{{Use American English|date=May 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox road |marker_image= |state=NJ |name=Delaware River Drive |name_notes= |type= |route= |alternate_name= |maint= |section= |map= |length_mi= |length_round= |length_ref= |length_notes= |established=1911 |decommissioned=1916 |direction_a=South |terminus_a=West State Street in [[Trenton, New Jersey|Trenton]] |beltway_city= |junction= |direction_b=North |terminus_b=[[New York (state)|New York]] border in [[Montague Township, New Jersey|Montague Township]] |counties= |rural_municipalities= |cities= |system= |previous_type= |previous_route= |next_type= |next_route= |browse= |commons= |customcommons= }} '''Delaware River Drive''' was a [[state highway]] in the [[U.S. state]] of [[New Jersey]].
==Route description== A 1913 map of the proposed New Jersey State Highway System with an accompanying report shows the route of the Delaware River Drive beginning at the State Capitol on West State Street in [[Trenton, New Jersey|Trenton]]. It then followed West State Street and Sanhican Drive to the city limits, then followed present-day [[New Jersey Route 175|Route 175]] to present-day [[New Jersey Route 29|Route 29]] to [[Frenchtown, New Jersey|Frenchtown]].
From Frenchtown north, the Delaware River Drive followed [[County Route 619 (Hunterdon County, New Jersey)|County Route 619]] (CR 619) into [[Milford, New Jersey|Milford]], where it met [[County Route 519 (New Jersey)|CR 519]], following CR 519 a short distance to the center of Milford. North of Milford, the route followed [[County Route 627 (Hunterdon County, New Jersey)|CR 627]] as far as [[Riegelsville, New Jersey|Riegelsville]], then continued along River Road to [[Carpentersville, New Jersey|Carpentersville]], and Carpentersville Road to [[Phillipsburg, New Jersey|Phillipsburg]].
The Delaware River Drive continued north of Phillipsburg on present-day [[County Route 646 (Warren County, New Jersey)|CR 646]] to CR 519, following CR 519 through [[Harmony Township, New Jersey|Harmony]] and [[Roxburg, New Jersey|Roxburg]] to [[County Route 620 (Warren County, New Jersey)|CR 620]], which took the drive into [[Belvidere, New Jersey|Belvidere]], the [[county seat]] of [[Warren County, New Jersey|Warren County]], and beyond to [[U.S. Route 46]] (US 46).
The route then followed the present US 46 through [[Manunka Chunk, New Jersey|Manunka Chunk]] to [[Columbia, New Jersey|Columbia]]; the Delaware River Drive between Columbia and [[Dunnfield, New Jersey|Dunnfield]] has been obliterated since 1953 by an alignment of the former [[U.S. Route 611 in New Jersey|US 611]], now part of [[Interstate 80 in New Jersey|Interstate 80]] (I-80).
North of I-80, The Delaware River Drive follows the historic [[Old Mine Road]] for much of its route to the [[New York (state)|New York]] state line at [[Montague Township, New Jersey|Montague Township]] in [[Sussex County, New Jersey|Sussex County]]. Much of this section is through the [[Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area]]. North of [[U.S. Route 206 in New Jersey|US 206]], the Delaware River Drive follows [[County Route 521 (New Jersey)|CR 521]].<ref>State of New Jersey (Map of) State Highway System, adopted February 5, 1913</ref>
==History== Legislated in 1911,<ref>State of New Jersey, Laws of 1911, Chapter 114</ref> this was New Jersey's second state highway. Legislation in 1913 provided for the extension of the Delaware River Drive to [[Cape May, New Jersey|Cape May]].<ref>State of New Jersey, Laws of 1913, Chapter 173</ref>
The Egan Bill of 1916,<ref>State of New Jersey, Laws of 1916, Chapter 285</ref> and the Edge Bill of 1917<ref>State of New Jersey, Laws of 1917, Chapter 14</ref> did not provide for a route along the Delaware River; the Delaware River Drive may be considered to have been decommissioned by these acts.
This route, and the [[Ocean Highway (New Jersey)|Ocean Highway]] predated any highway numbering system in New Jersey, and may be considered a transition between the early [[auto trail]]s and modern state highways.
==See also== *{{Portal-inline|U.S. Roads}} *{{Portal-inline|New Jersey}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
[[Category:Former state highways in New Jersey]] [[Category:Auto trails in the United States]] [[Category:Transportation in Hunterdon County, New Jersey]] [[Category:Transportation in Mercer County, New Jersey]] [[Category:Transportation in Sussex County, New Jersey]] [[Category:Transportation in Warren County, New Jersey]] [[Category:U.S. Route 46]]