Route 495 officially begins at the exit 16E off-ramp from the northbound lanes of the New Jersey Turnpike near the boundary of Secaucus and North Bergen. The main roadway heads east through North Bergen as a freeway with three lanes in the eastbound and westbound directions, maintained by the NJTA. The route has an interchange with Route 3, with access to eastbound Route 3 and U.S. Route 1/9 (US 1/9) for traffic in the eastbound direction and to westbound Route 3 in the westbound direction. Past this interchange, Route 495 becomes a six-lane freeway maintained by NJDOT that passes over New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway's New Jersey Subdivision line and Conrail Shared Assets Operations' Northern Branch line before intersects US 1/9 at a partial interchange, with a westbound exit and eastbound entrance. Past US 1/9, the freeway has an interchange with County Route 501 (CR 501, John F. Kennedy Boulevard), which uses 30th Street and 31st Street as collector–distributor roads. East of this junction, Route 495 enters Union City and heads through developed residential areas, passing under numerous streets. There is an eastbound exit and westbound entrance for Park Avenue, which provides access to Weehawken and Hoboken, where Route 495 becomes maintained by the PANYNJ. It enters Weehawken and comes to a westbound exit and eastbound entrance for Park Avenue.