New Jersey Turnpike

[jeffandnicole]

Looks like the NB outer drive isn't open yet.  Are both SB roadways open?

Forgot to answer this...

Neither outer roadway is open yet.  There are a few areas where traffic shifts to the outer roadway, but at no time are there more than 3 lanes going in any direction.  (There is a lane open from the PA Extension to the NJ Turnpike South that utilizes the outer roadway, but that's just a construction-related lane)

[ixnay]

Thanks times 2, jeffandnicole.  Now I know what to look for (I'll probably be the only road semigeek in our group).

Yes, our bus will be coming from the south (crossing the DMB and heading up to and through the Lincoln Tunnel).  Looking forward to seeing and enjoying the "eye candy".  Heck, I enjoyed it 3 years ago.

ixnay

P.S.  Just used Google Maps' little man device and it looks like they replaced the "N.J. TURNPIKE/Pa.-Del.-Md." sign with "(NJ Tpk. logo) (I-95)/N.J Turnpike" at the NJ 495-NJ 3 transition coming from the Lincoln Tunnel. 

[J Route Z]

I hope to god they replace ALL of these light fixtures: http://goo.gl/maps/PBHIo to these: http://goo.gl/maps/c6W3F  or maybe even the LED ones at 13A which unfortunately I don't have an image of since the Google Street View images are from 2011-2012 and these were installed sometime around early 2013.

[Alps]

I hope to god they replace ALL of these light fixtures: http://goo.gl/maps/PBHIo to these: http://goo.gl/maps/c6W3F  or maybe even the LED ones at 13A which unfortunately I don't have an image of since the Google Street View images are from 2011-2012 and these were installed sometime around early 2013.

Do they not illuminate properly? That's the only reason light fixtures exist.

[cpzilliacus]

Do they not illuminate properly? That's the only reason light fixtures exist.

Agreed. 

Those "cutoff" luminaires seem to work pretty well, and have been around for a long time.

VDOT has installed "armless" ones (similar or identical to the second example linked above, near Turnpike Exit 7) along long sections of I-66 in Northern Virginia.  For all of the bad things associated with I-66, the "new" lighting (less than 10 years old) is not one of them.

[J Route Z]

I hope to god they replace ALL of these light fixtures: http://goo.gl/maps/PBHIo to these: http://goo.gl/maps/c6W3F  or maybe even the LED ones at 13A which unfortunately I don't have an image of since the Google Street View images are from 2011-2012 and these were installed sometime around early 2013.

Do they not illuminate properly? That's the only reason light fixtures exist.

They illuminate terribly. Tons of them are not working also, especially at interchanges 10 and 11.

[jeffandnicole]

They seem to be the typical arm mast light found everywhere. The only issue I have is sometimes they're a bit low, but I don't know if that affects their performance. If they don't work at all, it's not because of the design, but because of a wiring issue.

At any rate, the Turnpike is installing and converting many lights to LEDs

[jeffandnicole]

Glancing at the NJ Turnpike construction schedule, it appears the switch over to the outer roadway then back to the inner roadway where a local road and rail line run at a very acute angle beneath the turnpike between Int 8 & 8A will be eliminated this weekend.

While much of the inner roadway will be reconstructed this summer when all traffic is shifted to the outer roadway, this overpass required a lot more time, and thus got a bit of special treatment.

[cpzilliacus]

Press of Atlantic City: For New Jersey toll cheats, no more free rides

EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP – Be careful, motorists, someone may be watching you.

Usually, there are no workers stationed at Exit 9 heading westbound onto the Atlantic City Expressway in Egg Harbor Township. It is one of the expressway's automated, exact-change toll booths that depend on the honesty of motorists to pay their fares if they don't have the electronic E-ZPass system.

But occasionally, an expressway employee hides inside the cramped booth, and peers out from a tiny window at unsuspecting drivers who violate the toll. When that happens, the employee uses a hand-held radio to call a State Police trooper stationed ahead to nab the toll cheat.

Gotcha.

The crackdown is part of a pilot program that began in 2012 targeting the most egregious toll violators on the expressway, the Garden State Parkway and New Jersey Turnpike. Encouraged by the success of the program, the expressway is going to make it even tougher by imposing bigger fines that match those already handed out on the parkway and turnpike.

[Zeffy]

If you don't want to pay for any of NJ's toll roads, learn new routes. They might take you more time and they might take you slightly out of your way, but at least you don't run the risk of getting nabbed at a toll booth for not paying.

[hotdogPi]

If you don't want to pay for any of NJ's toll roads, learn new routes. They might take you more time and they might take you slightly out of your way, but at least you don't run the risk of getting nabbed at a toll booth for not paying.

Unless you're trying to get out of New Jersey by crossing the Hudson or Delaware.

[Zeffy]

Unless you're trying to get out of New Jersey by crossing the Hudson or Delaware.

True. Well for the Delaware, you can use I-95 north of Trenton which is a free ride into Pennsylvania. The Hudson? Pfft, crossing that river is almost 1/3 of the price to fill your gas tank..

[jeffandnicole]

Press of Atlantic City: For New Jersey toll cheats, no more free rides

EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP — Be careful, motorists, someone may be watching you.

Usually, there are no workers stationed at Exit 9 heading westbound onto the Atlantic City Expressway in Egg Harbor Township. It is one of the expressway's automated, exact-change toll booths that depend on the honesty of motorists to pay their fares if they don't have the electronic E-ZPass system.

But occasionally, an expressway employee hides inside the cramped booth, and peers out from a tiny window at unsuspecting drivers who violate the toll. When that happens, the employee uses a hand-held radio to call a State Police trooper stationed ahead to nab the toll cheat.

Gotcha.

The crackdown is part of a pilot program that began in 2012 targeting the most egregious toll violators on the expressway, the Garden State Parkway and New Jersey Turnpike. Encouraged by the success of the program, the expressway is going to make it even tougher by imposing bigger fines that match those already handed out on the parkway and turnpike.

As mentioned before: Poorly worded title to the article (No more free rides).  What they're doing to catch toll cheats has been in place for a long time.  The article simply publicized it.  In a way, it's probably more of a PR move by the Expressway to let people know they are watching you.

[froggie]

Unless you're trying to get out of New Jersey by crossing the Hudson or Delaware.

As long as you're not originating in South Jersey (say, south of I-195), crossing the Delaware is easy, as Zeffy alluded to (and there are more ways than just I-95 Scudders Falls too).  Crossing the Hudson?  Might as well pay the toll, as you'd burn more in gas getting up to Albany than you would in paying the toll.  Especially from the Bear Mountain Bridge north...as those bridge tolls are only $1.50 ($1.25 with EZPass).

[Pete from Boston]

If you don't want to pay for any of NJ's toll roads, learn new routes. They might take you more time and they might take you slightly out of your way, but at least you don't run the risk of getting nabbed at a toll booth for not paying.

Unless you're trying to get out of New Jersey by crossing the Hudson or Delaware.

Excellent from a marketing perspective, as New Jersey has land exits on relatively little of its perimeter, i.e. a captive market for toll bridges.  And as noted above, those land exits don't often make good substitutes for the bridges.

[bzakharin]

What's odd about exit 9 is that all movements are tolled, entering and exiting the ACE. That means if you are coming from the west and exiting at exit 9 or entering there to go west, you are paying two tolls whereas using exit 7 further east is free, so you are only paying why toll. I believe that is the only irregularity in the system (you pay exactly once up to $3 between the western terminus and the GSP and again up to $.75 between the GSP and exit 2 no matter where you exit or enter), one I was not aware of and lost 75 cents to it (that might not sound like a lot, but it completely wiped out the savings on using the gas station on Delilah Road, the reason I was entering there). Why is this the case?

[jeffandnicole]

The EB to/from toll was a relatively recent addition.  I don't remember exactly why, but I think it had something to do with capturing people going to the airport, plus the locals trying to keep people from taking the free exit and adding traffic to their road.

BTW, this interchange is supposed to be undergoing a major reconstruction in the future.

[bzakharin]

The EB to/from toll was a relatively recent addition.  I don't remember exactly why, but I think it had something to do with capturing people going to the airport, plus the locals trying to keep people from taking the free exit and adding traffic to their road.

And yet the locals don't care that using their road is the best way to the airport? You'd think that's where most of the volume at that exit would be coming from. The rest would be local traffic (my excursion to the gas station was quite local too. I'm coming from Egg Harbor Township too, after all). Where else would all that traffic be going, cutting through Delilah Road? Free access to the beach? Why not use GSP then?

BTW, this interchange is supposed to be undergoing a major reconstruction in the future.

Would that include freeway access to the airport by any chance?

[Alps]

Would that include freeway access to the airport by any chance?

I saw plans for such several years ago. I'd be surprised if that's not the case.

[lepidopteran]

Glancing at the NJ Turnpike construction schedule, it appears the switch over to the outer roadway then back to the inner roadway where a local road and rail line run at a very acute angle beneath the turnpike between Int 8 & 8A will be eliminated this weekend. ...this overpass required a lot more time, and thus got a bit of special treatment.

The irony is, those tracks end just a few hundred yards south of the underpass.  However, there is a switch in that small area which leads to a spur that serves a warehouse on the SB side of the pike.  I think it was built in the '70s as a tire distribution center.  But whether that spur is in use or not, documents I've read say that the tracks are indeed still active, and the rails will be rebuilt as part of the widening project.  I also noticed some recent forest clearing in the area; maybe that's for new potential rail customers?  Still, it seems like a pricey effort was made for tracks that may or may not see further use.

The rail line, originally the historic Camden & Amboy and later Penn Central, used to run all the way south to Bordentown.  The line was severed in the '60s near the now-leveled passage under US-130, and the section from Hightstown to the current end-of-track was lifted in 1983.  Any glimmer of hope railfans may have had of it being restored someday was dashed by the construction of NJ-133, whose earthen elevated route runs across the right-of-way unabated.  I think there's a historical marker.

[jeffandnicole]

Would that include freeway access to the airport by any chance?

I saw plans for such several years ago. I'd be surprised if that's not the case.

It's hard finding anything current, but this document from 2009 lays out one of the ideas for the AC Expressway Exit 9 connector to the AC Airport. http://www.njcrda.com/uploads/1/1/6/5/11659441/acrtpvolumeii.pdf  Go to PDF pages 37 & 38 to read a description of the project.  The timeline shows construction was scheduled for 2014, but it's nearly impossible to find anything relating to this project now, which pretty much means it's pushed back.

Something I never knew was offically discussed is on PDF page 44: a much needed flyover ramp from the GSP NB to the ACX WB.  Again, nothing currently is in the works for this project, as far as I know.

Press of Atlantic City: For New Jersey toll cheats, no more free rides

EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP – Be careful, motorists, someone may be watching you.

Usually, there are no workers stationed at Exit 9 heading westbound onto the Atlantic City Expressway in Egg Harbor Township. It is one of the expressway's automated, exact-change toll booths that depend on the honesty of motorists to pay their fares if they don't have the electronic E-ZPass system...The crackdown is part of a pilot program that began in 2012 targeting the most egregious toll violators on the expressway, the Garden State Parkway and New Jersey Turnpike...

While researching the above Exit 9 reconstruction, I came upon this article from 2011...which references the beginning of the toll evasion crackdown:  http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/breaking/police-cracking-down-on-atlantic-city-expressway-toll-evaders/article_ab25e2d6-78c0-11e0-9c1c-001cc4c03286.html

[Pete from Boston]

Press of Atlantic City: For New Jersey toll cheats, no more free rides

EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP – Be careful, motorists, someone may be watching you.

Usually, there are no workers stationed at Exit 9 heading westbound onto the Atlantic City Expressway in Egg Harbor Township. It is one of the expressway's automated, exact-change toll booths that depend on the honesty of motorists to pay their fares if they don't have the electronic E-ZPass system.

But occasionally, an expressway employee hides inside the cramped booth, and peers out from a tiny window at unsuspecting drivers who violate the toll. When that happens, the employee uses a hand-held radio to call a State Police trooper stationed ahead to nab the toll cheat.

Gotcha.

The crackdown is part of a pilot program that began in 2012 targeting the most egregious toll violators on the expressway, the Garden State Parkway and New Jersey Turnpike. Encouraged by the success of the program, the expressway is going to make it even tougher by imposing bigger fines that match those already handed out on the parkway and turnpike.

For reasons I cannot identify, I picture someone along the lines of the Hamburglar crouched down in there.

In Massachusetts, several years went by after the introduction of electronic toll collection before someone came out and said "The payment verification cameras were not turned on up until now, but now they are."  I still had my doubts at that point.

[Alps]

It's hard finding anything current, but this document from 2009 lays out one of the ideas for the AC Expressway Exit 9 connector to the AC Airport. http://www.njcrda.com/uploads/1/1/6/5/11659441/acrtpvolumeii.pdf  Go to PDF pages 37 & 38 to read a description of the project.  The timeline shows construction was scheduled for 2014, but it's nearly impossible to find anything relating to this project now, which pretty much means it's pushed back.

Something I never knew was offically discussed is on PDF page 44: a much needed flyover ramp from the GSP NB to the ACX WB.  Again, nothing currently is in the works for this project, as far as I know.

I don't believe the Parkway reconstruction in that area is going to change the ramp configuration. It might add a lane to one or two of the ramps or realign them, but no flyover. To my knowledge.

[bzakharin]

It's hard finding anything current, but this document from 2009 lays out one of the ideas for the AC Expressway Exit 9 connector to the AC Airport. http://www.njcrda.com/uploads/1/1/6/5/11659441/acrtpvolumeii.pdf  Go to PDF pages 37 & 38 to read a description of the project.  The timeline shows construction was scheduled for 2014, but it's nearly impossible to find anything relating to this project now, which pretty much means it's pushed back.

Something I never knew was offically discussed is on PDF page 44: a much needed flyover ramp from the GSP NB to the ACX WB.  Again, nothing currently is in the works for this project, as far as I know.

I don't believe the Parkway reconstruction in that area is going to change the ramp configuration. It might add a lane to one or two of the ramps or realign them, but no flyover. To my knowledge.

It's listed here:
http://www.state.nj.us/turnpike/our-projects.html

[Alps]

It's hard finding anything current, but this document from 2009 lays out one of the ideas for the AC Expressway Exit 9 connector to the AC Airport. http://www.njcrda.com/uploads/1/1/6/5/11659441/acrtpvolumeii.pdf  Go to PDF pages 37 & 38 to read a description of the project.  The timeline shows construction was scheduled for 2014, but it's nearly impossible to find anything relating to this project now, which pretty much means it's pushed back.

Something I never knew was offically discussed is on PDF page 44: a much needed flyover ramp from the GSP NB to the ACX WB.  Again, nothing currently is in the works for this project, as far as I know.

I don't believe the Parkway reconstruction in that area is going to change the ramp configuration. It might add a lane to one or two of the ramps or realign them, but no flyover. To my knowledge.

It's listed here:
http://www.state.nj.us/turnpike/our-projects.html

From the PDF, they're just realigning the EB-SB ramp and adding an offshoot ramp for 37.