New Jersey Turnpike
Encyclopedia : N : NE : NEW : New Jersey Turnpike
- This article is about the modern freeway. For the 19th century turnpike, see Jersey Turnpike.
The New Jersey Turnpike is a toll road in New Jersey and is one of the most heavily traveled highways in the United States. A segment of it is part of the Interstate Highway System. Construction of the Turnpike from conceptualization to opening took 23 months, from 1950 to 1952. The Turnpike boasts 12-foot-wide lanes, 10-foot-wide shoulders, 13 rest areas named after notable New Jerseyans, and unusual exit signage that was considered the pinnacle of highway building in the 1950s. The Interstate Highway System took some of its design guidelines by copying the Turnpike's design guidelines.
General information
The main trunk of the New Jersey Turnpike runs from Carneys Point Township in the south to Ridgefield in the north. It is designated as unsigned Route 700 from Exits 1 (Carneys Point Township) through 6 and as Interstate 95 from Exits 6 (Mansfield Township) through 18 (Secaucus/Carlstadt). The number of lanes ranges from 4 lanes south of Exit 4, the interchange with Route 73, to 6 lanes between Exits 4 (Mount Laurel Township) and 8A (Monroe Township), the interchange with Route 32.
The main headquarters for the Turnpike is in East Brunswick Township. There, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority monitors vehicular volume on the entire length on the Turnpike. They operate three AM radio channels, which broadcast advisories (weather, traffic, events) on the turnpike. Also, the main headquarters operates the VMS (Variable Message Signs) on the turnpike, which alerts motorists of poor weather, accidents, or congestion. Speed Limit signs are also VMS. When the main sign flashes “REDUCE SPEED,” the speed limit VMS changes from its usual speed limit to a lowered one. The Authority also has a few closed-circuit TV cameras that show pictures of current traffic conditions. The cameras are located in Newark (2 cameras), Secaucus (1), Elizabeth (2), East Brunswick Township (1), and Monroe Township in Middlesex County (2).
Before the advent of the interstate highways, the whole Turnpike was designated by the New Jersey Department of Transportation as Route 700, with the Pennsylvania Turnpike Extension being Route 700P and the Newark Bay Extension being Route 700N at one time. The western spur is officially known as Route 95W but signed as Interstate 95 (see below). None of these state highway designations have ever been signed.
North of Exit 8A, the Turnpike splits into a "dual-dual" configuration, with the outer lanes open to all vehicles and the inner lanes limited to cars only, unless signed otherwise because of unusual conditions. From here to Exit 14 (Newark), the interchange with Interstate 78, the road ranges from 10 to 14 lanes wide.
Between Exits 14 and 18, the Turnpike splits into two spurs, an eastern spur and a western spur. Both spurs are posted as I-95, although technically the eastern spur is I-95 as that was built first. The western spur is posted as I-95 for through traffic on I-95, while traffic entering at the ends of the split is routed via the eastern spur. The New Jersey Department of Transportation, which calls every class of highway Route, calls the western spur Route 95W.
The Turnpike also has two extensions: The first, the Newark Bay Extension, is part of Interstate 78; it opened in 1956. It connects Newark with Lower Manhattan via the Holland Tunnel in Jersey City and intersects the mainline near Newark Liberty International Airport. This extension contains Exits 14A, 14B, and 14C.
The second extension connects the mainline of the New Jersey Turnpike with the Pennsylvania Turnpike at Exit 6. It is a 6-mile extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike into New Jersey, and it will soon be a part of I-95.
A four-mile stretch of I-95 north of U.S. Route 46 came under Turnpike Authority jurisdiction in 1992, as the New Jersey Department of Transportation "sold" the road in order to balance the state budget. This section of the road is also "dual-dual", split into local and express lanes.
The New Jersey Turnpike is a closed-system toll road, using a system of long-distance tickets, obtained once by a motorist upon entering and surrendered upon exiting at toll gates. The toll gates exist at all exits and entrances (except for the Meadowlands Sports Complex) and also at the highway extension toward the Hudson River. The toll fee depends on the distance traveled between entrance and exit, and longer distances result in higher tolls. As of 2004, the automobile toll from Exit 1 to Exit 18 is $6.45. Discounts were available to users of the E-ZPass electronic toll collection system until 2004. Since then, the costly implimentation of the EZ Pass system forced the Turnpike Authority to eliminate the discounts, and instead impose a $1 per month EZPass fee in NJ. Express E-ZPass implementation is underway, allowing E-ZPass customers at some of the toll plazas to travel through toll areas at highway speeds, via the addition of E-ZPass sensors on an overhead gantry. One of these high-speed toll gates is located at the northern terminus of the road, as southbound Interstate 95 traffic enters the turnpike. The newest one is located at the southern terminus in Carneys Point Township. At each location, traditional E-ZPass and cash lanes are also available.
When travelling from the North, users who exit at the Meadowlands Sports Complex pay no toll, but the Turnpike Authority counts cars electronically and is paid a fee for each vehicle by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority.
On July 9, 2003, Governor of New Jersey James McGreevey's plan to merge the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and the New Jersey Highway Authority (which had operated the Garden State Parkway) into one agency was completed.
In November 2004, New Jersey Governor Richard Codey advocated a plan to widen the Turnpike, extending the dual-dual configuration 20.1 miles south from Exit 8A to Exit 6, by 2011, when the Pennsylvania Turnpike is supposed to complete an interchange that will connect its road to the existing I-95 in Bristol Township, Pennsylvania. Finances would be suplied by rerouting money from the planed NJ 92 Turnpike extension. Overpasses are already being reconstructed to be compatible with a wider Turnpike[New Jersey Set to Expand Turnpike], The New York Times, December 1, 2004.
Construction history
The task of building the turnpike was not an easy one. One major problem was the construction in the city of Elizabeth, where either 450 homes or 32 businesses would be destroyed, depending on the chosen route. The builders decided to go through the residential area, considering it the grittiest and the closest route to both Newark Airport and the Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal seaport.
When construction finally got to Newark, there was a new challenge; Deciding to build either over or under the Pulaski Skyway. If construction went above the skyway, the costs would be much higher. If they went under, the costs would be lower, but the roadway would be very close to the Passaic River, making it harder for ships to pass through. The engineers chose to go under.
While continuing up to the New Jersey Meadowlands, the crossings were harder because of the fertile marsh land of silt and mud. Near the shallow mud, engineers filled the mud with crushed stone, and built the roadway above the water table. In the deeper mud, engineers sank caissons down to a firm stratum, filled the caissons with sand, then both the caissons, and the surrounding areas were covered with blankets of sand. Gradually, the water was brought up, and drained into adjacent meadows. Then, the construction of the two major bridges over the Passaic River and Hackensack River were completed. The bridges were built to give motorists a clear view of the New York City skyline, but with high retaining walls to make it seem as if you are not even crossing a river. The 6,955 ft. Passaic River Bridge cost $13.7 million to construct and the 5,623 ft. Hackensack River Bridge cost $9.5 million.
A controversial project through the East Brunswick area involved a proposed widening from six to twelve lanes. Analysis of noise (Shadely, 1973) and air quality impacts were made in a lawsuit decided in New Jersey Superior Court. This case in the early 1970s was one of the early U.S. examples of environmental scientists playing a role in the design of a major highway. The computer models allowed the court to understand the effects of roadway geometry (width in this case), vehicle speeds, proposed noise barriers, residential setback and pavement types. The outcome was a compromise that involved substantial mitigation of noise pollution and air pollution impacts.
The Turnpike in popular culture
- The Turnpike, along with the Garden State Parkway, are such heavily travelled through-roads and connect with so many other highways in the state, that upon learning a person is from New Jersey, a common joke response is "What exit?"
- In the Chuck Berry song You Can't Catch Me (1956), the singer outruns the cops in his Cadillac on the New Jersey Turnpike.
- Simon and Garfunkel's song "America" (1968), after describing a long trip across much of the country, concludes with the lines:
- Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike
- They've all come to look for America.
- The 1970 song "Holland Tunnel" by John Phillips included the line: "Pick up a ticket for the New Jersey Turnpike and drive, baby, drive."
- Bill Cosby references the eating of the New Jersey Turnpike by The Chicken Heart in his comedy album Wonderfulness.
- Bruce Springsteen's album Nebraska (1982) contains the song "State Trooper", in which a traveller on the Turnpike, a desperate man who has committed unspecified crimes, prays that he won't be pulled over by the police. Another song from the same Springsteen album, the hallucinatory "Open All Night," also contains Turnpike images.
- The Belgian band dEUS, in their 1996 song "Theme from Turnpike", also referenced the New Jersey Turnpike as an homage to Springsteen, repeating the first line from "State Trooper".
- Bif Naked's song "Sophia" (1999) begins with the lyric "I picked you up on a grey day, the New Jersey Turnpike."
- In the 1991 movie Nothing But Trouble, Chevy Chase, Demi Moore, and company, en route to Atlantic City from New York, exit the Turnpike in hoping to view the countryside and subsequently wind up lost in a backwoods section of New Jersey. Passenger Bertila Damas suggests the unplanned exit because "this road is such a dull place." This route in itself is a mistake in the film's logic, as New York travelers wishing to go to Atlantic City would naturally transfer to the Garden State Parkway (which is closer to the coast than the Turnpike) long before reaching rural areas of New Jersey.
- In the film Being John Malkovich (1999), after one becomes John Malkovich and then eventually leaves him, one falls out of the sky next to the New Jersey Turnpike.
- The opening to the television series The Sopranos (began 1999) features the main character Tony Soprano driving on the Turnpike.
- The 1989 book Looking For America On The New Jersey Turnpike (itself taking its title from the Simon and Garfunkel song) chronicles the history of "America's Main Road" and analyzes its place in American culture.
- The New Jersey Turnpike drink was created as a joke about the highway. It consists of squeezing a rag into a shot glass that previously had been used to soak up spilled alcohol on the bar.
- The exit number used to reach the Meadowlands Sports Complex, 16W, is frequently referenced if the New Jersey Devils or New Jersey Nets (tenants of Continental Airlines Arena in the Meadowlands) make the playoffs, as they need 16 wins in the postseason (4 rounds of 4 wins) to win their respective league championships.
- In the videogame, Earthbound, for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, when you search the desk inside the house for sale in Onett town, you can find a joke story about a man making excuses to a police officer after being pulled over on the New Jersey Turnpike.
Shunpiking
Shunpiking occurs between Exit 1 (Delaware Memorial Bridge) and Exit 7A (Trenton-Shore Points) with the parallel location of Interstate 295, which breaks off just east of the Delaware Memorial Bridge, and the connection via Interstate 195. Although all New Jersey Turnpike signage has "TO 95" between Exit 1 and Exit 6 (PA Turnpike-Florence), shunpiking has been popular because of the savings of over $3.00 in tolls by using I-295. Shunpiking can also be achieved by taking Interstate 95 through Philadelphia. Until the construction of the new Exit 1 toll plaza, with both cash and high-speed E-Z Pass-only toll lanes, shunpiking was used by the New Jersey State Police during the summer months to alleviate heavy volume conditions at the old Exit 1 plaza.From New Brunswick north to Newark, the Turnpike is closely paralleled by U.S. Route 1/9 north of Woodbridge Township, a multi-lane highway with traffic lights. North of Newark Airport, US 1&9 is a limited-access highway with no traffic lights for automobiles to the Holland Tunnel, with a few north from there to the Lincoln Tunnel and the George Washington Bridge.
Rest areas
The New Jersey Turnpike is noted for naming its rest areas after people who lived or worked in New Jersey. From south to north, the rest areas are:
- Clara Barton (southbound, milepost 5.4, in Oldmans Township)
- John Fenwick (northbound, 5.4, in Oldmans Twp)
- Walt Whitman (southbound, 30.2, in Cherry Hill Township)
- James Fenimore Cooper (northbound, 39.4, in Mount Laurel Township; officially "J. Fenimore Cooper")
- Richard Stockton (southbound, 58.7, in Hamilton Township (Mercer County))
- Woodrow Wilson (northbound, 58.7, in Hamilton Township (Mercer County))
- Molly Pitcher (southbound, 71.7, in Cranbury Township)
- Joyce Kilmer (northbound, 78.7, in East Brunswick Township)
- Thomas Edison (southbound, 92.9, in Woodbridge Township)
- Grover Cleveland (northbound, 92.9, in Woodbridge Township)
- Alexander Hamilton (southbound, eastern spur, 111.6, in the Town of Secaucus)
- Vince Lombardi (northbound/southbound, 116.0 (eastern spur), 115.5 (western spur), in the Boro of Ridgefield)
Perhaps surprisingly, the Looking for America book describes the Edison, Lombardi, and Kilmer rest stops as possible hot spots for heterosexual, homosexual, and prostitution activities respectively.
Turnpike rest areas comprise most of the Roy Rogers and Big Boy (which isn't a New Jersey chain but is featured in the rest stops) fast-food restaurant locations in New Jersey. Most rest stops also include a Sunoco, with gas price signs posted about half a mile before reaching the rest stop.
Interchanges
| # | Mile Marker | Municipality | Destinations | Opened | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsville Twp | Interstate 295/U.S. Route 40 - Atlantic City | November 5, 1951 | |||
| 1 | 2.4 | Carneys Point Township | Delaware Memorial Bridge (Toll Gate) | November 5, 1951 | Express Toll Gate (con EZ-Pass Express) |
| 2 | 12.8 | Woolwich Twp | U.S. Route 322 - Swedesboro/Chester, PA | November 5, 1951 | use exit 2 to get to Commodore Barry Bridge |
| 3 | 26.1 | Boro of Bellmawr | Route 168 - Camden/Philadelphia/Woodbury | November 5, 1951 | use this exit to get to Atlantic City Expressway |
| 4 | 34.5 | Mount Laurel Township | Route 73 - Philadelphia/Camden | November 5, 1951 | use Exit 4 to access Interstate 295 and Center City Philadelphia |
| 5 | 44.1 | Westampton Township | Burlington/Mount Holly Township (County Route 541) | November 5, 1951 | use this exit to get to Interstate 295 |
| 6 | P1.3 / 50.9 | Mansfield Township | U.S. Route 130/Interstate 276 - Pennsylvania Turnpike/Florence Township | May 25, 1956 (further east) | on the Pennsylvania Extension |
| 6A | P3.17 | Florence Twp | U.S. Route 130 | May 25, 1956 | on the Pennsylvania Extension now part of Exit 6. Partial exit was converted to a full exit in 1998-99. Express Toll Gate |
| 7 | 53.3 | Bordentown Twp | U.S. Route 206 - Bordentown/Trenton | November 30, 1951 | use 7 to get to Fort Dix, and Hammonton |
| 7A | 60.5 | Washington Township | Interstate 195 - Trenton/Shore Points | 1970s | use Exit 7A to get to Interstate 295, Six Flags Great Adventure and "Shore Points" |
| 8 | 67.6 | East Windsor Township | Hightstown/Freehold (Route 33) | November 30, 1951 | use Exit 8 to get to NJ 133 and "Shore Points" |
| Turnpike Divides/Merges at 72.8: Turnpike Division (inner roadway & outer roadway) continues between 72.8 & 105.6''' | |||||
| 8A | 73.7 | Monroe Township | Jamesburg/Cranbury (Route 32) | 1970s | use Exit 8A to go to Princeton and "Shore Points" |
| 9 | 83.3 | East Brunswick Township | Route 18/U.S. Route 1 - New Brunswick/East Brunswick | November 30, 1951 | use Exit 9 to go to Princeton and "Shore Points" |
| 10 | 88.1 | Edison Township | Interstate 287/Route 440 - Perth Amboy/Metuchen/Edison | November 30, 1951 (with the Garden State Parkway); 1966 (with I-287 and Route 440) | |
| 11 | 90.6 | Woodbridge Township | U.S. Route 9/Garden State Parkway - Woodbridge Township | November 30, 1951 (with US 9); 1966 (with the Garden State Parkway) | use Exit 11 to go to "Shore Points" |
| 12 | 95.9 | Boro of Carteret | Carteret/Rahway (County Route 602) | December 20, 1951 | |
| 13 | 99.9 | City of Elizabeth | Interstate 278 - Elizabeth/Goethals Bridge/Verrazano Bridge | December 20, 1951 | |
| 13A | 101.6 | City of Elizabeth | Elizabeth/Newark Airport/Elizabeth Seaport (Route 81) | 1982 | |
| 14 | 104.7 | City of Newark | Interstate 78/U.S. Route 1/9/U.S. Route 22 - Newark Airport | December 20, 1951 | provides access to the Newark Bay Extension |
| 14A | N3.5 | City of Jersey City | Bayonne (Route 440) | April 1956 | on the Newark Bay Extension |
| 14B | N5.5 | City of Jersey City | Jersey City/Liberty State Park | September 15, 1956 | on the Newark Bay Extension |
| 14C | N5.9 | City of Jersey City | Holland Tunnel (Toll Gate) | September 15, 1956 | on the Newark Bay Extension-toll barrier |
| Divides/Splits into Eastern (original) and Western Spurs north of mile 105.6 to E117.2 & W116.81 | |||||
| 15E | E106.9 | City of Newark | Newark/Jersey City (U.S. Route 1/9) | December 20, 1951 | on the Eastern Spur, with access from the southbound Western Spur |
| 15W | E108.5 & W108.8 | Town of Kearny | Interstate 280 - Newark/Kearny | January 1970 | on the Western Spur, with access from the southbound Eastern Spur and to northbound Eastern spur |
| 15X | E110.7 | Town of Secaucus | Secaucus Junction | December 1, 2005 | on the Eastern Spur, access to Secaucus Transfer Station |
| 16E | E112.3 | Town of Secaucus | Route 3 - Lincoln Tunnel (Route 495) (Toll Gate) | January 15, 1952 | on the Eastern Spur - northbound exit and southbound entrance only |
| 18E | E112.3 | Town of Secaucus | U.S. Route 46/Interstate 80/Interstate 95 - George Washington Bridge (Toll Gate) | January 15, 1952 (further north) | on the Eastern Spur |
| 17 | E112.7 | Town of Secaucus | Route 3 - Lincoln Tunnel/Secaucus (Route 495) | January 15, 1952 (as four ramps at Route 3) | on the Eastern Spur - southbound exit and northbound entrance only -- Toll Gate: motorists going to Interstate 95 north from 495, and vice versa |
| 16W | W112.7 | Boro of East Rutherford | Route 3 - Secaucus/Rutherford/Lincoln Tunnel | January 1970 | on the Western Spur, Meadowlands Sports Complex |
| 18W | W113.8 | Boro of Carlstadt | U.S. Route 46/Interstate 80/Interstate 95 - George Washington Bridge (Toll Gate) | January 1970 | on the Western Spur; Express Toll Gate |
| Split for Eastern & Western Roadways at E117.2 & W116.8; Divides into Express & Local Lanes from 117.2 to Geo Wash Bri | |||||
| 68 | 117.67 & 117.84 | Village of Ridgefield Park | U.S. Route 46 | weird interchange; interchange has some kind of stack apperance, but it also has weird cloverleaf ramps | |
| 70 | 118.9 | Teaneck Township | Interstate 80 - Delaware Water Gap | 1970s | Exit number based on proposed Somerset Freeway mileage from Trenton |
See also
References
- Gillespie, Angus Kress and Rockland, Michael Aaron. Looking for America on the New Jersey Turnpike. Rutgers University Press, 1989. ISBN 0813514665.
- John Shadely, Acoustical analysis of the New Jersey Turnpike widening project between Raritan and East Brunswick, Bolt, Beranek and Newman, 1973
- [nycroads.com New Jersey Turnpike Historic Overview]
External links
- [New Jersey Turnpike Authority & Garden State Parkway Official Website]
- [NJ Route 78] Straight Line Diagram
- [NJ Route 95] Straight Line Diagram
- [NJ Route 95W] Straight Line Diagram
- [NJ Route 700] Straight Line Diagram
- Traffic Conditions by Telephone: 1-800-33NJTPK (1-800-336-5875).
- [New Jersey Turnpike] at Exitlists.com
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