Livingston Avenue inside New Brunswick, southwest of Suydam Street, is the 1.08-mile (1.74 km) County Route 691 (CR 691).

The roadway heads westward as the Livingston Avenue Extension, crossing south of a pond and to the north a car dealership.

[3] Running northward through the commercial district, Route 26 enters a more residential region around the intersection with Jessica Lane.

The highway continues northward, intersecting with Middlesex County Route 680 (How Lane) at a traffic light a short distance later.

Route 26 continues northward along Livingston Avenue, passing to the east of residential homes and to the west of commercial businesses.

Livingston Avenue continues northward, crossing through industrial, commercial and residential districts in rapid succession.

[1] Route 26 followed a majority of the Trenton and New Brunswick Turnpike, a gravel toll road envisioned in 1795 to connect Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with New York City.

[4] On August 9, 1805, the commissioners of the turnpike met in the community of Kingston to appoint officers and to begin to lay out the new highway.

On November 28, 1806, a second charter was passed in the legislature to grant fines of $20 (1806 dollars) for evading tolls or defacing property along the turnpike.

Toll collectors on the turnpike would often have a hard time counting the number of horses at a tollgate because of kicked up smoke and dust.

A third supplement was added to the charter in January 1814, where the turnpike corporation would have to upgrade the road in eighteen months or face removal of tolls.

Although the corporation upgraded the route in 1827, the road was still very tough to travel for passengers and people hauling expensive goods.

When the Delaware and Raritan Canal and Camden and Amboy Railroad were constructed during the 19th century, the profits began to dwindle and the turnpike could not handle the expenses for stagecoaches.

Later that year, the Philadelphia and Trenton gained a controlling interest in the turnpike company, with hopes to lay the tracks on the right-of-way.

[4] By 1858, the turnpike had basically begun to fold, with tolls only being charged at one gate for several years as most traffic had moved to rails rather than road.

In 1899, people from Trenton and nearby Penns Neck approached the railroad to help reconstruct the old turnpike road, but no full proposal ever came forward.

[9] In 1931, the State Highway Department contracted plans for a new bridge over the Delaware and Raritan Canal near Bakers Basin.

[10] On January 30, 1932, the State Highway Department opened the newly constructed Calhoun Street Extension to traffic.

[11] In October 1935, the State Highway Department started work on moving an 8-mile (13 km) stretch of Route 26 over 12 feet (3.7 m) from its current alignment.

The project, considered unprecedented in history, was tested in September of that year near Penns Neck to certify the feasibility of such an accomplishment.