Editing New Jersey Route 120 (section)

== History ==
[[File:2020-09-08 11 17 28 View north along New Jersey State Route 120 at the exit for Bergen County Route 503 NORTH (Washington Avenue, Moonachie) in East Rutherford, Bergen County, New Jersey.jpg|thumb|right|Route 120 northbound at the exit for CR 503 in East Rutherford]]In the [[1927 New Jersey state highway renumbering]], Route 3 was legislated to run along the Paterson Plank Road portion of today’s Route 120 as part of its route between [[Secaucus, New Jersey|Secaucus]] and [[Greenwood Lake]].<ref name=nj1927>State of New Jersey, Laws of 1927, Chapter 319.</ref><ref name="Map">{{cite web|author=Williams, Jimmy and Sharon|url=http://www.jimmyandsharonwilliams.com/njroads/1920s/images/1927_routes.gif|title=1927 New Jersey Road Map|publisher=1920s New Jersey Highways|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=October 31, 2007|df=mdy-all}}</ref> By 1947, Route 3 had been designated along the entire alignment of current Route 120.<ref name="1947newarkquad">{{cite map|url=http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/topo/250k/txu-pclmaps-topo-us-newark-1947.jpg|title=Newark 1:250,000 quadrangle|publisher=[[United States Geological Survey]]|year=1946|access-date=June 30, 2009}}</ref> When New Jersey [[1953 New Jersey state highway renumbering|renumbered its state highways]] in 1953, Route 3 was moved to a new freeway alignment that was [[New Jersey Route S3|Route S3]]. As a result of this realignment, the portion of the route between modern Route 3 and Paterson Plank Road became a portion of [[New Jersey Route 20|Route 20]] while the section along Paterson Plank Road was removed from the state highway system.<ref name="nj1953">{{Cite book|title=1953 renumbering|url=http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1953_New_Jersey_state_highway_renumbering|publisher=New Jersey Department of Highways|access-date=July 31, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628183145/http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1953_New_Jersey_state_highway_renumbering|archive-date=June 28, 2011|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name=nyt>{{cite web|access-date=July 20, 2009|title=New Road Signs Ready in New Jersey|work=The New York Times |date=December 16, 1952 |url=http://img123.imageshack.us/img123/6933/19521216newroadsignsreaiu6.jpg|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721112422/http://img123.imageshack.us/img123/6933/19521216newroadsignsreaiu6.jpg|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 21, 2011}}</ref> Paterson Plank Road between County Route 503 and Route 17 joined the state highway system again as an extension of this portion of Route 20 in 1972 when the [[Meadowlands Sports Complex]] was slated to be built.<ref name=nj1972>State of New Jersey, Laws of 1972, Chapter 209.</ref> At this point, Route 20 had consisted of three disconnected segments. Since none of these segments were connected, this portion of road was redesignated Route 120 by the 1990s.<ref name="statefarm">{{cite map|publisher=[[State Farm Insurance]]|title= State Farm Road Atlas |year=1983|cartography=[[Rand McNally]]}}</ref><ref name="rm">{{cite map|publisher=[[Rand McNally]]|title=United States-Canada-Mexico Road Atlas|year=1996}}</ref>

With the construction of American Dream, several improvements to Route 120 took place. The interchange with Route 3 was reconstructed with an overpass between eastbound Route 3 and northbound Route 120 that was completed in May 2009 at a cost of $38.1 million.<ref name=bcr>{{cite news|last=Brennan |first=John |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-164143908.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131013134959/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-164143908.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 13, 2013 |title=Newstracker: Road, rail improvements on track for Xanadu project  |work=[[The Record (Bergen County)|The Record]] |publisher=Highbeam Research |date=May 1, 2009 |access-date=2013-10-11}} {{Subscription required}}</ref> Also, a flyover from southbound Route 120 to eastbound Route 3 was completed in early 2010 at a cost of $13 million.<ref name=bcr2>{{cite news |last=Brennan |first=John |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-164143908.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131013134959/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-164143908.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 13, 2013 |title=Finally on Track: Sports complex rail, roads racing to the finish line |work=The Record |publisher=vLex |date=November 17, 2008 |access-date=2013-10-11}} {{Subscription required}}</ref>

By Joint Resolution No. 6, approved September 9, 1997, the [[New Jersey Legislature]] designated Route 120 in East Rutherford, where it runs through the Meadowlands Sports Complex, as the '''Larry Doby Highway'''. Former Paterson resident [[Larry Doby]], a professional baseball player with the [[Newark Eagles]] of the [[Negro leagues]], later played in the [[Cleveland Indians]] and was the first African American to break the color barrier in the [[American League]].<ref>State of New Jersey; ''Laws of 1997, Joint Resolution No. 6''</ref>