New Jersey Turnpike

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The New Jersey Turnpike is a toll road in New Jersey and is one of the most heavily traveled highways in the United States. Part of it forms part of the interstate highway system. Construction of the Turnpike from conceptualization to opening took an astonishing 23 months. Construction started in 1950 and the Turnpike was fully opened by 1952. The Turnpike boasts 12-foot-wide lanes, 10-foot-wide shoulders, 13 rest areas, and unusual exit signage that was considered the pinnacle of highway building in the 1950s, and the interstate highway system took some of its design guidelines by copying the Turnpike's design guidelines.

The main trunk of the Turnpike runs from Deepwater, New Jersey in the south to Ridgefield, New Jersey in the north. It is designated as unsigned New Jersey State Highway 700 from exits 1 through 6 and Interstate 95 from exits 6 through 18. The number of lanes ranges from 4 lanes south of exit 4, the interchange with New Jersey State Highway 73, to 6 lanes between exits 4 and 8A, the interchange with New Jersey State Highway 32.

Before the advent of the interstate highways, the whole Turnpike was designated as Route 700, with the Pennsylvania Turnpike Extension being New Jersey State Highway 700P and the Newark Bay Extension being New Jersey State Highway 700N at one time.

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, 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, New Jersey with Jersey City, New Jersey and intersects the main trunk near Newark Liberty International Airport.

The second extension connects the main trunk 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 is part of Interstate 95.

A four-mile stretch of I-95 north of U.S. Highway 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 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 and also at the highway extensions towards 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 are available to users of the E-ZPass electronic toll collection system.

The New Jersey Turnpike has even made it into popular culture. In the Chuck Berry song "You Can't Catch Me", the singer outruns the cops in his Cadillac on the New Jersey Turnpike. In Simon and Garfunkel's song "America", they sing "Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike/They've all gone to look for America". Bif Naked's song "Sophia" begins with the lyric "I picked you up on a grey day, the New Jersey Turnpike". The book "Looking For America On The New Jersey Turnpike" (Gillespie and Rockland) chronicles the history of "America's Main Road". Part of the movie Being John Malkovich was set next to the Turnpike. Also, part of the opening of the TV series The Sopranos was filmed on the Turnpike, although these scenes were later removed, in part because of a Turnpike regulation prohibiting photography on the road.

On July 9, 2003, New Jersey Governor James E. McGreevey's plan to merge the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and the Garden State Parkway into one agency was completed.

In November 2004, acting New Jersey Governor Richard Codey advocated a plan to widen the Turnpike by two to four lanes between exits 6 and 8A by 2011, when the Pennsylvania Turnpike is supposed to complete an interchange that will connect its road to the existing I-95 in Bucks County.

Contents

1 New Jersey Turnpike Exit Numbers and Interchanges

1.1 Eastern Alignment
1.2 Western Alignment
1.3 I-95 North of Original Turnpike
1.4 Pennsylvania Turnpike Extension (I-95)
1.5 Newark Bay Extension (I-78)

2 External links

New Jersey Turnpike Exit Numbers and Interchanges

Southern terminus (mile 0.0), Interstate 295
Exit 1 toll barrier (mile 1.2), Delaware Memorial Bridge
Exit 2 (mile 12.9), Swedesboro/Chester/U.S. 322
Exit 3 (mile 26.1), Woodbury/South Camden/S.R. 168
Exit 4 (mile 34.5), Camden/Philadelphia/S.R. 73
Exit 5 (mile 44.0), Burlington/Mt. Holly
Exit 6 (mile 51.0), Pennsylvania Turnpike Extension
Note: Route is I-95 north of this point.
Exit 7 (mile 53.3), Bordentown/Trenton/U.S. 206
Exit 7A (mile 60.2), Trenton/Hamilton/I-195
Exit 8 (mile 67.6), Hightstown/Freehold/S.R. 33
Exit 8A (mile 73.7), Cranbury/Jamesburg
Exit 9 (mile 83.3), New Brunswick/S.R. 18
Exit 10 (mile 88.1), Metuchen/Perth Amboy/I-287
Exit 11 (mile 90.6), Garden State Parkway
Exit 12 (mile 95.9), Carteret/Rahway
Exit 13 (mile 99.4), Elizabeth/Staten Island/I-278
Exit 13A (mile 101.6), Newark Liberty International Airport/Elizabeth Seaport
Exit 14 (mile 104.7), Newark Liberty International Airport/Newark Bay Extension/I-78/U.S. 1/U.S. 9
Turnpike divides (mile 105.6)

Eastern Alignment

Exit 15E (mile 106.9E), Newark/Jersey City/U.S. 1/U.S. 9
Exit 16E toll barrier (mile 112.3E, northbound exit/southbound entry), Lincoln Tunnel/Secaucus/S.R. 3
Exit 17 (mile 112.7E, southbound exit/northbound entry), Lincoln Tunnel/Secaucus/S.R. 3
Exit 18E toll barrier (mile 112.3E), George Washington Bridge/Ridgefield Park/U.S. 46/I-80

Western Alignment

Exit 15W (mile 108.8W), Newark/Harrison/I-280
Exit 16W (mile 112.7W), Sportsplex/East Rutherford/S.R. 3
Exit 18W toll barrier (mile 113.8W), George Washington Bridge/Ridgefield Park/U.S. 46/I-80

I-95 North of Original Turnpike

Exit 68 (mile 117.6), U.S. 46/Challenger Road
Exit 69 (mile 118.8), I-80
Exit 70 (mile 119.3), Leonia/Teaneck
Exit 71 (mile 120.8), Broad Ave/Leonia/Englewood
Exit 72 (mile 122.03), U.S. 9W (end of Turnpike jurisdiction)