Editing New Jersey Route 7 (section)

==Route description==

===Southern segment===
[[File:2020-09-25 11 41 55 View west along New Jersey State Route 7 (Newark-Jersey City Turnpike) at the exit for Hudson County Route 508 WEST (TO Interstate 280-New Jersey Turnpike, Harrison, Newark) in Kearny, Hudson County, New Jersey.jpg|thumb|left|Route 7 westbound at the eastern terminus of CR 508 in Kearny]]
The first segment of Route 7 begins at an intersection with [[U.S. Route 1-9 Truck]] and County Route 645 (Charlotte Avenue) in [[Jersey City, New Jersey|Jersey City]], [[Hudson County, New Jersey|Hudson County]], heading to the west on a four-lane highway that is signed east&ndash;west.<ref name=SLD /> The route crosses the [[Hackensack River]] on the [[Wittpenn Bridge]] parallel to [[Conrail Shared Assets Operations]]' [[Passaic and Harsimus Line]] into [[Kearny, New Jersey|Kearny]]. Route 7 interchanges with County Route 659 (Fish House Road) and widens to a six-lane [[divided highway]]. The route then passes by industrial areas and a Conrail Shared Assets Operations railroad yard before it passes over [[NJ Transit]]'s [[Morris & Essex Lines]] and reaches an interchange with [[County Route 508 (New Jersey)|County Route 508]].<ref name=SLD /><ref name=gm1>{{google maps |url=https://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=route+7+and+wallis+avenue+jersey+city+nj&daddr=route+7+and+route+21+belleville+nj&geocode=&hl=en&mra=ls&sll=40.784148,-74.143724&sspn=0.015272,0.027466&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=13 |title=overview of New Jersey Route 7 southern section |access-date=2009-04-01}}</ref> Past this interchange, Route 7 becomes the four-lane, divided Belleville Turnpike, with the eastern end of the [[Newark Turnpike]] running in the division between the two sides of Route 7. It then becomes an undivided two-lane road, heading northwest, narrowing to two lanes before it crosses under [[Amtrak]]'s [[Northeast Corridor]] and passes through the [[New Jersey Meadowlands]]. The route crosses under the Eastern Spur of the [[New Jersey Turnpike]] ([[Interstate 95 in New Jersey|Interstate 95]]) and then the Western Spur of the turnpike a short distance later before passing over [[Norfolk Southern]]'s [[Boonton Line]].<ref name=SLD /><ref name=gm1 />

[[File:2021-08-25 08 33 31 View northwest along State Route 7 (Belleville Turnpike) from the overpass for the rail line between County Route 508 (Newark-Jersey City Turnpike) and Interstate 95 (New Jersey Turnpike Eastern Spur) in Kearny, New Jersey.jpg|thumb|right|View west along Route 7 in Kearny]]
Route 7 continues northwest, widens, with a painted median, as it passes through two large cemeteries on the border of Hudson County (Kearny) to the south and Bergen County ([[North Arlington, New Jersey|North Arlington]]) to the north, though the route itself is signed north&ndash;south along that border.<ref name="gsvna">{{google maps |url=https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Belleville+Turnpike+and+Schuyler+Avenue,+North+Arlington,+NJ&layer=c&cbll |title=Belleville Turnpike and Schuyler Avenue, North Arlington, NJ |access-date=2008-11-14}}</ref>

After an intersection with Schuyler Avenue (which runs as [[County Route 507 (New Jersey)|County Route 507]] to the south of Route 7 and County Route 130 to the north of Route 7), the road turns NNW, narrowing again to two lanes undivided. In this portion of the route, it had a concurrency with County Route 507 (both Bergen and Hudson counties). It keeps this configuration for about a half mile, as it still runs along the Kearny/North Arlington border. At that point, it meets the southern terminus of [[New Jersey Route 17|Route 17]] (Ridge Road) and the northern terminus of County Route 697 (Kearny Avenue).<ref name=SLD /><ref name=gm1 />

Past this intersection, County Route 507 turns away from Route 7, becoming concurrent with Route 17. by heading north on River Road, while Route 7 continues along Belleville Turnpike for another half mile, Route 7 continues another half mile west, crossing the [[Passaic River]] on a [[lift bridge]], known as the [[Belleville Turnpike Bridge|Belleville Turnpike Bridge or Rutgers Street Bridge]], into [[Belleville, New Jersey|Belleville]], [[Essex County, New Jersey|Essex County]], where the local street name changes from Belleville Turnpike to Rutgers Street. The first section of Route 7 ends underneath the [[New Jersey Route 21|Route 21]] freeway, where it continues as [[County Route 506 (New Jersey)|County Route 506]].<ref name=SLD /><ref name=gm1 />

===Gap in the route===
[[File:2020-09-25 12 22 17 View north along New Jersey State Route 7 and east along Essex County Route 506 (Washington Avenue) at Essex County Route 506 (Rutgers Street) in Belleville Township, Essex County, New Jersey.jpg|thumb|left|Route 7 (Washington Avenue) at CR 506 (Rutgers Street) in Belleville. Note that Route 7 is signed to follow Rutgers Street to the right]]
The intersection of Main St and Rutgers Street in Belleville forms the end of one section of Route 7 (signed north, directionally west). Rutgers Street is named for Colonel [[Henry Rutgers]], an [[American Revolutionary War]] hero and benefactor of what is now [[Rutgers University]]. For its entire length, Rutgers carries [[County Route 506 (New Jersey)|County Route 506]], which ends, like Rutgers Street itself, at the Rutgers Street Bridge.<ref name=SLD /><ref name=gm1 />

Prior to turning onto Rutgers Street, CR-506 runs along Washington Street concurrent with the northern section of Route 7. Though the northern section of Route 7 begins a few blocks south, it is not readily recognized (minimal signing). As CR-506 runs concurrently with it here, and then turns down Rutgers for the short distance that bridges the gap between the two Route 7 sections, Rutgers/506 is often viewed as if it continues Route 7, while the short portion of the northern section that lies south of Rutgers is sometimes seen as a spur, even though it is part of the main route.<ref name=SLD /><ref name=gm1 />

Rutgers' identity has become so closely aligned with Route 7, that though it is not officially part of Route 7, Rutgers, from Washington Avenue to Main Street, is signed as if it is part of Route 7.<ref name=SLD /><ref name=gm1 />

=== Northern section ===
[[File:2018-07-18 15 20 26 View east along New Jersey State Route 7 (Kingsland Street) between Essex County Route 645 (Franklin Avenue) and Elm Place in Nutley Township, Essex County, New Jersey.jpg|right|thumb|Route&nbsp;7 eastbound through Nutley]]

The second section of Route 7, designated a north&ndash;south road, heads north on Washington Avenue from the [[Second River (New Jersey)|Second River]] crossing on the [[Newark, New Jersey|Newark]]/[[Belleville, New Jersey|Belleville]] border, passing through a business district.<ref name="gm2">{{google maps |url=https://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=washington+avenue+and+mill+street+belleville+nj&daddr=cathedral+avenue+and+princeton+street+clifton+nj&hl=en&geocode=&mra=ls&sll=40.781224,-74.153895&sspn=0.007637,0.013733&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=13 |title=overview of New Jersey Route 7 northern section |access-date=2009-04-01}}</ref> The route intersects [[County Route 506 (New Jersey)|County Route 506]] (Belleville Avenue), and that county route then forms a [[concurrency (road)|concurrency]] with Route 7 along the next block of Washington Avenue, to the intersection with Rutgers Street. At that point, County Route 506 heads to the east, ending at the intersection of Main Street, Rutgers Street, and bridge to Belleville (which is also the other section of Route 7).<ref name="SLD" />

[[File:2020-09-08 10 22 23 View west along New Jersey State Route 3 at the exit for New Jersey State Route 7-Passaic Avenue (Nutley, Passaic) in Clifton, Passaic County, New Jersey.jpg|thumb|left|Signage for Route 7 on Route 3 in Clifton]]
Route 7 is not signed on Washington Avenue between the Second River bridge and Rutgers Street, except on some overhead signs suspended from traffic signals.<ref name="gm2" />

From the Rutgers Street intersection, Route 7 continues along Washington Avenue for about a mile and a half before reaching [[Nutley, New Jersey|Nutley]], still continuing on Washington Avenue into Nutley.<ref name="SLD" /> The road crosses Norfolk Southern's Newark Industrial Track line at an intersection with County Route 648 (Centre Street). At the intersection with County Route 646 (Park Avenue), Route 7 turns into a municipally maintained road and enters a more residential area.<ref name="SLD" /><ref name="gm2" /> Upon intersecting County Route 606 (Kingsland Road), Route 7 crosses into [[Clifton, New Jersey|Clifton]], [[Passaic County, New Jersey|Passaic County]] and heads to the west on county-maintained Kingsland Street signed east&ndash;west.<ref name="SLD" /><ref name="gm2" /> Kingsland, carrying Route 7, crosses back into Nutley, regaining state maintenance. When Kingsland becomes County Route 644 at the intersection with Cathedral Avenue, Route 7 turns north from Kingsland onto Cathedral Avenue and comes to its terminus at Orange Street in Nutley. However, signage continues to indicate Route 7 up to the terminus of Cathedral Avenue at interchange with [[New Jersey Route 3|Route 3]] at the intersection of Cathedral Avenue, Passaic Avenue, and Ward Avenue.<ref name="SLD" /> Per NJDOT traffic regulations, the portion of Cathedral Avenue and Passaic Avenue within the vicinity of the Route 3 interchange in Clifton is under state jurisdiction.<ref name=CathedralNJDOT>{{cite web |url=https://www.state.nj.us/transportation/refdata/traffic_orders/speed/passaic_cathedral.shtm |title=Traffic Regulations - Orders of the Commissioner of Transportation; Passaic Avenue & Cathedral Avenue (vicinity of Route NJ 3) |publisher=New Jersey Department of Transportation |date=November 19, 2012 |access-date=September 5, 2019}}</ref>