Originally legislated to traverse the state from Cape May to the George Washington Bridge, Route 4 was heavily reduced to its current alignment in 1953.

As well as providing a critical commuter route from the Hudson Valley and Bergen County into New York City via the George Washington Bridge, it gives New Yorkers access to popular shopping areas such as Garden State Plaza and Bergen Town Center, and forms part of the straightest route from New York City and Long Island to Upstate and Western New York destinations.

Route 4 starts in Paterson, Passaic County, at the intersection of Broadway and East 43rd Street at an interchange with Route 20 (McLean Boulevard), heading east on Broadway, a four-lane arterial road with a Jersey barrier.

[1] The route continues east on Broadway as a boulevard with a concrete then a grassy median, with businesses lining both sides of the roadway.

[3] At the intersection with Cyril Avenue, Route 4 runs along the border of Elmwood Park to the south and Fair Lawn to the north before entirely entering Fair Lawn, where the route passes under NJ Transit’s Bergen County Line near Broadway station.

It intersects CR 67 (Midland Avenue) and continues east as an arterial road with a Jersey barrier through commercial areas of Fair Lawn.

[1] Route 4 has an interchange which provides access to the Westfield Garden State Plaza shopping mall, located on the south side of the road, and a large IKEA store, located on the north side of the road.

The route crosses the Hackensack River into Teaneck and heads through the campus of Fairleigh Dickinson University, becoming a six-lane freeway.

[1][3] Route 4 features ramps that provide access to CR 41 (River Road), which it later passes over.

Route 4 continues south with I-95 in the median, ending at an interchange with I-95, US 1/9, US 46, and US 9W, at the George Washington Bridge approach.

[9][10] The section of present-day Route 4 was built beginning 1930 to connect Paterson and the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, and was completed and opened July 28, 1932.

William B. Mackay, Jr., a Republican from Bergen County, had served in the New Jersey State Senate from 1917 to 1928.

[20] In the 1960s, recommendations were made to upgrade Route 4 to a freeway but was cancelled due to feared disruption to residents.

[22] In 2002, construction was completed on a $32 million project that improved the interchange with Route 208 in Fair Lawn.