Route 495 is a 3.45-mile-long (5.55 km) state highway in Hudson County, New Jersey, in the United States that connects the New Jersey Turnpike at exits 16E-17 in Secaucus to New York State Route 495 (NY 495) inside the Lincoln Tunnel in Weehawken, providing access to Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The road is owned and operated by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA) between the New Jersey Turnpike and Route 3, the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) between Route 3 and Park Avenue near the Union City–Weehawken border, and by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) east of Park Avenue, including the helix used to descend the New Jersey Palisades to reach the entrance of the Lincoln Tunnel. Route 495 is mostly a six-lane freeway with a reversible bus lane used during the morning rush hour. The bus lane, which runs the entire length of the freeway, continues into the Lincoln Tunnel's center tube.
The beginning of eastbound Route 495 at the New Jersey Turnpike
The Helix, from east
View east along Route 495 at Hudson Avenue in Union City
Lincoln Tunnel Helix and toll plaza (circa 1955), with the south tube under construction
The New Jersey Turnpike (NJTP) is a system of controlled-access highways in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The turnpike is maintained by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA). The 117.20-mile (188.62 km) mainline's southern terminus is at a complex interchange with Interstate 295 (I-295), U.S. Route 40 (US 40), US 130, and Route 49 near the border of Pennsville and Carneys Point townships in Salem County, one mile (1.6 km) east of the Delaware Memorial Bridge. Its northern terminus is at an interchange with I-80 and US 46 in Ridgefield Park. Construction of the mainline from concept to completion took 22 months, from 1950 to 1951. It was opened to traffic on November 5, 1951, between its southern terminus and exit 10.
Signage at the southern end of the turnpike on I-295/US 40 in Pennsville Township
View south along the New Jersey Turnpike in East Greenwich Township
New Jersey Turnpike (I-95) northbound at I-195 exit in Robbinsville Township
View south along the turnpike from a plane landing at Newark Liberty International Airport