Route 19 is a state highway in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. Also referred to as the Paterson Peripheral, it runs from an intersection with County Route 509 and CR 609 in Clifton north to another intersection with CR 509 in downtown Paterson. Between U.S. Route 46 in Clifton and Interstate 80 in Paterson, Route 19 is a freeway. The main purpose of the route is to connect the Garden State Parkway to I-80 and downtown Paterson. The road was originally proposed as the Paterson spur of the Garden State Parkway that was to run north to Wayne. In 1959, it was planned to become part of the Paterson Peripheral, an extension of Route 20 from downtown Paterson. By 1971, the road was completed between the Garden State Parkway and I-80, at which time it received the Route 20 designation; the rest was cancelled in 1978 due to feared community disruption. In 1988, this portion of Route 20 became Route 19 as it did not connect with the other segment of the route. In the 1990s, Route 19 was extended to Main Street in downtown Paterson as part of a project that also completed the interchange with I-80.
Route description
Route 19 begins at the intersection of County Route 509 and County Route 609 in Clifton. From this intersection, it heads north concurrent with County Route 509 as a four-lane divided highway, soon interchanging with U.S. Route 46. Past US 46, the road crosses a brook and County Route 509 splits off, with Route 19 interchanging with the Garden State Parkway. Route 19 continues past the Garden State Parkway as a six-lane freeway surrounded by trees, coming to a northbound exit and southbound entrance with County Route 509. Past this interchange, the road heads into Paterson. Here, the route has a southbound exit and northbound entrance with County Route 621 before becoming an eight-lane road and passing to the east of Garret Mountain Reservation. After interchanging with I-80, Route 19 continues north as a five-lane road, with three northbound lanes and two southbound lanes, to an interchange with County Route 638. From here, the route becomes a four-lane divided surface road and heads into urbanized areas of downtown Paterson. The route turns east and becomes a county-maintained undivided road at the intersection with Marshall Street and continues to its northern terminus at the intersection of County Route 509 and Ward Street.
History
What is now Route 19 was once planned as the Paterson spur of the Garden State Parkway, which was to run through Paterson and Haledon to County Route 504 in Wayne. The planned Paterson spur would become an extension of Route 20 in 1959. This road, which was to be a six-lane, $58 million 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. The extension to Route 20 through Paterson was stopped in 1971 because of the designation of the Great Falls Historic District, a historical district recognizing Paterson’s heritage as an industrial center. By the 1990s, this portion of Route 20 was redesignated Route 19 as it did not connect with the mainline of the route. In 1992, a project to complete the interchange with I-80 and extend the route to Main Street in downtown Paterson to ease congestion was finished. This interchange received the Prize Bridge Award in the category of Grade Separation from the American Institute of Steel Construction in 1996.
