Gravity Road
Ewing Street exit off Route 208 South Franklin Lakes, New Jersey 07417
Franklin Lakes’s “Gravity Road,” as it has come to be called, is home to local lore that alleges a young woman was struck and killed by an unknown vehicle at the end of the exit ramp. According to legend, her spirit lingers at the intersection at the end of the ramp, hoping to prevent any future deaths. Visitors to the site claim that a force pushes your car back when you approach the stop sign, as if the young woman’s spirit was trying to protect you from the bad intersection in which she was killed. Some also claim that, if you put your car in neutral, the car will roll backward up the hill. It is suggested by some that if a car’s bumper is coated in talc or flour, a hand-print of the young woman can be seen, possibly from the force of the push. Skeptics claim the ramp and surrounding ground and hills create an illusion that looks as if it is sloping downward when, in fact, it is not. The police keep a close watch on the area, so attempts to visit are not recommended. Patrols have been known to ticket people whose vehicles linger at the spot and also fine those who try to walk to and explore the highly trafficked area. This could simply be a legend created to keep children away from a busy highway and intersection; however, a strange energy does seem to surround the site.
