U.S. RouteĀ 22 (USĀ 22) is a United States Numbered Highway stretching from Cincinnati, Ohio, in the west to Newark, New Jersey, in the east. In New Jersey, the route runs for 60.53 miles (97.41Ā km) from the EastonāPhillipsburg Toll Bridge over the Delaware River in Phillipsburg, Warren County, to InterstateĀ 78 (I-78), USĀ 1/9, and RouteĀ 21 at the Newark Airport Interchange in Newark, Essex County. The road first heads through the PhillipsburgāAlpha area as an arterial road before running concurrent with I-78 through mountainous and agricultural sections of western New Jersey between Alpha and east of Clinton in Hunterdon County. For the remainder of the route, USĀ 22 runs to the south of I-78 through mostly suburban areas as a four- to six-lane arterial road, passing through Hunterdon, Somerset, Union, and Essex counties. Along this portion, it intersects USĀ 202 and USĀ 206 in Somerville, I-287 in Bridgewater Township, and the Garden State Parkway in Union.
What became USĀ 22 in 1926 was first designated as RouteĀ 9, a route running from Phillipsburg to Elizabeth, in 1916. In 1927, RouteĀ 9 west of Elizabeth became RouteĀ 28 while the portion within Elizabeth became Route 27-28 Link. By 1941, USĀ 22 was moved to its current alignment in the Phillipsburg area, following RouteĀ 24 and RouteĀ 24-28 Link; RouteĀ 28 in Phillipsburg became USĀ 22 Alternate (USĀ 22 Alt.; now RouteĀ 122). Also, USĀ 22 was moved off RouteĀ 28 east of Bridgewater Township to follow RouteĀ 28-29 Link and RouteĀ 29 to Newark. In 1953, the long concurrencies with the state highways were removed. In the 1960s, I-78 was constructed close to the USĀ 22 corridor throughout New Jersey. USĀ 22 was moved onto the new Interstate between Alpha and Clinton in 1969 with most of the old route becoming RouteĀ 173.