Editing New Jersey Route 21 (section)

==History==
[[File:NJ 21 bridge stamp.jpg|thumb|right|Bridge stamp for Route 21 along former alignment, which was known as Route 21A.]]Route 21 history starts in 1927 with the New Jersey highway renumbering plan.<ref name="nj1927" /><ref name="nj1939" /> At that time it was set up as a surface roadway running through Newark and Belleville, with at-grade interchanges with local streets. This surface road eventually extended to Paterson.<ref name="nj1948" />

From the late 1950s through the early 1970s, much of the highway north of Newark was rebuilt as a limited-interchange freeway., through most of its portion in the City of Passaic. The remaining portion through downtown Passaic and the Botany Village portion of Clifton was not constructed until the last four years of the 20th century.<ref name=":1" />

Further improvements to the remaining surface portion were made to the Newark portion, though most of it remains as city streets.<ref name="njdot91503" /><ref name=":2" />

=== Original surface road ===
Route 21 was first defined in the [[1927 New Jersey state highway renumbering]] to run from [[New Jersey Route 25|Route 25]] (now US 1/9) and [[New Jersey Route 29|Route 29]] (now US 22) in Newark north to Belleville.<ref name="nj1927">State of New Jersey, Laws of 1927, Chapter 319.</ref><ref name="Map">{{cite map|url=http://www.jimmyandsharonwilliams.com/njroads/1920s/images/1927_routes.gif|title=1927 New Jersey Road Map|publisher=State of New Jersey|access-date=2008-10-08|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071031111034/http://www.jimmyandsharonwilliams.com/njroads/1920s/images/1927_routes.gif|archive-date=2007-10-31}}</ref> The surface portion of Route 21 in Newark, which follows the Northeast Corridor rail line, was commissioned in 1934 between Routes 25 and 29 and Market Street and the portion through downtown Newark was commissioned in 1936 between Market Street and Clay Street. '''Route 19''' was designated in 1939 from Paterson to Belleville.<ref name="nj1939">State of New Jersey, Laws of 1939, Chapter 200.</ref> In 1948, the Route 21 designation was extended north to [[Paterson, New Jersey|Paterson]], replacing Route 19 (which has since been reassigned elsewhere).<ref name="nj1948">State of New Jersey, Laws of 1948, Chapter 235.</ref>

By Joint Resolution No. 4, approved March 22, 1934, the [[New Jersey Legislature]] designated Route&nbsp;21 as the McCarter Highway, in memory of Newark financier and philanthropist Uzal Haggerty McCarter.<ref>State of New Jersey; ''Laws of 1934, Joint Resolution No. 4''</ref>

=== Freeway ===
Plans for a freeway along the Route 21 corridor between Newark and Paterson date back to the early 1930s and became official in 1951.<ref>{{cite book|title=Passaic County Master Plan|publisher=Passaic County, New Jersey|year=1951}}</ref> In 1958, the highway was extended northward as a freeway along the west bank of the Passaic River to an interchange with Park Avenue in Nutley. Route 21 was extended to the Passaic Park interchange in 1962,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1962/06/30/80407180.pdf|title=CENTER OF PASSAIC WILL LOSE TRACKS; Erie-Lackawanna Rerouted to Permit Continuation of New Freeway|work=The New York Times }}</ref> Main Avenue in 1968, and Monroe Street in 1973. 1970s legislation stopped the further extension northward until environmental impact could be assessed, leaving a two-mile city street portion in place to connect to Routes 20, 46, and [[Interstate 80 in New Jersey|I-80]] in Paterson for over 25 years.<ref name=":0" />

With the completion of the freeway to Monroe Street, a portion of the former route was briefly known as '''Route 21A'''.<ref>{{cite news|last=Waggoner|first=Walter H.|title=Fiscal Plan To Revivify Newark Offered|work=The New York Times|date=July 15, 1973}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=September 2019}}

[[File:2020-09-03 14 34 28 View north along New Jersey State Route 21 (McCarter Highway) at Exit 8 (Nutley, Lyndhurst) in Nutley Township, Essex County, New Jersey.jpg|thumb|left|View north along Route 21 at Exit 8 in Nutley]]
According to the original freeway plans, the portion north of Monroe Street was to cross over the Passaic River and terminated in [[Elmwood Park, New Jersey|Elmwood Park]] at the interchange of I-80 and [[County Route 507 (New Jersey)|CR 507]]. This routing would have allowed the highway continue with six full lanes. However, the proposal was opposed by residents who lived on the east side of the Passaic River, and for a quarter-century, traffic headed for Paterson had to use local streets in Passaic.

In the 1980s, plans were resurrected for completing the Route 21 freeway along the west bank of the Passaic River to US 46 in Clifton, avoiding the earlier objections.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/24/nyregion/road-and-rail-in-passaic-a-road-to-nowhere-may-be-getting-somewhere.html|title = ROAD AND RAIL; in Passaic, a Road to Nowhere May be Getting Somewhere|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 24 September 1995|last1 = Chen|first1 = David W.}}</ref> Official plans were made in 1996, and in late 1997, construction began on this portion of the freeway.<ref>{{cite book|title=Route 21 Freeway Extension Project: Administrative Action Final Environmental Impact Statement and Section 4(f) Statement|publisher=Federal Highway Administration and New Jersey Department of Transportation|year=1996}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Fitzgerald|first=Thomas J. and Maia Davis|title=Route 21 Completion Near|work=The Bergen Record|date=June 22, 1997}}</ref> It opened on December 20, 2000 at a cost of $136 million.<ref name=":1">{{cite news|last=Page|first=Jeffrey|title=Missing Link Is Finished After 28 Years|work=The Bergen Record|date=December 21, 2000}}</ref> However, this new route was limited mostly to four lanes (three lanes at the very northern end), utilizing the right of way of the [[Dundee Canal]]. A wider highway would have encroached on private property or the Passaic River, entailing much greater costs.

=== Newark section improvements ===
Sections of Route 21 through Newark were improved in the 1990s and the 2000s. The four-lane viaduct over the Northeast Corridor, which was built in the 1920s, was replaced between 1997 and 2003 at a cost of $253 million.<ref name="njdot91503">{{cite web|url=http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/about/press/2003/091503.shtm|title=Lettiere, Lautenberg cut ribbon on final phase of Route 21 Viaduct Project |date=September 15, 2003|publisher=[[New Jersey Department of Transportation]]|access-date=2012-04-06}}</ref> A major reconstruction occurred at the interchange with I-280 at the [[William A. Stickel Memorial Bridge]] in Newark from 2015 to 2018.<ref name=":2">{{cite web|title=Route 280, Route 21 Interchange Improvements Project|publisher=New Jersey Department of Transportation|url=http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/commuter/roads/rte280rte21interchange/fd.shtm|access-date=September 30, 2015}}</ref>

On April 27, 2018, the portion of Route 21 between mileposts 3.90 and 5.83 was dedicated the "Roberto Clemente Memorial Highway" after the late baseball legend [[Roberto Clemente]], who wore number 21 for his entire career with the [[Pittsburgh Pirates]].<ref>{{cite news|author=Staff|title=A portion of Route 21 is now named in honor of Roberto Clemente|work=TAPinto Newark|date=April 27, 2018|url=https://www.tapinto.net/towns/newark/articles/a-portion-of-route-21-is-now-named-in-honor-of-ro|access-date=June 1, 2018}}</ref>