 Plans for a limited-access highway along the U.S. Route 202 corridor date back to 1932 when a parkway was planned to continue into Pennsylvania along U.S. Route 202; this proposal never came to fruition. In the 1960s, a bypass around Ringoes opened for U.S. Route 202 and Route 69 (which became Route 31 in 1967) with the former alignment of U.S. Route 202 through town becoming Route 179. In 1966, a freeway was proposed along the U.S. Route 202 corridor between the Pennsylvania border and Interstate 287 in Bridgewater Township. The portion of this freeway between the Pennsylvania border and the Route 179 interchange in Ringoes was legislated in 1969 with the New Hope-Lambertville Toll Bridge opening in 1971. The freeway opened in October 1974, and the former alignment of U.S. Route 202 between Lambertville and Ringoes became an extension of Route 179. Meanwhile, the portion of the proposed U.S. Route 202 freeway between Lambertville and Bridgewater Township was cancelled due to opposition from residents along the route.
