Route 94 is a state highway in the northwestern part of New Jersey, United States. It runs from the Portland–Columbia Toll Bridge over the Delaware River in Knowlton Township, Warren County, where it connects to PA 611, northeast to the New York state line in Vernon, Sussex County. At the New York border, New York State Route 94 (NY 94) continues to Newburgh, New York. Route 94 is mostly a two-lane undivided road that runs through mountain and valley areas of Warren and Sussex counties, serving Columbia, Blairstown, Newton, and Hamburg. The route intersects several roads, including U.S. Route 46 (US 46) and Interstate 80 (I-80) in Knowlton Township, US 206 in Newton, Route 15 in Lafayette Township, and Route 23 in Hamburg.
What is now Route 94 was legislated as part of two separate routes in 1927. The portion of road between Route 6/US 46 near the Delaware Bridge to Newton became Route 8, while the route north of Newton to the New York border became a part of Route 31. Prior to 1953, the only portion of Route 31 north of Newton that was a state highway was between North Church and Hamburg. In 1953, Route 94 was designated to replace all of Route 8 as well as Route 31 north of Newton; the number was chosen to match NY 94, and in turn named after the 94th Infantry Division. After the Portland–Columbia Toll Bridge and the Delaware Water Gap Toll Bridge were both completed in December 1953, the southern terminus of Route 94 was cut back to an intersection with US 611 in Columbia, which had been rerouted into New Jersey across both bridges, following a freeway between Columbia and the Delaware Water Gap Toll Bridge that would later become a part of I-80. The former alignment of Route 94 between the Delaware Bridge and the Portland–Columbia Toll Bridge became a part of US 46. In 1965, US 611 was routed out of New Jersey (though US 611 shields would remain on that freeway along with I-80 shields until 1972), and Route 94 still ended at that three-way intersection. Once new ramps were completed in that area in 1972 along with US 611 being decommissioned (being replaced with PA 611), Route 94 was extended to the state line on the Portland–Columbia Toll Bridge. Through the 1960s and 1970s, a freeway was proposed for the Route 94 corridor. This freeway, proposed to be a part of the Interstate Highway System, was never built.
Route description
left|thumb|Route 94 in Warrington
Warren County
Route 94 begins at the two-lane undivided Portland–Columbia Toll Bridge over the Delaware River in Knowlton Township, Warren County, where it connects to PA 611 on the Pennsylvania side of the river. This bridge is maintained by the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission; the rest of Route 94 is maintained by the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT). Immediately after the bridge, the route comes to a complex interchange with the western terminus of US 46 as well as with I-80 a short distance later, near the community of Columbia. In the area of the US 46/I-80 interchange, the directions of Route 94 split, carrying two lanes in each direction. Signage for Route 94 begins at the interchange with I-80. It was abandoned by 1828.
In the 1927 renumbering of state highways, Route 8 was defined to run along present-day Route 94 from Route 6 (current US 46) at the Delaware Bridge north to Columbia before turning northeast to Route 31 (now US 206) in Newton. Past Newton, Route 31 continued northeast to the New York state line (current US 206 north of here was Route S31). In the original version of the renumbering bill, Route 31 was to reach the state line via Sussex, incorporating pre-1927 Route 8 (now Route 284) from Sussex to the New York state line. However, in the final version, Route 31 ran via Hamburg, using the same alignment as a planned spur of pre-1927 Route 8 from Lafayette Township to North Church. Route 8 was eventually taken over by the state. On the other hand, by 1949, only one section of Route 31 north of the Route S31 split had been taken between North Church to Hamburg.
In the 1953 renumbering, Route 8 was renumbered to Route 94, which was extended northeast past Newton along former Route 31 to the New York state line, matching NY 94 across the border. It was initially only marked south of Hamburg, as none of the route north of Hamburg was state-maintained. Originally, Route 94 began at the now razed Delaware Bridge, where US 46 would cross into Pennsylvania. Route 94 would wind right and north-east a few to Columbia, where it joined its current route. That year a section of Old Mine Road was rebuilt and aligned as a four lane freeway between Columbia and the Delaware Water Gap Toll Bridge.
left|thumb|alt=A stamp on a bridge support reading State Highway Route 31|Old SHR 31 indentation on a bridge in Hamburg
Following this, US 46 was rerouted over the first several miles of Route 94 between the Delaware Bridge and Columbia, and Route 94 was cut back to Columbia, near the Portland-Columbia Toll Bridge. Here, US 46 would end and US 611, would cross the Portland-Columbia Toll Bridge from Pennsylvania and follow the freeway north to the Delaware Water Gap Toll Bridge. The freeway portion that US 611 followed became a part of I-80 in 1959. When US 611 was removed from New Jersey in 1965, Route 94 was extended to the state line on the Portland-Columbia Toll Bridge. By 1969, the unsigned portions of Route 94 north of Newton were signed. In 1973, this whole area was realigned into a complex interchange as the New Jersey portion of I-80 was completed.
In 1964, a Route 94 freeway was proposed to run from I-80 in Netcong north to the planned Route 23 freeway in Hamburg, following US 206 north to Newton and current Route 94 to Hamburg. In the late 1960s, NJD0T planned for the Route 94 freeway to run from I-80/US 46 in Columbia northeast to the New York state line near Wawayanda State Park. NJD0T hoped to get funding for the freeway in 1970 for it to become an Interstate Highway as it was planned to serve a proposed national recreation area along the Delaware River that would have been built in conjunction with the controversial Tocks Island Dam project. This proposed Interstate, which was to run from I-80 in Hope Township to I-84 in Port Jervis and continue northeast along US 209, was denied funding. After reviewing the proposal again in 1972, NJDOT determined that the freeway would cost $96 million. It was eventually canceled due to environmental concerns and financial constraints.