Ever since the bridge was built in the 1990s, the New Jersey Department of Transportation no longer considers the Somerville Circle a traffic circle, but the intersection still contains a 360 degree loop, interrupted on one side with traffic lights.

[1] In the late 1920s New Jersey was planning a series of highways to allow out of state traffic to bypass towns and called for counties in the state to build and maintain another series of roads for local traffic.

In its early days, the area included the Raritan Valley Inn, a place that was frequented by Irving Berlin.

[1] The home of New Jersey Senator Joseph Sherman Frelinghuysen, Sr. was also located by the circle.

Frelinghuysen had supported the construction of the circle, but moved away years later because of noise from the traffic.

The project included an overpass that allows Route 202 to bypass the circle, and the inclusion of traffic signals.

In an attempt to lower the accident rate the New Jersey Department of Transportation installed yield ahead signs for approaching vehicles in February 1995.

[5] Despite the state spending US$26 million on the circle, local officials called for it to be bisected and turned into a five-way intersection with traffic lights.