Every public highway in New Jersey has a Standard Route Identifier (SRI) for the purpose of inventorying the state’s roads. (“Highway” is used here in the sense of a public road, and does not denote a special status.)
The general form of an SRI is an eight-digit number. The first two digits identify the county in which the road originates; the next two digits identify the municipality; and the final four digits are a unique number within that municipality.
The county codes are simple, assigned alphabetically:
| 01 | Atlantic | 08 | Gloucester | 15 | Ocean |
| 02 | Bergen | 09 | Hudson | 16 | Passaic |
| 03 | Burlington | 10 | Hunterdon | 17 | Salem |
| 04 | Camden | 11 | Mercer | 18 | Somerset |
| 05 | Cape May | 12 | Middlesex | 19 | Sussex |
| 06 | Cumberland | 13 | Monmouth | 20 | Union |
| 07 | Essex | 14 | Morris | 21 | Warren |
Within each county, the municipality names are assigned alphabetically as well, although the numbers are not reassigned when municipalities change their names. East Paterson was assigned number 11; when it changed its name to Elmwood Park in 1972, it retained number 11 even though it was now alphabetically behind East Rutherford (12) and Edgewater (13). So Elmwood Park highways begin with the digits 0211. (This is also the code that Elmwood Park residents enter on their state tax returns.) State- and county-maintained roads receive the municipality code 00.
Then within each municipality, public roads are assigned numbers beginning with 1000 and theoretically extending to 9999 (though no municipality has that many roads). State and county highways typically receive their designated numbers, which are all below 1000. All state highways, including US and Interstate routes, use their designated numbers; this was accomplished when the state highway system was renumbered in 1953.
Accordingly, NJ 17 has the SRI 00000017. The first four digits, 0000, indicate state maintenance; the last four digits, 0017, are the route number. (Some SRIs have suffixes in addition to the eight digits. SRI 00000001T indicates Truck Route 1/9; SRI 00000009W indicates US Route 9W.) SRIs for roads operated by independent authorities without route numbers are given an internal state number and coordinating SRI as well; the SRI for the Garden State Parkway is 00000444, and the SRI for the Palisades Interstate Parkway is 00000445.
The SRI for a Bergen County-maintained road will begin with 0200. The exception is the 500-series of county roads which was designated starting in the 1950s as a secondary system of state roads. These routes’ SRIs begin with 0000, just as those of state highways. So Bergen CR 55 has an SRI of 02000055; however, CR 507, which is part of the 500-series, has the SRI 00000507.
In the case of the primary routes established by Bergen County in the 1960s, the SRI for these routes is not based on the assigned primary route number, but on the pre-existing number of the county highway. So while Market Street in Elmwood Park is signed as primary route 12, its SRI is 02000056, reflecting its official status as county road 56. (There are actually four separate SRIs for county road 56, using suffixes 1 through 4, to distinguish between the sections of the road that are all listed as CR 56. Market Street is part of section 1.)
The SRI for a local street in Elmwood Park would begin with 0211, the municipality code. The street might have the SRI 02111038, for instance. It is not this log’s intent to list every municipal road. For the status of any road, it is best to check with state, county, or municipal authorities.