Route 163 marker

Route 163

Route information
Maintained by NJDOT
Length0.30 mi[1] (480 m)
Existed1953–present
Major junctions
South end US 46 in Delaware
North endDead end in Delaware
Location
CountryUnited States
StateNew Jersey
CountiesWarren
Highway system
← Route 162→ Route 164

Route 163 is a short 0.30-mile (0.48 km) long state highway in the county of Warren in New Jersey. The route, which is currently a stub, used to be the approach to the destroyed Darlington's Bridge at Delaware Station, which was a road bridge over the Delaware River, connecting the settlement of Delaware, New Jersey with Portland, Pennsylvania. Until 1953, the bridge carried U.S. Route 46 over the river. The bridge has been destroyed, but the approaches are still state-maintained. A still-existing bridge carries an abandoned ex-Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad line across the river just north of the former road crossing. The unsigned Route 163 runs from US 46 north to a dead end on the east side of US 46, all in Knowlton Township, New Jersey. From the dead end, the bridge approach continued northwest and west over US 46 to the bridge.

Route description

Route 163 in Knowlton Township with its original pavement
View south at the north end of Route 163 in Knowlton Township

Route 163 begins north of an intersection with U.S. Route 46 and Roy Ace Street in the community of Delaware. The highway heads to the north along Lackawanna Road. Route 163 passes several residences to the north and a short stretch of homes to the south. There is a short intersection with an unnamed local road. After that intersection, Route 163 passes a truck stop that is visible on both Route 46, which parallels to the south, and the short state highway. There is another short truck stop before an intersection with a return ramp to Route 46. Route 163 officially terminates at a barricaded dead-end near Hemlock Hill Lane.[2]

History

A stamp on a bridge reading State Highway Route 5
Bridge stamp for pre-1927 Route 5 along Route 163

New Jersey Route 163 originated as an alignment of U.S. Route 46 (co-signed with New Jersey State Highway Route 6).[3] The alignment of 6 and 46 went along the alignment of the original State Highway Route 5 from the early 1920s, stretching from Newark to the bridge over the Delaware River at Delaware.[4] The route was decommissioned when the 1927 renumbering occurred.[5] After that renumbering, the route became State Highway Route 6, a co-designation to U.S. Route 46,[5] which had been assigned the prior year.[6] The two highway designations remained intact until the 1953 renumbering, when Route 6 was decommissioned in favor of using the U.S. 46 designation.[7] U.S. Route 46 was realigned once again when the Portland-Columbia Toll Bridge opened in 1953,[8] when the alignment of the highway was changed to head along former State Highway Route 8[3] (mostly New Jersey Route 94), where it ended at U.S. Route 611 and Route 94, where its current terminus is located.[9] After the realigning of the Route 46 Delaware River crossing, the remaining route to Darlington's Bridge was renumbered to New Jersey Route 163, in the 1953 renumbering.[9][10] The bridge was decommissioned on April 3, 1954 and demolished a few days later, but the state continued to maintain State Route 163 that previously led to the bridge.

Two years later, the covered bridge at Columbia was swept away in floods caused by Hurricane Connie and Diane in 1955, which took out several other bridges over the Delaware.[8]

Major intersections

The entire route is in Delaware, Warren County.

mi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
0.000.00 US 46
0.300.48Dead end
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

References

  1. 1 2 New Jersey Department of Transportation. "Route 163 straight line diagram" (PDF). Retrieved March 17, 2020.
  2. ↑ Overview map of NJ Route 163 (Map). Cartography by NAVTEQ Incorporated. Yahoo Maps. 2009. Retrieved June 23, 2009.
  3. 1 2 Sketch Map Showing Approximate Locations of State Highway Routes (Map). New Jersey Highway Department. 1927. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved June 23, 2009.
  4. ↑ State Highway Route map (Map). New Jersey Highway Department. 1925. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved June 23, 2009.
  5. 1 2 State of New Jersey, Laws of 1927, Chapter 319.
  6. ↑ Bureau of Public Roads & American Association of State Highway Officials (November 11, 1926). United States System of Highways Adopted for Uniform Marking by the American Association of State Highway Officials (Map). 1:7,000,000. Washington, DC: United States Geological Survey. OCLC 32889555. Retrieved November 7, 2013 – via Wikimedia Commons.
  7. ↑ "1953 renumbering". New Jersey Department of Highways. Archived from the original on June 28, 2011. Retrieved July 31, 2009. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. 1 2 Dale, Frank T. (2003). Bridges Over The Delaware River: A History of Crossings. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-0-8135-3213-4. Retrieved June 23, 2009.
  9. 1 2 New Jersey Official Road Map (Map). Cartography by New Jersey Department of Transportation. New Jersey Department of Transportation. 2007.
  10. ↑ New Jersey Official Road Map (Map). Cartography by New Jersey Department of Transportation. New Jersey Department of Transportation. 1988.
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