Garden State Parkway

[roadman65]

I-40 in Asheville has that, too.  I-26 East from i-40 West is numbered Exit 46A, but there is no 46B westbound.  Eastbound has both 46A and 46B for I-26/240

US 322 in Swedesboro, NJ always had one too, the SB exit for US 322 E Bound on I-295 was Exit 11A, yet no ramp for 11B is present there due to the fact previous Exit 13 fills in the missing movement via US 130.  Nonetheless, in this scenario it is a lone A suffix.

Then with I-4 I had forgotten about Exit 50A that was between Exits 49 and 50 and not 50 and 51 back when FL used sequential exit numbers.

Then FDOT would skip A and B on I-95 in Palm Coast for Exit 91.  Then who knows why the A and B on I-275 were once backwards at the Dale Mabry exit during the sequential number days.

[NJRoadfan]

The US-322 exit is signed as just Exit 11, no letters. As for GSP Exits. The previously mentioned Exit 165 is now 165A-B (since you can re-enter the roadway). Exit 155P is finally dead, its now Exit 155A with Exit 155 becoming 155B, now signed as "Passaic" instead of Hazel St. NJ-20/Elmwood Park is now the only route signed at Exit 156 even though its really an exit for US-46 East (which Exit 157 is signed for). Haven't had a chance to see what Exit 157 south is signed for. Hopefully they added NJ-21, its only been 16 years since it opened.

[Alps]

The US-322 exit is signed as just Exit 11, no letters. As for GSP Exits. The previously mentioned Exit 165 is now 165A-B (since you can re-enter the roadway). Exit 155P is finally dead, its now Exit 155A with Exit 155 becoming 155B, now signed as "Passaic" instead of Hazel St. NJ-20/Elmwood Park is now the only route signed at Exit 156 even though its really an exit for US-46 East (which Exit 157 is signed for). Haven't had a chance to see what Exit 157 south is signed for. Hopefully they added NJ-21, its only been 16 years since it opened.

I am excited for the replacement of the old 156 signs.

[roadman65]

11A was on it at one time.  My bad, as NJ (or any other road agencies) do manage to make corrections.

And omitting US 46 on 156 sounds good as its redundant being 157 again connects to it.

155B now, seems funny to use only Passaic.  I would imagine though that at 160 the local road name is no longer used either.  I am guessing either Fair Lawn or Hackensack- Fair Lawn still keeping NJ 208 as that is important route in the area.  That is if they got up that far yet.

[NJRoadfan]

Another new mileage sign northbound at Exit 44. This one with Toms River, Woodbridge, and Newark..... the last is shown as being 105 miles away. I guess they are using connecting mileage on I-78 or something for that as the GSP enters Newark proper around MP144.

[storm2k]

11A was on it at one time.  My bad, as NJ (or any other road agencies) do manage to make corrections.

And omitting US 46 on 156 sounds good as its redundant being 157 again connects to it.

155B now, seems funny to use only Passaic.  I would imagine though that at 160 the local road name is no longer used either.  I am guessing either Fair Lawn or Hackensack- Fair Lawn still keeping NJ 208 as that is important route in the area.  That is if they got up that far yet.

Signage at 160 hasn't used the local road name in a long time. It's been To 208/Hackensack/Fair Lawn for quite a while.

[storm2k]

Article on nj.com today about Exit 125's SB ramp being EZ-Pass only: New Parkway exit will force drivers to pay with E-ZPass or face fine

Comments section is pure gold, as always, with all the people complaining what a cash grab this is (which is funny since you're already driving on a toll road).

At some point, the real question needs to be: why not go to a completely cashless collection system? They half do it with Express EZ-Pass at various Parkway plazas. PATP and the MTA are moving this way. Why isn't the NJTA?

[jeffandnicole]

Article on nj.com today about Exit 125's SB ramp being EZ-Pass only: New Parkway exit will force drivers to pay with E-ZPass or face fine

Comments section is pure gold, as always, with all the people complaining what a cash grab this is (which is funny since you're already driving on a toll road).

At some point, the real question needs to be: why not go to a completely cashless collection system? They half do it with Express EZ-Pass at various Parkway plazas. PATP and the MTA are moving this way. Why isn't the NJTA?

Really, they are simply appeasing the unions at this point.  They will eventually, but are giving it some time.

[vdeane]

If they're not going to build booths they should at least offer bill by mail.  IMO building exits that not everyone is allowed to use is unethical.

I may be missing something, but is there a reason why this is needed?  Why not just take US 9, which looks like a freeway there, and has full connectivity to/from the parkway to the north of the interchange?

[jeffandnicole]

If they're not going to build booths they should at least offer bill by mail.  IMO building exits that not everyone is allowed to use is unethical.

I may be missing something, but is there a reason why this is needed?  Why not just take US 9, which looks like a freeway there, and has full connectivity to/from the parkway to the north of the interchange?

If they're not going to build booths they should at least offer bill by mail.  IMO building exits that not everyone is allowed to use is unethical.

I may be missing something, but is there a reason why this is needed?  Why not just take US 9, which looks like a freeway there, and has full connectivity to/from the parkway to the north of the interchange?

http://www.state.nj.us/turnpike/documents/Int_125_Public_Hearing_FINAL.pdf

I guess there's a bit of demand for a full interchange in that area per the NJTA.  Motorists could continue to connect with US 9 from the Parkway at Exit 129, which is their only current toll-free option now, if they don't want to pay the new toll.

The PA Turnpike has been using EZ Pass Only Slip Ramps for several years now, with a full admin penalty of $25 or $50 if they don't have EZ Pass.  As these ramps are newer in nature, those without EZ Pass can always go the other way that has been available for probably the history of the Turnpike!

[Alps]

Article on nj.com today about Exit 125's SB ramp being EZ-Pass only: New Parkway exit will force drivers to pay with E-ZPass or face fine

Comments section is pure gold, as always, with all the people complaining what a cash grab this is (which is funny since you're already driving on a toll road).

At some point, the real question needs to be: why not go to a completely cashless collection system? They half do it with Express EZ-Pass at various Parkway plazas. PATP and the MTA are moving this way. Why isn't the NJTA?

If they never built the ramp, everyone would pay the toll, exit at 124, and use Main Street Extension to U-turn back to the new development. This is just to divert 3/4 of that traffic away from such a circuitous route, keeping 124 clear and thus preserving a local through street without congestion. Same toll, less distance. But if you don't have E-ZPass, you would follow the exact same route as if no ramp were built at all.

If they're not going to build booths they should at least offer bill by mail.  IMO building exits that not everyone is allowed to use is unethical.

I may be missing something, but is there a reason why this is needed?  Why not just take US 9, which looks like a freeway there, and has full connectivity to/from the parkway to the north of the interchange?

I think it has to do with traffic volumes generated by the site. They would quickly overwhelm the US 9/NJ 35/Main St. circlesection into lockdown conditions. Anyone who wants to shunpike - and this shoots down any arguments about ethics or social justice - can easily use US 9 across the Edison Bridge and not pay a toll, with nearly identical site access (free right turn off the ramp). Coming back, they can hop right onto the Parkway for free, which 100% of NB traffic is going to do, so left turns aren't going to clog up 9/35. I don't know how much was considered here, but I'd offer up that if the Parkway built nothing, it would lose a lot of traffic to 9 and NJDOT would be pissed. If the Parkway built a full interchange with manual tolls, they're now adding toll collectors and infrastructure at a time when they're trying to figure out how to go cashless, as well as eating up valuable land for development. I'm sure there was a back and forth on the matter, since they've never done something like this before. I would agree with you though, Valerie, that if the interchange were not already redundant with multiple other ramps and roadways, not allowing access by all would be... I'll say "improper" because engineering involves a specific definition of ethics that I'm not willing to apply here.

[vdeane]

I never liked the E-ZPass-only interchanges on the PTC either.  That said, the PTC is a ticket system.  The GSP is a barrier system - so pay by mail should be possible, they just aren't doing it for reasons I don't understand.

[swiftdo]

Article on nj.com today about Exit 125's SB ramp being EZ-Pass only: New Parkway exit will force drivers to pay with E-ZPass or face fine

Comments section is pure gold, as always, with all the people complaining what a cash grab this is (which is funny since you're already driving on a toll road).

At some point, the real question needs to be: why not go to a completely cashless collection system? They half do it with Express EZ-Pass at various Parkway plazas. PATP and the MTA are moving this way. Why isn't the NJTA?

If they never built the ramp, everyone would pay the toll, exit at 124, and use Main Street Extension to U-turn back to the new development. This is just to divert 3/4 of that traffic away from such a circuitous route, keeping 124 clear and thus preserving a local through street without congestion. Same toll, less distance. But if you don't have E-ZPass, you would follow the exact same route as if no ramp were built at all.

If they're not going to build booths they should at least offer bill by mail.  IMO building exits that not everyone is allowed to use is unethical.

I may be missing something, but is there a reason why this is needed?  Why not just take US 9, which looks like a freeway there, and has full connectivity to/from the parkway to the north of the interchange?

I think it has to do with traffic volumes generated by the site. They would quickly overwhelm the US 9/NJ 35/Main St. circlesection into lockdown conditions. Anyone who wants to shunpike - and this shoots down any arguments about ethics or social justice - can easily use US 9 across the Edison Bridge and not pay a toll, with nearly identical site access (free right turn off the ramp). Coming back, they can hop right onto the Parkway for free, which 100% of NB traffic is going to do, so left turns aren't going to clog up 9/35. I don't know how much was considered here, but I'd offer up that if the Parkway built nothing, it would lose a lot of traffic to 9 and NJDOT would be pissed. If the Parkway built a full interchange with manual tolls, they're now adding toll collectors and infrastructure at a time when they're trying to figure out how to go cashless, as well as eating up valuable land for development. I'm sure there was a back and forth on the matter, since they've never done something like this before. I would agree with you though, Valerie, that if the interchange were not already redundant with multiple other ramps and roadways, not allowing access by all would be... I'll say "improper" because engineering involves a specific definition of ethics that I'm not willing to apply here.

As someone who commutes from Freehold to Metuchen and back daily, I NEVER pay the $1.50 toll going southbound. I just get off 440 NB onto 9 SB, cross the Edison Bridge, then exit to 9 SB. There's no point paying $1.50 to drive 3 miles. It would be cheaper to drive the turnpike from Exit 10 to Exit 8 ($1.45). Even on days where I enter the Parkway from NJ 27 (Exit 132), I still exit at 129 onto 9. Even with the obnoxious amount of traffic during rush hour on 9/35 from the old Victory Circle to the 9/35 split, it still isn't worth the $1.50 for Old Bridge/Marlboro/Manalapan/Freehold, etc residents/travelers.

[roadman65]

Article on nj.com today about Exit 125's SB ramp being EZ-Pass only: New Parkway exit will force drivers to pay with E-ZPass or face fine

Comments section is pure gold, as always, with all the people complaining what a cash grab this is (which is funny since you're already driving on a toll road).

At some point, the real question needs to be: why not go to a completely cashless collection system? They half do it with Express EZ-Pass at various Parkway plazas. PATP and the MTA are moving this way. Why isn't the NJTA?

They will because they can sucker people being that most are careless now when driving.  At least if they are the very same people who come to my plaza in Florida, who claim they do not know they are on a toll road and "everybody" nowadays does not carry cash on them!  It is easy to make money off of these kind of uninformed kind of people!

We have signs all over the place at entrance ramps with all shields stating that 528 (408, 417, and 429) are toll roads and even the LAST EXIT BEFORE TOLL warning at Exit 4 I get people going that way who have no clue that a toll booth was coming.  I imagine that you have them there too, and if things are like they were when I lived in NJ years ago where the only notice for the Parkway being tolled is on the ramp entrance signs in upper case on top,the the average that seems to pass my way (remember my customers come from NJ & NY as well as pretty much everywhere in the US and Europe), they are not going to see it.  Heck it can be large letters and today's drivers will not see it!

Those with the GPS are even worse, so $ in the bank for the NJTA with the many uninformed of our times for all of this for going completely cashless and all  EZ Pass tags.

[jerseyguy]

How common is this (Google Maps referring to the Parkway by its unsigned designation)? It then told me to merge onto the Garden State Parkway after I made the turn onto the ramp.

[dgolub]

How common is this (Google Maps referring to the Parkway by its unsigned designation)? It then told me to merge onto the Garden State Parkway after I made the turn onto the ramp.

There was a time when they had shown some of the reference route in New York, but I think they've moved away from that at this point.

[vdeane]

At least two NY reference routes are still shown (Berkshire Spur and Glenridge Road).

[bzakharin]

It appears the next phase in exit 38 to 36 construction is complete. They are just about ready to shift Southbound traffic onto a new stretch of roadway in that area. The roadway is striped and overhead signs are up. There was a "New Traffic Pattern starting December 24" sign which was replaced with just "New Traffic Pattern", but the shift has not actually happened yet.

[sercamaro]

The Exit 100 switchover has occurred.  There are electric signs ahead notifying motorists of the change and the formerly exit signs are now uncovered.

[roadman65]

Speaking of Exit 100, they did get rid of the left side ramp for NJ 66 going NB in 1988 in favor of the right side ramp, but for what?  Yes no more left side exit from the fast lane as that is now a thing of the past, but now you have the weaving issues of those entering from NJ 33 WB conflicting with those exiting for Route 66.

Trading the snake for a serpent.  They should have built either a braided ramp or just built a service road between the two state highways on the east ROW of the Parkway with two signalized intersections at both routes. 

Anyway, not to be a rant, but to point out something interesting in what engineers did.

[storm2k]

Speaking of Exit 100, they did get rid of the left side ramp for NJ 66 going NB in 1988 in favor of the right side ramp, but for what?  Yes no more left side exit from the fast lane as that is now a thing of the past, but now you have the weaving issues of those entering from NJ 33 WB conflicting with those exiting for Route 66.

Trading the snake for a serpent.  They should have built either a braided ramp or just built a service road between the two state highways on the east ROW of the Parkway with two signalized intersections at both routes. 

Anyway, not to be a rant, but to point out something interesting in what engineers did.

It's not uncommon for the former NJHA. They built the onramp from Middlesex-Essex Turnpike to the SB GSP in Iselin in the early aughts and it shares a mostly short accel/decel lane for 131 (old 131A) in an area which is already sketchy with all the SB traffic trying to get off at 130. It's what they did.

[roadman65]

Heck in Florida that is short of being concern for weaving.  I guess the old NJHA stereotyped Jersey drivers as aggressive that the closeness is not an issue for weaving.  Here if two ramps are within a half a mile they get braided as that is considered a weave issue.

I still like how they refer to c/d roads as service roads when the rest of the nation calls a service road a local road running parallel to the main road like in Texas with their freeways.  I remember thinking that when I first heard the Exit 88-89 consolidation project, I thought that there would be two local at grade one way streets built on both sides of the Parkway for traffic to facilitate there.  Then when I saw the project result, I felt compelled to write to the NJTA and give them the 101 that the proper name for that parallel roadway is the collector distributor roadway as whoever published the documents on the work to be done misused the term "Service Road" to inform the public on what was being done.

Anyway opinions.

[jeffandnicole]

The design standards for the NJHA probably lagged far behind what was generally accepted for highways throughout the nation.  Remember, it was the early 80's.  What happened then with road engineering, even though it was 3 decades into modern highway building, still was a bit different than what's accepted today.

Since the NJTA took over, nearly everything built on the GSP is up to modern standards.

[Alps]

The design standards for the NJHA probably lagged far behind what was generally accepted for highways throughout the nation.  Remember, it was the early 80's.  What happened then with road engineering, even though it was 3 decades into modern highway building, still was a bit different than what's accepted today.

Since the NJTA took over, nearly everything built on the GSP is up to modern standards.

Also note that the NJHA was dealing with a (generally) cars-only facility, so they may have felt able to reduce certain design standards that accommodate a heavier vehicle mix. The NJTA certainly doesn't think that way anymore.

[roadman65]

The design standards for the NJHA probably lagged far behind what was generally accepted for highways throughout the nation.  Remember, it was the early 80's.  What happened then with road engineering, even though it was 3 decades into modern highway building, still was a bit different than what's accepted today.

Since the NJTA took over, nearly everything built on the GSP is up to modern standards.

However, not the GSP South Entrance ramp from Middlesex- Essex Turnpike.  That was built well after the 80's.

Anyway, they did braid the ramps further south, so they have to be realizing (and now following typical standards) for them to do that.  However, no insult but Jersey drivers are more aggressive as I learned to drive here.  It was fun being that way and some here in FL love to drive that way.  Hey, some people floor it just to go one car length here at the toll booth, with many not being in a hurry either.  Some will floor it into the next spot in the queue and then dig for their money to pay me.

If the whole world was aggressive, of course, spacing ramps apart would not be an issue, but I am sure that some engineers in the NJTA do have the thought cross their minds though that spacing is a waste.  I myself gotten so used to it, I sometimes forget its not the norm too.