New Jersey Route 81

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Route 81 is a short freeway in Elizabeth, Union County, New Jersey. It runs about 1.18 miles from the New Jersey Turnpike (Interstate 95) Exit 13A near Jersey Gardens to U.S. Route 1/9 just south of the Elizabeth–Newark line. The entire road is a controlled-access freeway.

The highway starts at the Turnpike toll plaza at Exit 13A, heads north, and passes near shopping areas and the Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal. It has an interchange with Dowd Avenue and then continues across airport property, ending at US 1/9 just south of the city line. South of the terminus, ramps connect Route 81 traffic to the local and express lanes of US 1/9 and to Newark Liberty International Airport. All exits on Route 81 are unnumbered, and the whole route lies within Elizabeth.

History: Route 81 was first proposed in 1938 as Route S100, but that free­way was never built. The current route was planned in the 1960s to replace the old Route 164 (Humboldt Avenue) and was originally numbered Route 76 before being renumbered to Route 81 when I-76 was created in New Jersey. In 1966, legislation set Route 81 to run parallel to the Turnpike from Exit 13 to near North Avenue, then northwest to US 1/9 near the airport. Construction occurred from 1979 to 1982 with about $50 million in funding; the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey helped with design but could not finance construction. The project helped revitalize nearby areas, including the Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal and the Jersey Gardens shopping center.