 Plans were made to extend the freeway north to Interstate 80 in Elmwood Park; however, they were opposed by residents living on the east side of the Passaic River.In the 1980s, another northern extension of the Route 21 freeway was proposed to U.S. Route 46 in Clifton; this section was built between 1997 and 2000.The surface portion of Route 21 through Newark underwent many improvements in the 1990s and 2000s.