County Route 501 (CR 501) is a county highway in New Jersey in two segments spanning Middlesex, Hudson, and Bergen counties. The southern segment runs from South Plainfield to Perth Amboy, the northern segment runs from Bayonne to Rockleigh, and the two segments are connected by NY 440 across Staten Island.

The New Jersey Department of Transportation lists CR 501 as a single highway with a length of 53.0 miles (85.3 km), which includes both road sections and the connection along NY 440.

CR 501 is signed east-west in Middlesex County. The western (southern) terminus of CR 501 is at the intersection of Stelton Road (CR 529) in South Plainfield. From there, the route heads east to Metuchen, where it has a short concurrency with Route 27. It then continues east, crossing the Garden State Parkway between Exits 127 and 129 in Woodbridge, following concurrencies with Route 184 and Route 440 to the southern section's eastern terminus at the Outerbridge Crossing.^{[citation needed]}

The northern section of CR 501 begins in Hudson County, New Jersey and is known as Kennedy Boulevard. It starts at the intersection of Route 440/Bayonne Bridge in Bayonne, making its way north to Route 63 in North Bergen. The highway crosses over Route 139 to the Holland Tunnel and Route 495 to the Lincoln Tunnel.^[2]

At its intersection of Route 63 in North Bergen, CR 501 begins a concurrency with Route 63 into Bergen County,^[2] while Kennedy Boulevard loops around the northern end of the county and heads south through Guttenberg, West New York and Weehawken, where it is known as Boulevard East.^{[citation needed]}

Major points on Kennedy Boulevard include Marist High School, New Jersey City University, Saint Dominic Academy, Saint Peter's University, Journal Square, Union City High School, North Bergen High School, and four Hudson County parks: Stephen R. Gregg (Bayonne) Park and Mercer Park in Bayonne, Lincoln Park in Jersey City and James J. Braddock (North Hudson) Park in North Bergen.^{[citation needed]}

Immediately northeast of Journal Square, CR 501 crosses over PATH railroad tracks on an open-spandrel concrete arch bridge completed in 1926. The bridge is a pared-down version of a more ambitious elevated plaza scheme proposed by consulting engineer Abraham Burton Cohen. Cohen's office constructed a model using slot cars to demonstrate traffic flow through the plaza.^[3]

The boulevard continues north through Jersey City Heights, passing Dr. Leonard J. Gordon Park. In the area once known as Transfer Station, it enters North Hudson.^{[citation needed]}

In Bergen County, CR 501 leaves its concurrency with Route 63 in Palisades Park, using Central Boulevard to connect to the concurrency with US 1/9/46 and Route 93. It is then concurrent with Route 93 until it reaches that route's northern terminus at the interchange with Route 4 in Englewood. CR 501 continues north from this interchange through Rockleigh, crossing the New York State Line and becoming NY 340.^{[citation needed]}

In 1808, the Perth Amboy Turnpike was legislated to run from Perth Amboy to Bound Brook. The company struggled to complete their road, having petitioned in 1820 to the state legislature to extend the time to complete the road. They were unsuccessful, as the road was only completed as far as Piscataway.^{[citation needed]}

Prior to being renamed in honor of John F. Kennedy in the 1960s, Kennedy Boulevard was known as Hudson Boulevard. While there was discussion of building a county long road as early as the 1870s,^[4] parts of Hudson County Boulevard were officially opened in 1896.^[5][4][6] By 1913 it was completed, and considered to be fine for "motoring",^[7] and included the road's eastern section, Boulevard East, into which Kennedy Boulevard forks at 91st Street.^{[citation needed]} (The fork that continues north merges with Bergen Boulevard.^[8]) Taken as a single road, the circuitous route of west and east sections of the entire boulevard runs from the southern tip of the county at Bergen Point to its northern border with Bergen County and south again to the Hoboken city line.^[9]

The Boulevard was named the fifth most dangerous road for pedestrians in New Jersey, and the most dangerous road in Hudson County for pedestrians in a February 2011 report by the non-profit Tri-State Transportation Campaign. The road was the location of six pedestrian fatalities between 2007 and 2009, which account for a little more than a fifth of Hudson County's 29 pedestrian deaths in the three-year period.^[10] In November 2017 county officials launched a safety campaign for Kennedy Boulevard's five most dangerous intersections, based on accident data:^[8]

• 25th Street in Bayonne
• Lexington Avenue in Jersey City
• 36th Street in Union City
• 51st Street in West New York
• 91st Street in North Bergen

County officials had expressed interest in building a pedestrian bridge that crosses Kennedy Boulevard at 32nd Street, at the Union City-North Bergen border since at least.^[11] The two cities contracted a company to build the bridge for just over $4 million in November 2010.^[12] Construction plans began in May 2011, and field work began later that August.^[13]

County	Location	mi[2]	km	Destinations	Notes
Middlesex	South Plainfield	0.0	0.0	CR 529 (Stelton Rd)	Western terminus
	Edison	2.0	3.2	I-287 north	Exit 3 (I-287)
	Metuchen	3.3	5.3	Route 27 north (Middlesex Ave) – Rahway	Western end of the concurrency with Route 27
		3.6	5.8	Route 27 south (Lake Ave) to I-95 Toll / N.J. Turnpike – Highland Park	Eastern end of the concurrency with Route 27
		3.8	6.1	CR 531 (Main St)
	Edison	4.6	7.4	US 1 to I-95 Toll / N.J. Turnpike – Newark, New Brunswick	Interchange
		5.7	9.2	CR 514 (Woodbridge Ave) to I-95 Toll / N.J. Turnpike
		6.2	10.0	CR 616 east (New Brunswick Ave)	Western terminus of CR 616
	Woodbridge Township	6.9	11.1	Route 184 begins
		7.1	11.4	To I-95 Toll / N.J. Turnpike / G.S. Parkway north	Partial cloverleaf interchange
		7.3	11.7	US 9 – Rahway, South Amboy	Partial cloverleaf interchange
	Perth Amboy	7.7	12.4	CR 655 (Florida Grove Rd)
		8.2	13.2	Route 35 CR 653 (Amboy Ave) Route 184 ends	Eastern terminus of Route 184
				Western end of the freeway section
				Route 440 south to I-95 Toll / N.J. Turnpike / G.S. Parkway south / US 9 south	Western end of the concurrency with Route 440
		8.3	13.4	Route 35 south	Westbound exit only
		8.6	13.8	Amboy Ave	Eastbound exit is via Route 440 exit; access via CR 653
		9.2	14.8	State St / High St – Perth Amboy	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; access via CR 611
Arthur Kill		10.1	16.3	Outerbridge Crossing (eastbound toll on Staten Island)
				NY 440 north – Staten Island Route 440 ends	Continuation into New York northern terminus of Route 440
Connection made via NY 440 (12.7 mi or 20.44 km)
Kill van Kull		22.85	36.77	NY 440 south – Staten Island Route 440 begins	Continuation into New York; southern terminus of Route 440
				Bayonne Bridge (southbound toll on Staten Island)
Hudson	Bayonne	23.7	38.1	Avenue A	Southbound exit and entrance
		23.7	38.1	Route 440 north to I-78 Toll / Newark Bay Extension – Jersey City	Northern end of the concurrency with Route 440
				Northern end of the freeway section
		27.1	43.6	To Route 440	Access via West 63rd Street
	Jersey City	29.3	47.2	CR 612 (Communipaw Ave)
		31.1	50.1	US 1-9 (Tonnele Circle)
		31.1	50.1	Route 139 east – Holland Tunnel, Lincoln Tunnel	Western terminus of the upper level of Route 139
	North Bergen	34.0	54.7	Route 495 to I-95 / N.J. Turnpike – Lincoln Tunnel	Interchange; former I-495
	Union City	34.3– 34.3	55.2– 55.2	CR 505 north (38th St)	Southern terminus of CR 505
	North Bergen	37.2	59.9	Route 63 begins
Bergen	Fort Lee	39.1	62.9	Route 5 – Ridgefield, Edgewater	Northbound access via Bergen Boulevard; southbound access via Aurora Avenue and Bergen Boulevard
	Palisades Park	39.6	63.7	Route 63 north – G.W. Bridge	Northern end of the concurrency with Route 63
		39.9	64.2	US 1-9 / US 46	Interchange; southbound access via 5th Street and northbound access via 6th Street
		40.5	65.2	Route 93 south (Grand Ave) – Ridgefield, Fairview	Southern end of the concurrency with Route 93
	Englewood	42.7	68.7	Route 4 – New York, Paterson	Interchange; northbound access via Rockwood Place
		42.8	68.9	CR 501 south (Van Nostrand Ave) Route 93 ends	Northern terminus of Route 93; one-way pair begins
		43.8	70.5	CR 505 (Palisades Ave) – Teaneck, Bergenfield
		45.0	72.4	CR 501 south (Hudson Ave)	Northern terminus of one-way pair
	Closter	49.6	79.8	CR 502 (Old Closter Dock Rd) to US 9W – Westwood, Alpine
	Rockleigh	53.0	85.3	NY 340 north – Sparkill	Continuation into New York
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Electronic toll collection       Incomplete access

• U.S. Roads portal
• New Jersey portal

• An enlarged view of road jurisdiction at the Fort Lee approaches to the George Washington Bridge
• New Jersey Roads: County Route 501 and NJ 63, NJ 93
• NJ State Highways: CR 200-514