.87 | CR 502 (Old Hook Road) – Closter | ||
Montvale | 17.95 | 28.89 | NY 304 north | Continuation into New York | |
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi |
See also
References
- ^ NJDOT County Route 503 Straight Line Diagram from the New Jersey Department of Transportation
- ^ Cheslow, Jerry. "If You're Thinking of Living in: Oradell", The New York Times, November 11, 1990. Accessed August 8, 2007.