NJ Turnpike Exit 2 Plaza and Park & Ride

[bzakharin]

I recently came upon a curious small property across US 322 from NJ Turnpike's Exit 2. It's literally just a Shell gas station and a Dunkin Donuts, with an additional parking lot with 20 or so parking spaces, and no apparent public transit service of any kind, labeled "Park & Ride". The ramp from Exit 2 has a traffic light providing direct access to this plaza, with food, fuel, diesel, and "Park & Ride" signage, almost as if it were a mini-service area.

I had to investigate this anomaly. The plaza in question is called "NJ Turnpike Exit 2 Plaza", owned by (or at least represented or operated by, the actual ownership seems to be by a different company) "Exit 2 Plaza Inc" with a website of njexit2plaza.com geared toward real estate development. The land for the plaza was acquired in 1996, and it was completed in 2000 (minus the parking lot).

Direct access from the Exit 2 ramp was built in 2012 when a traffic light was built at US 322. The "Park & Ride" was also built at the time and, according to tax maps, was never ceded to the plaza owner, though it is directly connected to the plaza, leading me to believe it's still owned by the NJTA, or maybe NJDOT. The property otherwise hasn't changed at all, with both Shell and Dunkin still there. Signs for the "Park & Ride" are prominently posted from both directions of US 322, as well as from the Turnpike exit ramp.

So the question is, why did the NJTA bother to build this lot, designate it a Park & Ride despite no transit services, and provide direct access to a tiny plaza? Were there plans to expand the property further that never materialized?

[jeffandnicole]

Before the reconfiguration of thay intersection, there was a relatively large dirt area across the street that was used for people to carpool, which is visible in the 2008 streetview. When the NJTA rebuilt the intersection, they built a parking area for those to continue to carpool.