Garden State Parkway

Garden State Parkway
Garden State Parkway highlighted in green
Route information
Maintained by NJTA
Length	172.40 mi (277.45 km)
Existed	June 29, 1950 (June 29, 1950)–present
History	Completed 1956; NY extension completed 1957
Component highways	Route 444 (unsigned) entire length
Tourist routes	Pine Barrens Byway
Restrictions	No trucks north of exit 105; all trucks from 13"- 11" must exit at exit 29
Major junctions
South end	Route 109 in Lower Township
Major intersections	US 40 / US 322 in Egg Harbor Township A.C. Expressway in Egg Harbor Township US 30 in Galloway Township I-195 / Route 138 / Route 34 in Wall Township US 9 / Route 440 in Woodbridge Township I-95 / N.J. Turnpike in Woodbridge Township US 1 in Woodbridge Township I-78 in Hillside I-280 / CR 508 / CR 509 in East Orange I-80 / CR 67 in Saddle Brook
North end	G.S. Parkway Connector at the New York state line
Location
Country	United States
State	New Jersey
Counties	Cape May, Atlantic, Burlington, Ocean, Monmouth, Middlesex, Union, Essex, Passaic, Bergen
Highway system
New Jersey State Highway Routes Interstate US State Scenic Byways
New Jersey Turnpike Authority
← Route 440 444 → Route 445

The Garden State Parkway (GSP), originally known as the Route 4 Parkway or Route 4 Freeway, is a controlled-access toll road that stretches the north–south length of eastern New Jersey from the state's southernmost tip near Cape May north to the New York state line at Montvale. Its name refers to New Jersey's nickname, the "Garden State". The parkway has an unsigned reference number of Route 444 by the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT). At its north end, the road becomes the Garden State Parkway Connector, a component of the New York State Thruway system that connects to the Thruway mainline in Ramapo, New York.

The Garden State Parkway is the longest highway in the state at approximately 172 miles (277 km), and, according to the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association, was the busiest toll road in the United States in 2006. Most of the highway north of the Raritan River runs through heavily populated areas. Between the Raritan River and Toms River, the highway passes through lighter suburban development, while south of Toms River, the road mostly runs through unspoiled wilderness in the Pine Barrens and swampland, interspersed with small towns and Jersey Shore beach communities. The highway has a posted speed limit of 65 miles per hour (105 km/h) for most of its length and is primarily for passenger vehicle use; trucks weighing over 10,000 pounds (4,500 kg) are prohibited north of exit 105.

The parkway was constructed between 1946 and 1957 to connect suburban Northern New Jersey with the Jersey Shore resort areas along the Atlantic coast and to alleviate traffic on traditional north–south routes running through each town center, such as US Route 1 (US 1), US 9, and Route 35. During planning and construction of the first segment, the road was to be a toll-free highway designated as the Route 4 Parkway. However, a lack of funding caused the remainder of the parkway to be built as a toll road. The highway has seen many improvements over the years, including the addition and reconstruction of interchanges, bridge replacements, widening of the roadway, and removal of at-grade intersections. Previously, the road had been maintained by an agency known as the New Jersey Highway Authority, however in 2003, the agency merged into the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA), which now maintains the parkway along with the New Jersey Turnpike.

The parkway uses an open system of toll collection with flat-fee tolls collected at 11 toll plazas along the roadway, as well as at several entrances and exits. Tolls can be paid using cash or via the E-ZPass electronic toll collection system. Along the route are 11 service areas, providing food and fuel to travelers. Historically, the road had ten picnic areas along its length, but only one remains open today.

Route description

Route 444 shield, the Parkway's unsigned designation.

The Garden State Parkway begins at New Jersey Route 109 in Cape May County, at one of the very few expressway interchanges in the United States designated as Exit 0. It runs north along the mainland side of the Jersey Shore, crossing the Great Egg Harbor Bay and passing to the west of Atlantic City. The parkway passes through the sparsely populated Pine Barrens until it reaches Toms River in Ocean County. From here, the road heads into suburban areas. North of Tinton Falls, the route splits into a local-express lane configuration, which it maintains through Sayreville. Here, the highway crosses the Raritan River into Woodbridge Township, where it meets the New Jersey Turnpike (Interstate 95, I-95). North of here, the Garden State Parkway passes through densely populated communities in Middlesex and Union counties and intersects I-78 near Newark. The parkway eventually passes to the south and east of Paterson and meets I-80 in Saddle Brook. After traversing the suburban northern section of Bergen County, the road enters the state of New York where it becomes the Garden State Parkway Connector, continuing north to the New York State Thruway mainline.

Typical entrance sign for the parkway

The parkway serves as a major route connecting North Jersey with all of the state's shore points, and as such, is subject to frequent congestion. The number of lanes on the parkway ranges from four in Cape May, Atlantic, and Bergen counties, to 15 on the Driscoll Bridge. Much of the highway runs closely parallel to, or concurrently with US 9. The speed limit on the parkway is 65 mph (105 km/h) for most of its length. However, it is posted at 55 mph (90 km/h) on a five-mile (8.0 km) section near Toms River and on a 40-mile (64 km) section between Sayreville and Paramus. The NJTA may temporarily reduce the speed limit when special hazards exist. Commercial trucks with a registered weight of over 10,000 pounds (4,500 kg) are not allowed to use the parkway north of exit 105, just past the Asbury Park Toll Plaza. The entire length of the Garden State Parkway carries the unsigned designation of Route 444, and is part of the National Highway System, a network of roads important to the country's economy, defense, and mobility.

Cape May and Atlantic counties

Garden State Parkway southbound, approaching the southern terminus at Route 109 in Lower Township

The parkway begins at an at-grade intersection with Route 109 in Lower Township, Cape May County, where Route 109 continues south toward Cape May and west toward US 9 and the Cape May–Lewes Ferry. The Garden State Parkway runs north as a four-lane freeway on the Cape May Peninsula through the Cape Island Wildlife Management Area, running west of swampland, separating the highway from the Jersey Shore communities. Trees occupy the median and the sides of the road for the next several miles. After passing to the east of Cape May National Golf Club, crossing over Jones Creek, and passing a pond in the median, the highway enters Middle Township and has an interchange with Route 47, which serves The Wildwoods resort area and the community of Rio Grande. North of this point, the parkway crosses over the abandoned Wildwood Branch of the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines, and afterwards, the trees in the median disappear and the highway has a partial interchange with Route 147, which provides access to North Wildwood, Whitesboro, and Burleigh. Crossing into the county seat of Cape May Court House, the median narrows and US 9 appears within yards of the southbound lanes of the parkway as it passes west of The Shore Club golf course. The two highways then split apart and the Garden State Parkway bisects residential areas before reaching an interchange for Stone Harbor Boulevard (CR 657), which serves the Cape Regional Medical Center and Stone Harbor.

Garden State Parkway southbound in Cape May Court House

Past this point, the road comes to an interchange for Crest Haven Road (CR 609), which provides access to the Cape May County Park & Zoo and a building complex containing the Cape May County Technical School District. After a southbound entrance ramp from US 9, the parkway leaves Cape May Court House and returns to a desolate wooded setting with a wide tree-filled median. Continuing north, the parkway has an interchange with Avalon Boulevard (CR 601), serving Avalon and Swainton. North of this point, the highway enters Dennis Township and has a partial interchange with Sea Isle Boulevard (CR 625), serving Sea Isle City before reaching the Bruce Willis Service Area in the median. Past the service area, the parkway enters Upper Township and reaches the Cape May Toll Plaza northbound immediately before meeting the southern terminus of Route 50, which serves Seaville, at a partial interchange. After passing east of several homes and a golf course, the parkway has the John B. Townsend Shoemaker Holly Picnic Area in the median before it crosses over the abandoned Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines Ocean City Branch. Continuing north, the highway comes to a diamond interchange with US 9 and Roosevelt Boulevard (CR 623), which serves Ocean City and Marmora. North of this exit, US 9 begins to run concurrently with the Garden State Parkway, and the two routes run east of the community of Beesleys Point before the median narrows, and they cross the Great Egg Harbor Bay on the Great Egg Harbor Bridge.

Garden State Parkway northbound at the Atlantic City Expressway in Egg Harbor Township

The highway surfaces into Somers Point, Atlantic County, where the southbound roadway has the Great Egg Toll Plaza before US 9 leaves the parkway at a partial junction. Past this point, the median widens and the parkway passes west of the Greate Bay Country Club and some homes before a partial interchange with West Laurel Drive, which provides access to Somers Point and Ocean City. After passing to the west of more residences, the median briefly becomes a Jersey barrier as the route crosses the Patcong Creek into Egg Harbor Township, where developments begin to appear on the west side of the highway. Eventually, the parkway crosses into uninhabited areas again before heading into a commercial area and widening to six lanes. Here, the road has an interchange with Black Horse Pike (US 40/US 322) and Tilton Road (CR 563), marking the first of three interchanges with roads that serve Atlantic City, located to the east. The median then transitions to a Jersey barrier and the parkway passes over the abandoned Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines Newfield Branch before a partial interchange with Washington Avenue (CR 608) and a cloverleaf interchange with the controlled-access Atlantic City Expressway (which heads west towards Philadelphia), where the northbound and southbound roadways split apart again. Upon leaving the commercial area, the highway passes to the east of Atlantic City International Airport and crosses over a flume of the Atlantic City Reservoir, which has a basin on each side of the highway. Continuing north, the highway enters Galloway Township and passes over NJ Transit's Atlantic City Line before it comes to a partial interchange with White Horse Pike (US 30), serving Absecon. North of this exit, the median is home to the Frank Sinatra Service Area, which also has a barrack of the New Jersey State Police. Immediately north of the service plaza, the parkway has an interchange with Jimmie Leeds Road (CR 561), serving the community of Pomona. The parkway then enters the sparsely populated Pine Barrens, passing to the east of Stockton University and reaching an interchange with Pomona Road (CR 575/CR 561 Alt.) Past this point, the road turns northeast and crosses into Port Republic as it winds north into the uninhabited Port Republic Wildlife Management Area. With some occasional development appearing along the sides of the road, the median narrows to a Jersey barrier as US 9 merges back onto the parkway, along with the Pine Barrens Byway, and the three routes cross the Mullica River.

Burlington and Ocean counties

Garden State Parkway northbound at split with US 9 in Bass River Township

The highway surfaces into Bass River Township, Burlington County, and US 9 and the Pine Barrens Byway depart at a partial interchange. Continuing northeast past the community of New Gretna, the parkway passes over US 9 with no access before crossing the Bass River and the median widens and contains a maintenance yard. Past this point, the median temporarily narrows again as the northbound lanes have the New Gretna Toll Plaza. Crossing northward through Bass River State Forest, the six-lane highway becomes desolate as it enters Little Egg Harbor Township, Ocean County. Here, the Garden State Parkway interchanges with North Green Street (CR 539), which serves Tuckerton, before entering Eagleswood, where it crosses over Westecunk Creek and passes to the west of Eagles Nest Airport. Afterwards, the parkway enters Stafford Township where development along the road begins to increase. Here, the highway has an interchange with Route 72, which provides access to Manahawkin and Long Beach Island. The parkway then forms a border between residential neighborhoods to the west and forest to the east before passing to the east of a golf course and entering Barnegat, where the concentration of houses shifts to the east. After an interchange with West Bay Avenue (CR 554), the parkway passes by residential neighborhoods on both sides of the highway before the median shortly narrows and the southbound roadway has the Barnegat Toll Plaza. Now in Ocean Township, the parkway meets the interchange with Wells Mills Road (CR 532) and crosses over Oyster Creek before entering Lacey Township, where it crosses the south, middle, and north branches of the Forked River before reaching an interchange with CR 614, serving the community of Forked River, and the Celia Cruz Service Area in the median.

Garden State Parkway southbound at CR 614 in Lacey Township

Father north, the road crosses over Cedar Creek and enters Berkeley Township, passing west of a golf course and Central Regional High School while traversing Double Trouble State Park. The route then crosses into Beachwood and passes west of several homes before entering South Toms River, where the median narrows and the parkway becomes concurrently with US 9 once again at an interchange with CR 530. After crossing the Toms River and entering Toms River, the highway passes west of the Toms River Bus Terminal serving NJ Transit buses. Past this point, the road crosses the abandoned Conrail Barnegat Branch and reaches an exit for Lakehurst Road (CR 527) before passing trees and reaching a cloverleaf interchange with Route 37, which provides access to Lakehurst, Seaside Heights, and Island Beach State Park. After heading northwest between trees on the west and neighborhoods on the east, the Garden State Parkway turns northeast as the median widens and contains a maintenance yard, and US 9 leaves the parkway at an interchange with Route 166. Past the interchange, the parkway reaches the bi-directional Toms River Toll Plaza and passes by lighter suburban development in addition to parkland, with Ocean County College to the east. Upon entering Lakewood Township, the parkway has an interchange with Route 70, serving Brick Township and Point Pleasant to the east; this interchange also serves CR 528. Running along the border of Lakewood and Brick townships, the route has an interchange with CR 549 before crossing the South Branch of the Metedeconk River and passing over Route 88 with no access. Now entirely within Brick Township, the route crosses the North Branch of the Metedeconk River and reaches a second exit for CR 549, where a pedestrian bridge for the Brick Park & Ride, located to the east, passes over the parkway. North of this interchange, the road widens to eight lanes and passes west of a solar farm.

Monmouth and Middlesex counties

Garden State Parkway northbound at I-195, Route 138, and Route 34 in Wall Township

Upon entering Wall Township, Monmouth County, the southbound lanes have a truck inspection area and the parkway passes west of Brick Township Reservoir through woods. The parkway crosses the Manasquan River and passes under the Capital to Coast Trail before reaching a large interchange near Allaire State Park. The interchange includes a pair of collector-distributor roads and serves the eastern terminus of I-195 (which runs west across Central Jersey toward Trenton), Route 34 (which runs southeast toward Point Pleasant), and Route 138 (which runs east toward Belmar). A park and ride is present in the southeastern cloverleaf with Route 138. Passing to the west of Shark River Park, the median contains the Judy Blume Service Area, which provides a park and ride for commuters and access to Belmar Boulevard (CR 18). The parkway enters Tinton Falls and has exits for Route 33, which runs east toward Bradley Beach and west towards Freehold Township, and Route 66, which heads east towards Asbury Park. Soon afterwards, the parkway passes to the west of the Jersey Shore Premium Outlets and has a partial exit for Asbury Avenue (CR 16), where the road widens to ten lanes. North of this point, the parkway reaches the northbound Asbury Park Toll Plaza.

Garden State Parkway northbound at the interchange with Route 18 and Route 36 in Tinton Falls

Immediately north of the toll barrier, the road divides into a local-express lane configuration with two express and three local lanes in each direction. The parkway passes to the east of a solar farm before reaching an interchange with Route 18 and Route 36, which head north towards New Brunswick and east towards Long Branch, respectively. The connector road from the parkway to the western terminus of Route 36 and Hope Road (CR 51) is designated by the New Jersey Department of Transportation as Route 444S. North of the interchange, the Garden State Parkway passes over the Southern Secondary railroad line operated by the Delaware and Raritan River Railroad and bisects residential neighborhoods before crossing the Swimming River into Middletown Township, where the road has an interchange with CR 520, which contains a park and ride and serves Red Bank and Lincroft. The parkway then passes over Normandy Road, which serves as a road and railroad link between the two sections of Naval Weapons Station Earle. Continuing northwest past houses and parks, the route has an interchange with Red Hill Road (CR 52) as it enters Holmdel Township, where it serves the PNC Bank Arts Center and the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans' Memorial. Upon entering Hazlet, the parkway crosses NJ Transit's North Jersey Coast Line before reaching an interchange for Route 35 and Route 36, which serves Keyport. At this point, the express roadway in each direction gains a third lane. Immediately north of here is a southbound exit and entrance at Lloyd Road (CR 3), where the parkway briefly enters Aberdeen Township and passes over the Matawan Creek before crossing the North Jersey Coast Line for a second time while the southbound lanes of the parkway briefly enters Matawan. Upon entering Old Bridge Township, Middlesex County, and reaching an interchange for Matawan Road (CR 626) serving Matawan, the highway enters Cheesequake State Park.

Garden State Parkway northbound approaching the Driscoll Bridge in Sayreville

After crossing the Cheesequake Creek near a marina and leaving the park, the road enters Sayreville and has the Jon Bon Jovi Service Area in the median, with access to both the express and local lanes of the highway. Passing to the southwest of South Amboy, the parkway has a partial interchange with US 9 and passes over Conrail Shared Assets Operations' Amboy Secondary line. After a northbound entrance and southbound exit at Main Street (CR 670), the lanes, now as a 4-3-3-4 configuration, merge as they cross the abandoned Raritan River Railroad and reach the Raritan Toll Plaza southbound. North of the toll barrier is an exit for Chevalier Avenue; all southbound vehicles exiting here must have an E-ZPass transponder. Paralleling US 9 and Route 35, the parkway becomes 15 lanes as it crosses the Raritan River on the Driscoll Bridge, the widest motor vehicle bridge in the world. On the bridge, the northbound lanes are divided into two roadways; only the eastern roadway has access to exit 127, an interchange for US 9 and Route 440, providing access to the Outerbridge Crossing to Staten Island. Just north of exit 127 in Woodbridge Township, the parkway runs in between the northbound and southbound lanes of US 9. After passing under Conrail Shared Assets Operations' Perth Amboy Running Track, US 9 splits off to the east and the parkway reaches an interchange with the New Jersey Turnpike (I-95). Running northwest through Woodbridge as a ten-lane roadway, the highway has an interchange with US 1 and crosses under Conrail Shared Assets Operations' Port Reading Secondary line as it enters the community of Iselin, passing to the east of several corporate offices. Immediately after passing under Amtrak's Northeast Corridor east of the Metropark station serving Amtrak and NJ Transit's Northeast Corridor Line, the GSP has an interchange with Route 27, which serves Rahway to the northeast. North of this point, the parkway curves northeast through densely populated neighborhoods, passing the Colonia South and Colonia North service areas.

Union and Essex counties

Garden State Parkway southbound at Vauxhall Road in Union Township

Crossing into Clark, Union County, the highway continues to pass through dense neighborhoods as a ten-lane roadway with a Jersey barrier. After crossing the Robinson's Branch Reservoir and passing an interchange with Central Avenue (CR 613), the southbound lanes have access to a maintenance yard. The highway then passes west of a park and Winfield Township before crossing the Rahway River into Cranford, where there is an interchange with Raritan Road (CR 607) and Centennial Avenue (CR 615). After passing west of a business park and over Conrail Shared Assets Operations' Lehigh Line and the inactive Rahway Valley Railroad, the parkway crosses NJ Transit's Raritan Valley Line and reaches an interchange with Route 28, which serves Roselle Park to the east. Upon entering Kenilworth, the highway passes many businesses before the road meets the interchange with Galloping Hill Road (CR 509), passes to the east of Galloping Hill Golf Course, and enters Union, where the parkway has an interchange with Chestnut Street (CR 619). Immediately afterwards, the road comes to an interchange with US 22 and Route 82 serving Hillside, where the Garden State Parkway briefly runs in between the carriageways of US 22 and the Union Watersphere appears on the east side of the parkway. Here, the parkway narrows to eight lanes, and the northbound lanes have access to the Whitney Houston Service Area. After the service area, the road crosses the Elizabeth River and briefly enters Hillside, where it reaches the northbound Union Toll Plaza before an interchange with I-78.

Garden State Parkway northbound in East Orange

Running northeast into Irvington, Essex County, the highway passes west of a park and east of many houses before reaching a pair of interchanges for local roads and passing through a short tunnel underneath a parking lot for Irvington Bus Terminal, serving NJ Transit buses. North of this point, the parkway gains frontage roads in each direction, which are mostly lined by residences. The frontage road for the northbound lanes is called Eastern Parkway, and the frontage road for the southbound lanes is called Western Parkway. After an interchange with South Orange Avenue (CR 510), the frontage roads end, and the parkway briefly enters Newark where it bisects Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, the northern end of which is in East Orange. After leaving the cemetery, the highway regains frontage roads which are known as Oraton Parkway. After passing East Orange General Hospital's Eastern Pavilion, the parkway comes to an interchange with I-280 and Central Avenue (CR 508), which serve Downtown Newark. At the interchange, the Garden State Parkway loses a lane in each direction and passes under NJ Transit's Morris & Essex Lines near East Orange station. The parkway continues to run in between frontage roads containing many houses before passing west of several apartment buildings and hospitals and crossing the abandoned Orange Branch of the New York and Greenwood Lake Railway. Winding into Bloomfield as a six-lane roadway, the Garden State Parkway crosses NJ Transit's Montclair-Boonton Line and has an interchange with Bloomfield Avenue (CR 506 Spur), where the frontage roads end. After passing under Norfolk Southern Railway's Boonton Line and reaching an exit for Belleville Avenue (CR 506), the parkway enters a more suburban area and the southbound parkway has the Essex Toll Plaza. The highway briefly enters Nutley before crossing back into Bloomfield, where the jersey barrier becomes a grassy median and the parkway reaches a diamond interchange for Watchung Avenue (CR 655) serving Montclair and passing the Larry Doby and Connie Chung service areas, serving northbound and southbound traffic respectively, to the west of the Upper Montclair Country Club.

Passaic and Bergen counties

Garden State Parkway northbound at US 46 in Clifton

The parkway crosses into Clifton, Passaic County, where it reaches an interchange with Route 3. At this point, the space between the northbound and southbound roadways contains the Allwood Road Park and Ride serving NJ Transit buses. After passing under a set of power lines and bisecting a residential area, the route has an incomplete interchange with US 46. Immediately north, the parkway meets the southern terminus of the Route 19 freeway, which heads north toward Paterson. Past this point, the highway curves northeast and passes over NJ Transit's Main Line before the median transitions to a Jersey barrier and the highway has a northbound exit and southbound entrance at Hazel Street (CR 702), serving Passaic. The parkway heads northeast past many homes before heading into a business district and crossing Norfolk Southern's Passaic Spur line. After passing many more residences near the route, the parkway reaches a partial interchange with the southern terminus of Route 20. Immediately afterwards, the parkway crosses the Passaic River and enters Elmwood Park, Bergen County, where it comes to a second interchange with US 46, serving Garfield. Passing more homes, followed by several businesses, the highway then passes over the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway's New Jersey Subdivision line and under NJ Transit's Bergen County Line before reaching an interchange with I-80 and the northbound Bergen Toll Plaza in Saddle Brook.

Garden State Parkway northbound at Route 17 in Paramus

Continuing northeast, the road passes through Saddle River County Park and crosses the Saddle River tributary into Rochelle Park. After leaving the park, it crosses a pair of interchanges for Route 208 and Route 4 as it enters Paramus near the Garden State Plaza shopping mall. North of Route 4, the parkway passes east of the Arcola Country Club and runs closely parallel with Route 17 before interchanging with it. Past this interchange, the median becomes grass-filled. After passing east of businesses and west of homes, the parkway passes in between the Paramus Park shopping mall and New Bridge Medical Center before reaching an interchange with East Ridgewood Avenue (CR 80), which serves Oradell and has a park and ride. After bisecting residential neighborhoods, the parkway has a partial interchange with Linwood Avenue (CR 110) before entering Washington Township where the southbound lanes have the Pascack Valley Toll Plaza—the northernmost toll plaza on the highway. North of the toll plaza, the median becomes substantially wider and trees begin to appear within it. The Garden State Parkway finally narrows from six to four lanes at the exit for Washington Avenue (CR 502), serving Westwood and Emerson. Winding through the Pascack Valley region of Bergen County past many homes and woodland, the parkway briefly enters Hillsdale before entering Woodcliff Lake, where there is a northbound exit and southbound entrance for Chestnut Ridge Road, which is accessed via CR S73 and serves Saddle River. The parkway then enters Montvale, where it reaches the James Gandolfini Service Area, the northernmost service area on the road. Immediately north is an exit for Grand Avenue (CR 94) serving Park Ridge; this is the northernmost exit of the Garden State Parkway, which crosses into the state of New York soon afterwards. From there, the route becomes the Garden State Parkway Connector, a component of the New York State Thruway system, which heads north toward the thruway mainline (I-87/I-287) in Nanuet.

History

Original construction

Garden State Parkway northbound at the Route 27 interchange in Woodbridge Township

Proposals for a better way to travel to Shore towns date to 1909. However, plans for the Garden State Parkway date back to 1942. In its early design, it would have connected to the Palisades Interstate Parkway in Fort Lee. Following World War II, traffic increased substantially on highways along the New Jersey coast. Due to the high traffic volume and presence of numerous traffic lights, it took motorists over three hours to travel between Paterson and Atlantic City. In 1946, plans were changed to construct a high-speed parkway to provide a bypass of Route 4, which, prior to 1953, ran from Cape May north to the George Washington Bridge by way of Paterson, largely following present-day US 1, US 9, and Route 35. In 1945, plans for the current parkway were inotroduced. On November 8 1947, governor Walter Edge broke ground on the first section of roadway. This highway would be constructed using state funds and be known as the Route 4 Parkway. The landscape architect and engineer in charge of the newly named Garden State Parkway was Gilmore David Clarke of the engineering firm Parsons Brinckerhoff, who had worked with Robert Moses on the parkway systems around New York City. Clarke's design prototypes for the parkway combined the example of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, a model of efficiency with parallels in the German autobahn routes of the 1930s, with the Merritt Parkway model that stressed a planted "green belt" for beauty. Both design models featured wide planted medians to prevent head-on collisions and mask the glare of oncoming headlights. The Garden State Parkway was designed to have a natural feel. Many trees were planted, and the only signs were those for exits—there were no distracting billboards. Most of the signs were constructed from wood, or a dark-brown metal, instead of the chrome bars used on most other highways. The guardrails were also made from wood and dark metal. Most early overpasses were stone, but were later changed to concrete, with green rails and retro etchings, popular around the 1950s and 1960s. The parkway was designed to curve gently throughout its length so that drivers would remain alert and not fall asleep at the wheel. This section, which ran from Route 27 north to Cranford, was opened on June 29, 1950. The highway was completed south to New Brunswick Avenue in Woodbridge Township, Middlesex County, on November 1 that year, In Cape May County, a four-mile (6.4 km) bypass of Cape May Court House opened on July 29, 1951, from exit 12 to the point where the parkway directly parallels US 9 north of Burleigh. On July 3, 1952, the Toms River section was opened. The state built section of the parkway was completed north to Union Township on July 16, 1953. Unlike later sections of the parkway, these portions were built with concrete driving surfaces.

Garden State Parkway and US 9 northbound in Upper Township

Due to a lack of funds, construction of the Route 4 Parkway stalled. The solution was for the state to establish the New Jersey Highway Authority (NJHA) on April 2 and 4 1952. This was officially passed by Governor Alfred Driscol on April 14. The new agency would oversee construction and operation of the remainder of the parkway as a self-liquidating toll road. This NJHA was banned from tolling the parkway between Springfield Avenue and Bloomingdale Avenue in Essex County, with tolls also being limited as much as possible on the rest of the highway due to the setting up of short toll free sections. There would be a total of 90 toll interchanges, with 121 exit and entrance ramps. On August 21, 1952, the NJHA received their first two contracts for construction of the highway. On November 4, New Jersey voters agreed 2-1 on a plan to make a state guarantee on the bonds. Bidding for the Momoth and Ocean County sections began in April 1953. On May 25 1953, it was determined that the bonds were considered constitutional by the New Jersey Supreme Court. By June, construction was underway on the Momotoh County portion of the road. $150 Million worth of Series A bonds were issued on July 8. On September 16, it was determined that pedestrians would be served by overpasses instead of at-grade intersections. On November 18, the $135 Million series B bonds were awarded. The first of the NJHA built section, from US 22 to Mill Road, opened to traffic on January 13, 1954. However, due to poor weather conditions, the toll itself was not collected until January 15. Other sections began opening soon after. The section between Toms River and Manahawkin was opened on July 15. The section between Toms River and the Eatontown Spur (now Route 36) opened on July 30. The bridge carrying the highway over the Raritan River was also opened to northbound traffic on this day, completing the highway south to US 9 in Sayreville. The southbound lanes were opened on the bridge south to Eatontown on August 4, and the section to New Gretna followed on August 5. The northbound roadway from Eatontown to Sayreville was opened on August 7, provideing for 90 miles of completed highway. Within Atlantic County, a large section from Tilton Road in Egg Harbor Township to the south bank of the Mullica River opened on August 11, though north of the White Horse Pike the road initially operated as a temporary super two on the southbound lanes. This ended on August 21, when the northbound lanes opened. The parkway was completed south to Somers Point on August 27. It was again a temporary super-two, with the northbound lanes opened on September 22.) This new section was connected across the Mullica River to the existing one on August 28 over a temporary super-two. The Cape May section of highway was also completed north to Route 50 in Seaville that day. The other lanes were completed a few weeks later. The section from Route 50 to Route 47 opened on September 4. This was followed by the section through the Beesley's Point Bridge on October 6. The entirety of the already built highway south of Irvington was declared finished on October 9. Segments north of Irvington were opened starting in late 1954. The section from Irvington Avenue to Central Avenue in East Orange was scheduled to open on November 26, but complaints about the road's safety from Irvington officials stalled opening until December 9, after the erection of temporary fences along the road's length. The section to North Arlington Avenue also proved tumultuous: though scheduled to open on January 4, the stretch opened a day earlier than scheduled. Mayor William McConnell ordered a blockade on this section of the highway on its intended opening of January 4, stating that North Arlington Avenue would be unable to handle traffic coming from the parkway. On January 8, the southbound lanes were opened to exit 148, the blockade was then lifted on the rest of the southbound section. Bloomfield mayor Donald E. Scott prevented the opening of the northbound lanes until the completion of a new bridge carrying Bloomfield Avenue over Second River needed to carry exiting traffic. Though this bridge was not completed for some time, the highway opened fully to US 46 on January 19, negating this prerequisite. However, Mayor Scott still barred all entrances and exits except for the southbound entrance from Bloomfield Avenue, until an inspection proved the highway safe; the exits were finally opened on January 21. During this conflict, the section from Route 3 to Hazel Street in Clifton opened on January 4. A similar blockade was threatened to be placed, but the announcement of speedy construction of fencing prevented this. On May 10, legislation was passed that made it legal for emergency vehicles to not pay tolls. They previously had to pay whether on duty or not. The Passaic River Bridge opened on May 26. This completed the parkway to US 46 in present-day Elmwood Park. In Spring 1955, a widening began to expand the road between exit 140 and the Raritan River Bridge to six lanes. It was completed on July 9 of that year. On July 1, 1955, the portion of highway from US 46 to Route 17 in Paramus opened. Work to construct the northbound carriageway through Cape May accumulated at the end of 1955, as only the bypass of Cape May Court House in Cape May County had been completed. The roadway north of Seaville opened on October 17, with the section south of Cape May Court House opened on October 25, and the rest on October 28. On April 16, 1956, the parkway's current trailblazer and logo was officially put into use, because studies in late 1955 determined the original shield was too small. With work on the northern section complete, the only gap was over the Great Egg Harbor Bay. Because of this, the NJHA planned for a 3,650-foot (1,110 m) two lane bridge over the Great Egg Harbor Bay, beginning at Beesley's Point, as well as a 750 two lane bridge crossing Drag Channel. These bridges would be linked by a two lane causeway. In construction, the bridge utilized 140 prestressed concrete beams, each 40 feet (12 m) long, at an cost of $640 (equivalent to $7,261 in 2023) each. The bridge used cheap concrete decking that cost less than $2 per square foot. Originally, the engineers had planned to convert the access road onto US 9 into a tolled interchange, however, they later changed palns to abandonment of the road. The bridge opened to traffic on May 26, 1956, with it being officially dedicated on June 26 of that year. This officially marked completion of the parkway as outlined in original planning. The tolled sections of road had cost a total of $300,000,000. The roads speed limit for most of its length was 60 miles per hour (97 km/h), the only exception was on bridge structures, where it reduced to 50 miles per hour (80 km/h), as well as exit ramps. For most of its length, the road had four 12-foot (3.7 m) lanes. On the NJHA built sections, the asphalt was built 21⁄2-foot (3.2 m) deep with bituminous concrete known as blacktop. The sub base was generally 8-foot (2.4 m) deep bank run gravel, and 5-to-71⁄2-foot (1.5 to 10.8 m). Each roadbed followed separate courses, meaning that neither direction was parallel the entire time. The section near exit 117 featured the widest right of way, at 1,200-foot (370 m), as well as the widest median, at 600-foot (180 m), the average median was 100-foot (30 m). When it opened, the parkway had more toll plazas per mile than any other toll road in the US. Literature from early on suggested that these would have been gotten rid of once bonds used for its construction were paid off. However, this never occurred, primarily due to continued construction.

Soon after the parkway's completion, congestion on Route 17 increased substantially, prompting an extension of the parkway to Montvale where it would connect to the newly-opened New York State Thruway. On November 30, 1955, a study determined this extension was financially feasible. On January 18, 1956, the NJHA entered into an agreement with the New York State Thruway Authority (NYSTA) for the prompt, and began planning for extension. The agreement was formally signed on February 1 by NJHA Chairwoman Katharine E. White and NYSTA Chairman Bertram D. Tallamy. Groundbreaking for the road began on May 1 of that year. Unlike older parts of the roadway, this one was built with prestressed concrete overpasses. It was originally proposed as part of a northern extension of the unbuilt Route 101, a highway that was intended to run from Kearny to Hackensack. The extension, Route S101, would have continued northward from Hackensack to the state line via Paramus. Approximately nine miles (14 km) in length, the extension was planned to run north through the Bergen County municipalities of Paramus, Washington Township, Hillsdale, Woodcliff Lake, and Montvale to the state line, where the parkway would meet with a connecting spur from the mainline of the New York State Thruway. Part of the extension to Chestnut Ridge opened on July 3, 1957. Despite this, the road itself was not yet fully complete, with workers needing to complete grading and pavement, as well as to install permanent median barriers. The Thruway's Garden State Parkway Connector opened on August 29, ending the temporary detour onto exit 172. In 36 hours, the extension carried 8,000 drivers.

20th century improvements

In September 1957, the NJHA announced plans to construct a new interchange in Clifton. Work would have constructed a southbound exit onto Getty Avenue and a northbound entrance from Main Street. Each would have been 100-foot (30 m) away from each other, and the northbound entrance would have had an overpass over Getty Avenue. This was the result of an agreement between Clifton mayor Edward O’ Bryne and the NJHA. Construction was set to start in Summer of 1958, and estimated to cost at least $400,000. This was never undertaken.

On February 7, 1958, U-turning was banned in order to increase safety. This was enforced at both the toll plazas and on the main roadway, and was considered a violation even if done to correct driving error.

In May 1958, the NJHA installed 30 new telephone booths along the northern portion of the parkway, citing the extra revenue they made. Lighting installation and shoulder improvements were also made as part of the project.

In Summer 1958, the Highway authority began enforcing the speed limit through use of radar.

Garden State Parkway southbound approaching exit 154 with US 46 in Clifton

As originally designed, exit 154 had only consisted of a northbound exit and a southbound entrance. Because of this, drivers trying to get onto US 46 westbound from the parkway southbound or US 46 eastbound to the parkway northbound had to use exit 153 and U-turn at Bloomfield Avenue on Route 3 eastbound, witch from there eventually lead onto US 46. However, the lack of ramps resulted in congestion at both exits, the need to get the congestion under control quickly became apparent. Engineers subsequently began planning to either construct missing links at exit 154 or exit 153. After the conclusion of a study in December 1957, it was decided that the new ramps at exit 154 were preferable, as a study determined it was 2.5 times in greater need. The planned work was too involve the construction of a northbound entrance from the parkway southbound to US 46 westbound and a southbound entrance from US 46 eastbound to the parkway northbound. In May 1958, a contract went to Thomas Nichol Company, Inc. of Farmingdale, who had been a contractor that helped to build the original parkway. They were to undertake the grading, paving, and construction of the bridge structures. The project created 40 new jobs, and would not result in long term restriction of traffic on either the parkway or US 46. This was to become the first major improvement to an exit along the parkway. Construction on the ramps began that June. In July, the NJHA awarded a $38,451 contract for the construction of new tolling facilities to the Electronic Signal Company, Inc. of Jamaica, Queens. They also awarded a $15,200 contract for the addition or replacement of the signage to Traffic and Street sign, Co, of Newark. By August, the piers for the overpass at the northbound entrance were already near completed. The structures were built 50 yards high, using 6,800 yards of concrete and 343 tons of steel. By September, the decks of both structures were under construction. The placing of their girders required the parkway to be temporarily closed in both directions at different times, with police officers directing motorists to use the northbound exit and southbound entrance. The new ramps were officially opened on December 26, 1958. After a month of being temporarily free, the toll booths on the new ramps began operation in February 1959, replacing the toll booths on the southbound exit and northbound entrance. The total cost of the project was $2.25 million (equivalent to $18.2 million in 2023). This was over half a million higher than estimated. The new ramps were dedicated by NJHA officials and city officials at the official ribbon cutting ceremony on January 15, 1959. In their first years of service, 1.5 million vehicles used the ramps.

Construction was undertaken to widen the road between exit 117 and the Raritan River Bridge to six lanes. The southbound direction was the first to be widened, with its completion on June 15, 1958. On June 19, 1959, the northbound roadway widening was completed.

On December 30, 1959, exit 139B was opened. The ramp had cost the state highway department $108,487 (equivalent to $867,541 in 2023) and served a link to westbound Route 82 that exit 140 does not.

On February 1, 1961, motorists were banned from traveling with motorcycles, bicycles, and scooters. This ban was approved by the state highway department and New Jersey State Attorney on the toll free sections, and the NJHA on the rest of the highway. While there were no records on how exactly many motorcycles used the parkway, in 1960 alone, they had caused 20 accidents, of which two caused fatalities. Motorists who were caught using these modes of transportation on the parkway faced either a $200 (equivalent to $1,562 in 2023) fine or 30-day jail sentence.

Originally, the northern end of the section of road where commercial vehicles were barred from continuing began at exit 90. However, this meant they did not have grade-separated access points to route 34, resulting in dependence on local roads. To prevent the issues that came with this, an act of legislation went into effect on July 1, 1961 that made the northern end of the ban end at exits 97.

In Summer 1962, the NJHA installed new hand cranked devices in service to help motorists call tow trucks.

On December 5, 1962, a northbound entrance was opened at exit 120. This connection had previously only been possible by traveling through Cheesequake State Park.

Garden State Parkway northbound at exit 114 in Middletown Township

When it was built, exit 116 served the Holmdel-Middletown area. However, it was not considered an interchange, as only locals utilized it. However, with industrial developments such as Bell Labrotories’s new Holmdel complex and factories such as the Lily Tulip Cup Plant being constructed in the area, the need for a proper interchange increased, as the existing one had become obsolete carrying traffic it was not designed for. In March 1961, the NJHA announced they would build a new interchange at either Red Hill Road or Nutswamp Road. That November, the interchange was approved, the road they selected was Red Hill Road. Additionally, in order to return their investment spent on building the interchange, it was determined that the exits southbound exit and northbound entrance would be tolled. It was also announced that exit 116 was also to be restricted to emergency traffic only once the exit opened. The plan to close exit 116 was received negatively by county planners, who vocally tried to make them reconsider, as well as locals, who created a petition to try to stop its closure; this received 750 signatures. On December 14, the Highway Authority made an appropriation of $50,000,200 (equivalent to $390 million in 2023) for engineering of the interchange. Exit 116 was closed on May 31, 1962 due to congestion. Equipment was taken to the site on July 30, 1962, construction began shortly after. Construction began on August 1. In late August, the NJHA approved a contract with Taller and Cooper of Brooklyn to install the tolling facilities for the new interchange. Following improvement to the signage, exit 116 reopened at 12:01 am on October 1 on the basis that it would close for good upon exit 114;’s opening. In November, the NJHA announced it hoped to have the interchange finished by December 15. They announced on December 13 that exit would instead open on December 20 at 3 pm. The interchange opened on time, and became the 91st tolled exit, with them being implemented at the same time. As planned, exit 116 was closed simultaneously with its opening.

In April 1963, the NJHA completed installation of a communications network, which increased safety.

On June 18, 1963, a meeting was held between NJHA officials, Senator Charles W. Sandman Jr., and the Cape May County Board of Freeholders. They discussed issues with exit 12;’s northbound exit,, which traveled at-grade across the southbound lanes, was described as a "serious hazard" by the NJHA. After an agreement was settled on and approval came from the NJSHD, it was announced to the public on June 26 that the northbound ramp would close permanently. When this occurred on July 2, all northbound traffic that previously utilized the ramp was advised to use exit 13, only 0.5 miles (0.80 km) to the north instead. The southbound entrance was left unaltered.

On August 1st, 1963, work began on a project to add a one inch overlay of asphalt on the 2 miles (3.2 km) of road between exit 153 and exit 154. It also lengthened the acceleration lanes at northbound exit 153A, northbound exit 153B, and the ramp at exit 154 onto westbound US 46, increasing safety by allowing motorists more time to get onto the parkway. The roadway surfacing was done at night to reduce traffic disruption, though the ramp lengthening was done in the daytime, this was because the ramps were not used enough for their closure to be a severe disruption to traffic. The work was completed on October 31.

In January 1962, the NJHA announced plans to make improvements to exit 109. This was the result of criticism by Red Bank’s board of Commerce, who had publicly called the ramp “poorly lighted and designed”. At their suggestion, the deceleration lane would be widened and lengthened, and lighting improved. A park and ride near the northbound on-ramp was built to encourage carpooling. The new park and ride lot opened in July 1962. It was initially free, though in August, a fee began to be charged to utilize the space. A contract for the project was awarded that April. Construction began shortly after Labor Day, in order to reduce impact on traffic. Work was competed by the end of the year.

In May 1964, the NJHA shot down proposals to open up the northern section to trucks, citing safety concerns.

View of exit 38

In May 1962, the NJHA announced plans to construct and improve interchanges in Atlantic County and Cape May County. The New Gretna Toll Barrier was expanded with three extra collection lanes. exit 29, a at-grade intersection, was rebuilt into a grade separated southbound exit and northbound entrance. Exit 30, a trumpet interchange, was rebuilt with its old southbound exit and northbound entrance eliminated, the northbound exit was widened to two lanes, and tolls were added to both it and the northbound entrance. The Great Egg Toll Plaza was demolished and replaced with a wider plaza to the north. Exit 36 had the toll in effect at its southbound exit and northbound entrance removed, as well as the installation of a traffic signal at Tilton Road. Finally, exit 38 was to be built as a cloverleaf interchange to serve the Atlantic City Expressway. Construction began concurrent with the expressway itself in November of that year. The exit had its northbound entrance and exit opened on July 30, 1964, it became the 92nd interchange to be built on the parkway. However, only the northbound exit and entrance were open; this was because part of the expressway east of the parkway interchange had not been completed yet. With the completion of these ramps, the improvements were also compelled at exit 36. On March 8, 1965, construction began to make improvements to the preexisting exits and toll barriers. While initially planned for competition by July 1, completion occurred on July 15. The other four ramps at exit 38 were opened on July 31, 1965. The entire project cost $800,000,000.

View of exit 159 in Saddle Brook

In May 1962, the NJHA announced plans to widen the road from exit 154 to the Bergen Toll Plaza to six lanes. Because of this, improvements were to be made to interchanges and other structures in the widening area. Exit 157 was planned to have its northbound exit onto US 46 eastbound and the southbound entrance from US 46 westbound closed. The Passaic River Bridge was to be reconstructed with widened piers and a rebuilt superstructure. Exit 158, which had served Midland Avenue northbound and Pehle Avenue southbound, was to be closed. It would be replaced by exit 159, an interchange that would serve Interstate 80, while retaining the northbound connection to Midland Avenue and southbound connection to Pehle Avenue. Finally, the Bergen Toll Plaza was to be expanded from eight collection lanes to twelve collection lanes. Construction began immediately, with the road between exit 154 and the west end of the Passaic River Bridge complete by late 1962. The northbound exit and entrance of exit 158 were closed on March 16, 1963, and demolition of them and construction on the northbound portion of exit 159 began shortly after. Motorists were advised to temporarily use exit 157 or exit 160 as a detour while this was uderway. The southbound exit and entrance were originally planned to stay open until exit 159’s completion. However, with the construction, they were closed on June 22, allowing for construction of the rest of exit 159 to be undertaken. On June 26, construction was completed on a new ramp at exit 156’s southbound exit that connected the new service road Lexington Avenue to the parkway. It was planned to be reopened earlier, though a change of plans resulted in this being delayed. In July, work began on erecting the girders on the Passaic River Bridge, as a result, the northbound exit and southbound entrance at exit 156 were both closed to allow for a space to do so. Due only to being done at night, the ramp was open through most of the day when traffic used it, thereby reducing the impact on traffic. On December 23, exit 159s ramps onto Midland Avenue and New Pehle Avenue were completed, the expanded Bergen Toll Plaza and six lane widening between the east end of the Passaic River Bridge and the Bergen Toll Plaza was completed a week later. The project was completed months ahead of schedule, resulting in the lack of complete Interstate 80 ramps when it opened. Part of the ramps at exit 159 to and from Interstate 80 opened on October 20, 1964. In November, the planned closure of exit 157s ramps was to occur. Traffic that had used the ramps were suggested to use exit 159. If the northbound motorists who were intending to travel to the George Washington Bridge didn't want to pay the new exits toll, they could instead use exit 154 or exit 156, while motorists wanting to get onto the parkway southbound would use exit 161. The rest of exit 159 opened on September 24, 1965. The project cost a total of $4,500,000.

In April 1966, the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) took control of the sections previously owned by the state highway department when that agency was replaced by it.

Southbound at exit 166

In May 1967, the NJHA proposed constructing park and ride lots at exit 153 and exit 166. This never occurred.

In April 1968, Lous Tonti, lead engineer of the NJHA, proposed that the free sections of roadway be sold to the NJHA. With this, improvements would have been made, service roads and exits with them would have been built through the Middlesex County portion. Because of this, some of the tightly spaced exits would have been eliminated. He wanted this because the road's design suffered from outdated, substandard design, as well as its toll free state making it become the most congested parts of the road. The tolling of these sections would allow the NJHA to pursue construction of the Garden State Thruway, which otherwise would have been implausible. This never occurred.

In December 1966, the NJHA awarded a contract to construct missing links at exit 4. The new southbound exit and northbound entrance, both having toll plazas, were opened to traffic on May 24, 1968.

In March 1968, construction began on a new access road to the Garden State Arts Center at exit 116. It was completed in June of that year, and on August 8, exit 116 was once again given a exit number.

View of the northbound exit at exit 165

In May 1966, the NJHA, in a joint agreement with the borough of Paramus, announced plans or another widening in Bergen County, this time between between the Bergen Toll Plaza and exit 165. As part of the work, Exit 165, originally a partial diamond interchange, was to be rebuilt into a eight ramp Collector-distributor road, which unlikie it, would exclusively use right turns The new exit was to have a tolled southbound exit and northbound entrance. NJHA engineer Louis Tonti explained that their addition was necessary due to exit 165’s lack of tolls causing locals to use the exit as a bypass of Route 17, resulting in congestion of the parkway in the area; the tolls would eliminate this design flaw by persuading only long distance travelers to use it. Once this was competed, exit 166, a southbound exit and northbound entrance, was to be closed in order to improve safety; traffic heading onto it congested the local roads, its poor visibility was also a safety hazard to traffic. New bridges structures were to be built as part of the project; this included a new one to carry Ordell Avenue and Ridgewood Avenue, in addition to being to short to accommodate the new exit, the original structure featured a dangerous curve over the parkway and was congested. The project would cost $3.7 million. (equivalent to $26.5 million in 2023) The cost per mile was drastically different each time, as some mileposts had more structures that would need to be rebuilt than others. Construction on the project began soon after it was announced. All of the ramps were opened once their construction was complete, meaning that whether they formed a C/D roadway or not, drivers could utilize them. The reconstructed southbound exit and new southbound entrance were both completed on November 30, 1966, ending the temporary slip-on traffic pattern that had been in service for some time before. At this point, they could finally demolish and reconstruct the northbound exit onto the northbound collector roadway. On December 29, the last ramp at the rebuilt northbound entrance and new northbound exit was completed. With this, the only work that remained was grading, streetlight installation, and completion of the pedestrian overpasses. On January 6, 1967, as planned, exit 166 was closed to prevent traffic from traveling through it by Paramus officials. That same month, widening between the Bergen Toll Plaza and exit 161 was completed. Originally, it had been announced that tolls would go into effect on February 15, however, they went into effect on tow days early on February 13. On May 24, it leaked out that the New Jersey Highway Authority would go back on this closure, and re-open the ramps at exit 166. Paramus officials immediately protested re-opening exit 166 due to the fact that the ramp brought cars into blind curves if they turned left. The borough threatened to put up their own barriers at exit 166 if the re-opening went through at noon on May 26 as planned. 40 minutes prior to scheduled opening, the procedure was called off and a meeting between Paramus and Authority Director D. Louis Tonti scheduled for May 29. That September, exit 166 was forcibly reopened after a gag order was secured to prevent local authorities from ordering actions that affected parkway operation. However, safety improvements had been made, including the trimming of trees to increase visibility. In 1968, work on the widening was completed between exit 163 and exit 165, and in 1969, the roadway was widened between exit 163 and exit 161. This construction made it so that the entire 82-mile (132 km) stretch of parkway between exits 83 and 165 was at least six lanes wide.

In 1970, the NJHA announced they were considering construction of an interchange with New Jersey Route 74, which would’ve been tolled. Like the highway itself, this was never built.

View of exit 145

Congestion in the Essex County section had been an issue from the start, in part due to the lack of tolls. Because of this, in 1962, the NJHA announced plans for major improvements to the exits in Essex County. This was after legislation had been passed that repealed the toll ban applied to the section when originally built. Exit 143 was to be rebuilt into exit 143A-B, each serving Union Avenue with right hand turns. Exit 144 a tolled exit was to be built. Exit 145, a southbound exit and northbound entrance serving Central Avenue, was to rebuilt into a interchange serving Interstate 280 and Grove Street was to carry traffic instead. Exit 147 was to be built, at which point exit 146, a northbound exit and southbound entrance that served Springdale Avenue, was to be closed. Exut 148 was also to be built. All of the interchanges were to gain improved safety features through the addition of 1,200-foot (370 m) deceleration lanes (double the previous 600-foot (180 m) length) and automatic snow melting devices. Construction began concurrently with Interstate 280 stretching through the project area. Construction of exit 143 was partially completed on January 1, 1966. On January 10, the improvements to exit 144 were completed. This was followed by the completion of exit 148 on January 11, the rebuilt exit 145, whitch was initially projected to open in late 1965, opened on January 12. That same day, tolls went into effect at exit 144/148, they were then stopped at exit 143. Tolling went into effect at exit 145 on January 13. Work to construct the second ramp at exit 143 was completed on April 12. The ramps onto exit 145 into and off of Interstate 280 were temporarily barricaded while it was under construction. Part of the mainline was also rebuilt into an underpass, demolishing a portion of the depressed roadway in the process, this ended on October 13, 1967, when the ramps onto Interstate 280 at exit 145 were completed. The rest of exit 145 opened when Interstate 280 was completed further on June 9, 1972. This project reduced congestion on the road drastically, as it eliminated use of the parkway section by locals who used it for very short distances.

By the late 1960s, the Great Egg Harbor Bridge, carrying one lane of traffic in each direction, had become congested. Because of this, on November 6, 1972, the NJHA completed a new twin span to carry traffic. The new span carried northbound traffic, while the existing structure was converted from carrying one lane of traffic in each direction to carrying two lanes of southbound traffic. This project eliminated the only two lane section of the entire parkway.

In 1973, a project was competed that widened the road to six lanes between exit 165 and exit 168.

The speed limit was raised from 50 to 55 miles per hour (80 to 89 km/h) on January 3, 1974.

On February 21, 1974, a project to build new ramps at exit 91 was completed. As part of this project, a new ramp onto the southbound lanes of Lanes Tavern Road was created to serve southbound Burnt Tavern Road, as such, the preexisting at-grade intersection was then altered to prohibit left hand turns. Tolls were also added to northbound exit and southbound entrance; this began on February 27.

In February 1973, the NJHA awarded a contract to build exit 98. This exit would replace existing exits 96 and 97 for traffic wanting to use Route 34 and Route 38 (now Route 138). On July 1, the southbound exit 96 and exit 97 were permanently closed in order to allow construction of the southbound ramps of the new exit., In May 1974, the replacement exit 98 was opened northbound, at which point the old ramps closed. On July 3, 1974, the southbound exit 98 opened, completing the project.

Garden State Parkway in the 1970s

When it was originally designed, the NJHA had considered a second roadway to the section between the Asbury Park Toll Plaza and Raritan River, they also wanted the section between the bridge and exit 129 five lanes wide. However, at the time, traffic levels were too low for their necessity. However, predicting they might be necessary in the future, the overpasses were built wide enough to allow their construction when traffic levels made them necessary. As early as 1956, there had been proposals to do so, however, they were never implemented. A contract was awarded to undertake the rest of the project in May 1969. A rebuilt exit 129 was partially opened in September, the remaining ramps were opened to traffic in January 1970. Done as part of expansion of the NJ Turnpike, this replaced the existing ramps, and made it so that the parkway southbound had direct connections to the southbound parkway and the southbound directions and vice versa. After the opening of the new exit, the old ramps were demolished. On November 24, 1970, a new roadway to carry southbound traffic from exit 129 to the Raritan River Bridges southern end was redirected onto a new roadway that lied in the median of the old one, the old one was then became an exit onto US 9. This created a collector-distributor road, and widened the southbound driection to five lanes. This bypass eliminated the former southbound exits 127-127A. On March 30, 1971 the new southbound only Raritan Toll Plaza was opened . On September 18, the newly reconstructed On August 17, the switch occurred to the northbound roadway, the old one also became a collector-distributor road, though it rather served as a US 9 ramp to connect to the northbound parkway as well as the New Jersey Turnpike. An expansion of the Driscoll Bridge across the Raritan River was completed on September 2. Work then began on widening the Sayreville side and repairing and widening the existing part of the bridge deck, work was completed by the beginning of 1972. On January 17, 1973, the new exit 127 was opened to NJ 440 northbound. By June, the Route 440 link southbound had opened as well. In order to both clear land for the roadways and to increase safety, left hand exits (namely exit 105 and exit 117) were rebuilt into right hand ones, and eventually got connected to the new roadway. February 27, 1974, building of a new right hand ramp at exit 117 was completed so the former ramp could be converted in the express lane ramp, alongside this came the construction of exit 117A on the soon to be local lanes, as well as the addition of toll plazas. On July 2, 1973, southbound traffic heading onto exit 105 was redirected onto the new right hand ramp, construction then began on converting the former left-hand ramp into a new ramp for the express lanes. The segment of express lanes from Sayreville to Keyport was opened on July 3. The segment of roadway from Keyport to the Asbury Park toll plaza was opened on August 2.

Garden State Parkway in the 1970s

The NJHA once planned to build exit 19, which would have served the terminus of Route 55. This was canceled in 1975 after the conclusion that the highway ran through too many wetland areas. The plans have since been revisited due to traffic congestion on Route 47.

On November 1, 1975, motorcycles were relegalized after years of protest from motorcyclists; all of the other restrictions remained. Particular pushback was made by Malcolm Forbes, who filed a lawsuit to stop this ban.

In the 1970s, there were plans to build an exit D1, a new interchange which to serve the Driscoll Expressway, a 38-mile (61 km) toll road that was planned to run from Toms River to the New Jersey Turnpike in South Brunswick. However, the plan was abandoned in February 1977.

With Interstate 78 being being built through Essex County, it became apparent that a expansion of exit 142 with new ramps to serve the highway was necessary. It was initially planned for completion in 1967. THe ramps onto Union Avenue were to be retained. Construction of the new ramps began concurrently with Interstate 78 through the area. Parts of the new ramps were opened on April 14, 1976. Tolling of the exit ramps began immediately. The rest of the ramps were opened on May 28, 1977.

In January 1980, the NJHA announced plans to construct exit 84, a southbound exit and northbound entrance onto Indian Head Road. This was to be done as part of a bigger project to improve lcoal roads in the area.Those who objected the plan proposed improving the existing exit 83 instead, as it was seen as unbeneficial after a study deemed it to likely discourage use of public transit, and despite a replanning of the interchange, it was later shelved indefinitely.

In late 1981, the road between exit 143 and exit 145 was widened to eight lanes.

Garden State Parkway northbound at the Route 27 interchange in Woodbridge Township

On November 17, 1980, NJDOT completed construction on a project to widen the road to eight lanes between exit 129 and exit 141. These new lanes were HOV lanes that were restricted to vehicles with three or more occupants. This was lowered to two or more occupants in June 1981. They were converted into general use lanes in 1982 after almost universal criticism.

In 1979, a plan was proposed to build exit 124, witch would be a partial diamond interchange to serve Main Street in Old Bridge. In 1980, construction of the interchange was approved. In March of that year, Hardroads Incorporated, a firm located in East Brunswick, was hired to construct the new interchange. Later that month, the final plot of land necessary to allow for construction of the interchange had been purchased. Construction began in June 1982. On October 25, 1982, the northbound entrance was opened to traffic. On November 19, the southbound exit was opened to traffic, thereby completing the project. It had cost the NJHA $184,000 to build.

In 1983, a plan was made to open exit 116 with tolls. After being abandoned in 1981, it became mainly used by shunpikers, in addition, exit 114 was congested carrying traffic it was not designed for, and highway officials thought opening it to traffic would eliminate that. However, this never occurred, mostly due to protest from highway authority officials, who claimed the roads for which the ramp connected to were not built with the capacity necessary to do so.

In 1980, the NJHA began making plans for exit 171, which would serve the boom of office complexes replacing farmland across Chestnut Ridge road. After years of delays due to political tensions, in March 1985, the northbound entrance opened, with the southbound exit opening on July 25 of that year, where at the signal, drivers were restricted to left turns only.

In late 1985, expansion of the Union Toll Plaza and Asbury Park Toll Plazas were both completed.

In 1975, the southbound exit and entrance at exit 131 opened. Following this, after years of delays, on November 19, 1986, the northbound exit and entrance were opened to traffic. The ramps were constructed by NJDOT as part of construction of Metropark station, and cost $4.4 million. Following this, in 1987, NJDOT sold the 19 miles (31 km) section it previously owned to the NJHA. These were between exits 6 and 12, between exits 80 and 83, and between exits 129 and 140. They sold the sections for one dollar with the requirement that tolls were never to be charged on them. With this, the roadway between mileposts 99 and 83 was widened from to six lanes.

The Bergen Toll Plaza was expanded in September 1987.

In 1973, plans were made to widen a 3.1-mile (5.0 km) stretch of road. The first part of the widening began in 1975. THe rest of it had begun in 1978. By this point the scope of the work had been expanded to the widening of 23-mile (37 km) of roadway. As part of this work, many overasses were replaced. A contract to widen the section between exit 98 and exit 100 was widened to eight lanes, and the section between as exit 100 and the Asbury Toll Plaza was widenied to ten lanes for the project was awarded in 1985. In December 1986, as part of the project, a new right hand ramp at exit 100A was opened, the existing left-hand one was then closed permanently. Work on widening the actual parkway to eight lanes began in March 1987. This involved construction of new overpasses carrying Route 66 and Route 33 over the parkway to replace the old ones. They also improved signage and lighting, as well as extending exits 100 and 100B to meet with the new overasses. After the new structures were open, the old ones were systematically demolished. Their abutments were demolished through controlled implosions during night time periods. Work on this part of the project was fully completed in December 1987. This officially completed the project.

In 1988, improvements were completed to exit 105 concurrent with construction of a new section of NJ 18. A new ramp was built northbound to connect to the freeway northbound, and the existing deceleration lane was replaced by a new one. In addition, a new southbound entrance was built to allow southbound Route 18 traffic to enter the southbound local roadway.

In 1989, construction began on a project to rebuild exit 36’s northbound exit to connect to Fire Road rather than Tilton Road. it was initially planned to begin 1987, but was delayed. Work was completed in 1990.

The NJHA once had plans to build new toll barriers at milepost 4 and 40. Additionally, that had planned rebuild exit 120. They expected them to be completed by 1991. This never occurred.

In 1994, the road between exits 81 and 83 was widened to six lanes.

The NJHA undertook a reconstruction of exit 74. Work included demolition of the existing southbound exit ramp and reconstruction of the southbound entrance ramp to adequate for the new southbound exit, which would turn around near the southbound entrance. The new southbound exit had a toll plaza; one was also added to the northbound exit. The work was completed on November 20, 1996, at the cost of $4.4 million. At this point, the original southbound exit was closed. The addition of tolls to the exit received backlash.

In April 1997, plans were announced to construct an overpass onto Interstate 80 eastbound from southbound exits 159. Work on this project began immediately, and the ramp was opened to traffic in January 1998, six months ahead of schedule. The overpass carrying I-80 traffic was not rebuilt, despite not being built with the ramp in mind. The ramp cost $10 Million to build, and resulted in 15 minute reduction over the previous indirect connection, which had required drivers to go through local roads and onto Route 17.

On April 1, 1998, a project to improve both exit 81 and exit 83 was completed. The deceleration lane at exit 83 was widened from one to two lanes alongside being lengthened. This required construction of a new overpass crossing over Beechwood Avenue. The improvement at exit 81 included installation of traffic signals, as well as lengthening of the deceleration lanes.

In May 1998, the speed limit was increased from 55 to 65 miles per hour (89 to 105 km/h) alnog most of the highway.

In June 1999, a project to expand the Barnegat toll plaza from 11 to 14 lanes was completed. Also included in this project was new fencing, new electrical work, increased landscaping, and a toll re-coordination shed.

21st century

In 2000, work was completed at exit 63. It included replacement of the original northbound entrance with a expanded northbound exit and relocated northbound entrance.

As early as 1990, there had been proposals to implement all electronic tolling onto the parkway. By 1992, testing of this system had begun at the Hillside Toll Plaza. However, it would not be until 1996 that the NJHA signed a contract with Lockheed Martin to add E-ZPass support to the entire parkway. E-ZPass was installed at the Hillside Toll Plaza in December 1999. It was implemented at the Bergen Toll Plaza on January 12 2000, with the Raritan Toll plaza following on April 1. By mid September, installation of the system had been fully completed.

In 2000, work began on a project to improve exit 80, with the declaration lane widened to two lanes. This was completed in April 2001.

In August 2001, the speed limit at E-ZPass lanes was increased to 15 miles per hour (24 km/h).

In 2001, the NJHA announced plans for exit 77, a new interchange to serve Berkley. The exit was opened to traffic in August 2002, and had exit and entrance ramps in both directions, of which the southbound entrance and northbound exit were tolled 25 cents. In order to avoid demolition of the nearby Double Trouble State Park, the ramps were constructed 1⁄2 mile (0.80 km) away from each other.

In 1996, plans were announced to disband the New Jersey Highway Authority and give control of the parkway to the New Jersey Turnpike Authority(NJTA). On May 27, 2003, an act of legislation approved the plan, which had been reproposed by Governor Jim McGreevey. This was officially completed on July 9.

In November 2003, construction was completed on the exit 89, a southbound exit and northbound entrance. The two ramps featured toll facilities. Due to being located near it, the Cedar Bridge Road bridge had to be rebuilt with a longer superstructure. The work had cost $16,230,000.

In September 2003, construction began on express E-ZPass lanes at the Hillside Toll Plaza, which would also be renamed the Passaic Valley Toll Plaza. They would allow traffic to travel at highway speeds. As part of this, some of the conventional lanes were demolished. This project was completed on January 11, 2004, when the new lanes opened.

In 2006, a project to rebuild the overpass carrying Route 138 eastbound over the parkway was completed. This allowed the section of parkway underneath it to be widened from six to eight lanes.

In January 2007, state legislation announced they were considering selling a portion of the parkway to private contractors for maintenance. This never occurred.

Historical picture of a Garden State Parkway toll plaza

To reduce congestion, 9 of the 11 mainline toll barriers, as well as some of the interchange toll plazas that had served two-way traffic, were converted into one-way plazas in order to reduce unnecessary congestion. All of the plazas were rebuilt from the ground up. Lighting and signage improvements were also made. In September 2004, the Raritan, Asburbury Park and Eatentown Toll Plaza at exit 105 was converted. The Union toll plaza was converted in March 2005. In July, the Essex, New Grenta, Great Egg, Cape May, Bergen, and Union Toll Plaza at exit 142 were converted, on top the completion of the express E-Zpass lane at the Raritan and Asbury Park toll Plaza, witch made it so that only E-ZPass users could use the express lanes. The Somerset Toll Plaza at exit 30 was converted in May 2006. The Barnegat Toll Plaza was converted in March 2007, marking the final to do so. Most of the new plazas contain express E-ZPass, which allow for faster travel than in the existing E-ZPass lanes.. The improvement was successful in reducing congestion.

In March 2007, a project to reconstruct exit 69 was completed. New ramps were built, and the existing ones were demolished. Unlike them, the new ramps had full connections; the new ones were also tolled, with two plazas being built on each side. This also came with replacement of the overpass carrying traffic over the parkway with a longer one.

In September 2006, construction began on replacement of the the ramp at exit 145 that carries traffic on I-280 westbound. This was done to increase capacity, as the original ramp was a safety hazard, unlike that one, the new one was two lanes wide. Improvements were also made to the ramp onto I-280 eastbound. This project, which replaced the ramp onto Interstate 280 westbound with a wider one, as well as building new EZ-Pass lanes at the ramps toll plaza, was completed in November 2007 at the price of $11 million, and was completed three years ahead of schedule.

In February 2008, the speed limit on the portion of road between exits 80 and 100 was lowered to 55 miles per hour (89 km/h), this was because of its substandard lane width.

In October 2007, a project to improve exit 135 began. Traffic signals were installed, and new ramps were built. This was completed in May 2008.

In January 2009, the Barnegat Toll Plaza was converted to one-way tolling.

Garden State Parkway northbound approaching the Driscoll Bridge in 2002, before the southbound span was built

On September 25, 2002, construction began on a new span of the Driscoll Bridge just west of the original spans, consisting of seven lanes and emergency shoulders. On May 3, 2006, all traffic was shifted onto the new span, and the original was closed for superstructure replacement. On May 20, 2009, all northbound traffic was shifted back onto the original spans, and the new one was made exclusively for southbound traffic.

In February 2010, the Passaic Valley Toll Plaza was converted to one-way tolling. With this, the Toms River Toll Plaza became the only location on the parkway mainline where a toll is still collected in both directions.

Flyover ramp from the GSP northbound to I-78 westbound, opened in 2009

In April 2008, a $150 million project began at exit 142 that constructed a new southbound exit and northbound entrance. In its original design, the parkway northbound did not have a ramp to I-78 westbound, and the parkway southbound did not have an exit to I-78 eastbound. The lack of connections was due to the cancellation of the extension of I-278 (which would have connected northbound parkway traffic with I-78 westbound) and Route 75 (which would have connected southbound parkway traffic with I-78 eastbound via I-280) in the 1980s. NJDOT awarded the project contract to the engineering firm Gannett Fleming for the design, and to Union Paving & Construction Company for building the ramps. The ramp connecting the parkway northbound with I-78 westbound opened on September 16, 2009, with a ribbon cutting ceremony led by Governor Jon Corzine. The ramp connecting the parkway southbound with I-78 eastbound opened on December 10, 2010, completing most of the project.

In April 2011, NJDOT Commissioner James Simpson announced the NJTA was considering removing the restriction on trucks, allowing them to go north of exit 105. However, the idea was quickly abandoned after the agency found the road had engineering concerns that would not accommodate trucks.

A project was undertaken that rebuilt the exit 151 and its overpass over the mainline in order to add shoulders to the parkway segment underneath. It also increased safety, it was wider and more friendly to pedestrians. Additionally, both existing ramps were widened from two lanes to three lanes, and both of the entrance ramps onto the Parkway were entirely rebuilt. This was completed in 2013.

Former traffic light at exit 9 (Shell Bay Avenue) before construction of overpass in 2014

When originally built, exits 9, 10, and 11 in Cape May Court House were at-grade intersections. This was considered adequate for the lesser quantity of traffic that used this section when it was opened; however, as traffic levels increased, collisions did as well. Divers also drove at the same speed as they did on the rest of the roadway, expecting it to be of the same design standard. Because of this, planning to replace them with grade separated interchanges began in 2002. This plan was made by US representative Frank LoBiondo. He estimated the work would cost up to $70 Million. A $5 Million enigeerning study began in October of that year. Construction itself was delayed because it had not been approved by the federal government. Construction began in 2013. As part of the project, a new southbound entrance was built at Moore Road, the Holmes Landing Road at-grade intersection was replaced by a northbound entrance, and the unnumbered Mechanic Street ramps were replaced with a southbound entrance. The $125 million project was completed in September 2015.

In September 2016, a project to rebuild exit 0 and the southern terminus was completed. It involved constructing a new ramp from NJ 109 southbound onto the parkway northbound, reconstructing the ramp itself, and reconfiguring the traffic signal with pedestrian crosswalks and other safety features.

In 2012, work began on a project to reconstruct the roadway between exit 83 and exit 100 with wider shoulders that meet current design standards. A contract for this had been awarded in April 2009. On November 9, 2014, as part of the project, exit 88 was permanently closed, this was to allow exit 89 to be rebuilt into a collector distributor roadway. On June 11, 2015, construction of the expanded exit 89 was completed. The rest of the project was completed in May 2017, when the rebuilding of exits 91 into a full interchange was completed.It was initially planned for completion in July 2016, ten months before, though was delayed because state legislature failed to raise the state's gas tax.

Garden State Parkway northbound at Route 17 in Paramus

In April 2014, the NJTA began construction on a $68 million project to make safety improvements to the northbound exit and entrance ramps at exit 163, which had been suffering from chronic congestion. The work replaced a ½ mile section of the old mainline with a new one, this would allow the ramps which had previously exited to the left to be converted to the right hand ones. The section of the overpass which had carried the old mainline was partially maintained, being rehabilitated with a new deck. However, part of it was demolished due to being unnecessary. These improvements were largely complete by 2016. However, traffic that used the exit ramps were carried on temporary overpasses while the original overpass was worked on. This was completed by November 2017.

In 2012, the improvement of exit 105 southbound at the intersection with NJ route 36 on the local lanes was proposed. It would involve construction of a new exit ramp on the southbound local lanes, it would provide indirect access to Route 18 through Wayside road. The northbound exit ramp onto route 36 would be reconstructed, as opposed to locating traffic onto route 36, it would instead carry traffic into an intersection with Hope Road, which also provided access to a jughandle onto Route 36. Its delcalreation ramp was epxanded from one to two lanes, and was made In addition, lighting and signage improvements were made. Construction on the work began in 2013, and was completed by January 2018. The construction required the two moth closure of the southbound exit in 2015.

By the 2000s, it had become apparent that the bridges carrying traffic over the Great Egg Harbor Bay were in poor condition. A 2002 study by the NJDOT Bridge Management System indicated that both the northbound and southbound bridges over Great Egg Harbor were structurally deficient, and the crossing of Drag Channel was functionally obsolete. A traffic study in 2004 identified poor pavement on the bridge. To address the structural deficiency along substandard roadway, and to maintain a proper evacuation route, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA) proposed a replacement of both bridges or the only southbound bridge as early as 2010. The NJTA worked with the United States Coast Guard as the lead federal agency for the project due to the crossing over a navigable roadway. The proposed project would construct a new southbound bridge, wide enough to carry traffic in both directions in the event of an emergency, as well as carrying a multi-use pedestrian and bike path from US 9 in Somers Point to Harbor Road. Included in the project was demolishing the Beesley's Point Bridge, built in 1928, and closed to traffic in June 2004 due to damage. On September 20, 2012, the NJTA held a public meeting in Upper Township about the proposed bridge. In March 2013, the NJTA awarded Route 52 Constructors a $129.8 million (2013 USD) contract to build the southbound replacement bridge, and demolish the Beesley's Point Bridge. These were the same contractors to build the second phase of the New Jersey Route 52 replacement bridge, between Somers Point and Ocean City. Demolition of the Beesley's Point Bridge began in June 2013, and construction of the replacement southbound Parkway bridge began that September. It was located 12 ft (3.7 m) west of the original. Hardesty & Hanover, LLP designed the new crossing. The bridge was supported by 20 piers with 3 columns each, using prestressed concrete beams. This created a wider channel than both the original southbound span and northbound span. To test the performance of the pilings, the crew performed the first statnamic load test in the state of New Jersey. Construction crews worked to avoid disrupting migratory bird and fish species. In July 2016, the NJTA awarded a $49.8 million contract to rehabilitate the northbound span and demolish the old southbound bridge. Following this, in August, the new southbound bridge opened, and in Novembe, the last part of the Beesley's Point Bridge was dismantled. The project ultimately cost $142.9 million. After the current south bridge was finished. Traffic was available on both the northbound and new southbound bridges for a small amount of time, after which northbound traffic was redirected to the current southbound bridge so that the northbound bridge could undergo its superstructure replacement and the old southbound bridge could be demolished. This was completed in May 2019.

In April 2016, a project to reconstruct exit 125 into a full interchange commenced. The new southbound exit would be tolled and made exclusively for E-ZPass users; no toll would be added to the new northbound entrance. Also involved in this project was the replacement of the overpasses that carried the parkway over Chevalier Avenue with wider structures, adding an alternate ramp onto Main Street at the existing northbound exit of which a new southbound entrance ramp and demolition of the existing one. New signage and raiting walls were also built. Work was completed in February 2020. A new shopping mall in the area can now be traversed more easily than would be possible with the old partial diamond interchange.

In 2018, the NJTA announced plans for improving exits 109 northbound. The project involved constructing a new ramp to directly allow access to the park and ride from the parkway and to allow easier access to Newman Spring Road eastbound. Improvements were also made to the ramps onto the parkway from County Route 520. These include a ramp and overpass being built on Newman Spring Road eastbound, the addition of a traffic light at Schulz Dr, the removal of the U-turn ramp to Half Mile Road and the addition of a left turn signal at the junction to compassionate. Bidding for the project was completed in July 2018, and construction began shortly after. It was completed in May 2020.

On March 24, 2020, the NJTA temporarily suspended cash toll collection due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Drivers without E-ZPass transponders had their license plates photographed at the toll plazas and were sent bills in the mail. Cash collection resumed on May 19 of that year.

In 2018, construction began on express E-ZPass lanes at the New Gretna Toll plaza. This was completed in 2020. This was done to increase traffic flow, as well as to increase safety during a coastal evacuation.

In June 2018, construction began on improvements to exits 145. It involved widening the entrance ramp to the parkway southbound from one to two lanes and adding a second deceleration lane on the parkway northbound. Due to the addition of the deceleration lane to South Grove St, the toll plaza on the exit lanes was demolished starting on July 26, 2018, at 10 pm. To accommodate the wider roadway, the overpass carrying Central Avenue over the parkway was replaced with a far wider structure. Five nearby bridges were also rehabilitated as part of the project. The project cost approximately $63 million and was completed in August 2022.

In May 2005, Governor Richard Codey announced plans to widen the section of parkway between exit 63 in Stafford Township and exit 80 in South Toms River to six lanes. However, the NJTA later made plans to widen the parkway from exit 80 all the way south to exit 30 in the city of Somers Point. In 2008, related work began to construct a southbound entrance and northbound exit at exit 67. By March 27, it was revealed that the new ramps would not be tolled. Construction began in the summer of 2008. While initially planned for completion on May 20, 2009, it was ultimately completed in October 2010. These plans had been suggested as elry as 1986. The project was divided into three phases. The first of these, the one from exits 80 to 63, was completed in May 2011. As part of the work, express E-ZPass was installed at the Barnegat Toll Plaza. In November 2014, a widening project was completed between exits 63 and 48. Exit 41 was opened on March 13, 2015. Previously, drivers who wanted to go to Jimmie Leeds Road had to cut through the parking lot of the Atlantic City Service area, though they still can. In August 2015, a project which constructed missing movements at exits 44 was completed. In June 2017, three projects to improve exits 36, 37, and 38 were completed. A new ramp was built at exit 38 order to reduce unsafe weaving, exit 37 had its deceleration lane reconstructed to be longer, and exit 36 was rebuilt to eliminate its “stop-and-go” pattern. In 2018, a widening from exits 48 to milepost 35 was completed, it included reconstruction of overpasses, and the opening of new bridges across the Mullica River from the city of Port Republic to Bass River, after which point the older ones had their superstructures replaced. In October 2020, work began on the final phase, which expanded the shoulder between mileposts 30 and 35 to provide a future extension of the six lane setup. They also expanded exits 30’s declaration lanes to meet modern standards, on top of upgradeing the lighting. This was completed in late summer 2023, bringing an end to the widening.

In March 2022, exit 105 was closed in multiple stages so that five of the overpasses, of which some date back to 1954 and others to 1974, could be replaced. The project was completed in late 2023.

In 2020, a project that involved making multiple improvements between mileposts 140 and 142 was commenced. It involves repaving the road, adding new lighting, and constructing a median barrier. It also systematically replaces multiple bridges in between the mile markers, including two that carry traffic over US 22 and one that carries traffic over NJ 82. It was completed in September 2024.

Future

There are plans to widen the section between exits 80 and 83 to eight lanes. This project would also construct a southbound exit and northbound entrance at exit 80. It would also renumber exits 81 as exits 82A, which would have a new, stratiter overpass built. The old one would then be demolished. Additionally, the southbound entrance would be rebuilt to meet current standards, the traffic signals would be replaced with roundabouts. The existing exits 82/82A will get minor ramp improvements and be renumbered as exits 82A/82B,it will still be a cloverleaf. Construction on the project is expected to begin in 2025 and be completed in 2029.

The NJTA has plans to widen the roadway between exit 98 and exit 125 with one extra lane in each direction. As part of this, exits 123 would gain a northbound exit and southbound entrance, while exits 124 would get a southbound exit and northbound entrance, many overpasses would be replaced, and many underpasses expanded.

The NJTA has plans for a widening between exit 129 and exit 163. As part of this work, exit 147 would get a northbound exit and southbound entrance, while exits 153 would be rebuilt with longer deceleration lanes and right hand northbound exit onto westbound Route 3 and a right hand southbound exit onto eastbound Route 3. Overasses through the project area would be replaced and underpasses expanded. Opponents to this project have proposed instead to construct light rail in between the median.

There are plans to improve exits on the across the entire parkway, though mostly on the southern section. As part of the plan, a northbound exit and southbound entrance would be built at exit 6. Exit 13 would be given a right hand southbound entrance ramp to replace the old left hand one. Exit 17 would get a northbound exit and southbound entrance. Exit 20 would get a southbound exit and northbound entrance, with the left hand northbound entrance being replaced by a right hand one. Exit 29 would get a southbound exit and northbound entrance, at which point exit 30 would be closed. Exit 40 would get a northbound exit and southbound entrance. Exit 168 would get a southbound exit and northbound entrance. The plans to close exits 30 has been criticized as an effort relocate congestion rather than eliminate it, as well as poteitally reducing business that relies on the exit. Sea Isle City in particular has been pushing for reconstruction of exit 17 since 2017, with Jack Gibion, one of its councilmen, having designed the original interchange. There have been calls for this project to also make improvements to exits 25, due to its heavy use.

The NJTA has plans to raise the elevation of the section of road between the Bass River Bridge and Great Egg Harbor Bridge to meet current flood level expectations.

In 2022, a court ordered that the NJTA has to eliminate tolls at exit 4, arguing that the interchange’s improvements has long been payed for.

Stringing in 2020, the NJTA began considering the conversion the parkway into an all electronic toll road, eliminating the toll booths in the process. On September 27, 2022, a $914 million contract was awarded to TransCore. While the agreement has been made, the NJTA has no set date on when the conversion will be completed.

Tolls

Southbound at the Great Egg Toll Plaza

Toll plaza on the southbound entrance ramp at exit 165

The Garden State Parkway uses an open system of tolling in which flat-rate tolls are collected at numerous toll plazas placed along the mainline and at certain interchanges. This contrasts with the New Jersey Turnpike, which uses a closed system in which a motorist receives a ticket with the toll rates at the highway's entrance, and turns in the ticket along with the toll upon exiting at toll gates. Tolls can be paid by using cash or the E-ZPass electronic toll collection system.

As of January 1, 2025, the standard car toll is $1.15 for cash and $1.09 for E-ZPass on the main road at two-way toll plazas and $2.30 for cash and $2.17 for E-ZPass at one-way toll plazas. Some entrances and exits require a toll of either $0.85, $1.15, $1.65, or $2.30 for cash and $0.76, $1.09, $1.51, or $2.17 for E-ZPass. Additional E-ZPass discounts are available for off-peak travel, senior citizens, drivers of green vehicles, and trailers.

There are three different lane types at the toll plazas. However, not all plazas have every type of lane at all times.

The first type is full-service lanes. These lanes are staffed and toll collectors can provide change and receipts to drivers.

The second type is exact-change lanes. In these lanes, motorists deposit coins in a toll basket and each coin is mechanically counted; historically, these lanes also accepted tokens. Payment of tolls in exact-change lanes has been enforced by photo since 2011. The Union Toll Plaza was the first to use an automated toll-collection machine; a plaque commemorating this event includes the first quarter collected at its toll booths. As of 2018, exact-change lanes are only used for exit and entrance ramp toll plazas.

The third type of lane is dedicated for vehicles with E-ZPass tags. Some plazas also feature Express E-ZPass lanes, allowing drivers to bypass the toll plaza at highway speeds. E-ZPass is also accepted in full-service lanes. Express E-ZPass lanes operate at the Pascack Valley, Raritan, Asbury Park, Toms River, Barnegat, New Gretna and Cape May Toll Plazas.

Garden State Parkway tokens, which were discontinued after January 1, 2009

Tokens, available for purchase at full-service toll plaza lanes, were introduced in 1981 at a price of $10 for a roll of 40 tokens; as the toll was $0.25 at the time, most drivers continued to use quarters. However, when the toll was increased to $0.35 in 1989, rolls were priced at 30 tokens for $10; between the slight discount and the convenience of using a single coin, tokens gained in popularity. Additionally, in August of that year, the highway authority installed token only lanes, though it was quickly realized this did not reduce congestion. There were also larger bus tokens, primarily for use by Atlantic City-bound buses. As E-ZPass became more widespread, tokens were phased out. Token sales were discontinued on January 1, 2002, and they were no longer accepted effective January 1, 2009.

On September 27, 2022, the NJTA awarded a $914 million contract to TransCore to convert the parkway into an all-electronic toll road, eliminating the toll booths in the process. Although the agreement has been made, the Turnpike Authority has no set date on when the conversion will be completed.

Services

Service areas

Northbound exit for the Celia Cruz Service Area (formerly Forked River at the time of photo seen here)

All service areas are located in the center median, unless otherwise noted.

Name	Location	mi	km	Direction	Facilities	Notes
Bruce Willis (formerly Ocean View and originally Seaville)	Dennis Township	18.3	29.5	Both	Convenience store, restrooms, fuel, vending machines, and tourist information	Rebuilt from 2013 to Spring/Summer 2014
New Gretna (Temporary, demolished)	Bass River	53	85	Both	Food, restrooms, fuel	Closed on July 1, 1955, when the permanent service areas were completed. Now site of a Parkway maintenance facility.
Frank Sinatra (formerly Atlantic)	Galloway Township	41.4	66.6	Both	Food, restrooms, fuel, and information	Rebuilt from 2014 to spring 2015
Celia Cruz (formerly Forked River)	Lacey Township	76.0	122.3	Both	Food, restrooms, and fuel	Rebuilt from fall 2019 to summer 2020
Judy Blume (formerly Monmouth)	Wall Township	100.4	161.6	Both	Food, restrooms, and fuel	Rebuilt from fall 2018 to spring 2019
Eatontown	Tinton Falls	107	172	Both	Food, restrooms, and fuel	Closed on July 1, 1955, when a permanent facility was opened. Now site of a maintenance facility.
Jon Bon Jovi (formerly Cheesequake)	Sayreville	124.0	199.6	Both	Food, restrooms, and fuel
Colonia South	Woodbridge	132.79	213.70	Southbound	Fuel, convenience stores, and restrooms	Not operated by NJTA
Colonia North		133.45	214.77	Northbound	Fuel, convenience stores, and restrooms	Not operated by NJTA
Whitney Houston (formerly Vaux Hall)	Union	142.0	228.5	Northbound	Food, restrooms and fuel	Rebuilt from 2022 to 2023
Connie Chung (formerly Brookdale South)	Bloomfield	153.3	246.7	Southbound	Food, restrooms and fuel	Rebuilt from 2022 to 2023
Larry Doby (formerly Brookdale North)		153	246	Northbound	Fuel and convenience store	Rebuilt in 2019
James Gandolfini (formerly Montvale)	Montvale	171	275	Both	Food, restrooms, fuel, and information	Renovations began in 2024

Assurance sign to the Bruce Willis Service Area (formerly Ocean View at the time of photo seen here)

In the 1950s, four petroleum companies were hired to provide gasoline and vehicular necessities—Esso, Texaco, Atlantic, and Cities Service. The Cities Service company was the petroleum provider at Monmouth, Forked River, Atlantic City (Absecon at the time) and Ocean View (Seaville at the time) and offered a service where female employees were hired for those service area showrooms, wore uniforms and were known as the Park-ettes. Their duties included providing directions and other information to motorists as well as rendering odd bits of service such as sewing a missing button on a patron's coat.

On July 27, 2021, the NJTA unanimously voted in favor of renaming the service areas along the Garden State Parkway after New Jerseyans who were inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame. The Ocean View service area was originally slated to be named after Toni Morrison, but the NJTA never received written consents and releases; this prompted the New Jersey Hall of Fame to request the service area be named after Bruce Willis instead.

On January 2, 2022, two service areas that were operated by McDonald's in Brookdale and Union were closed after their contract expired in 2021. These services areas were replaced by 2023.

Picnic areas

The John B. Townsend Shoemaker Holly picnic area

One of the objectives of the parkway was to become a state park its entire length, and its users would enjoy park-like aesthetics with minimal intrusion of urban scenery. Along the ride, users were permitted to stop and picnic along the roadway to further enjoy the relaxation qualities the parkway had to offer. All picnic areas had tall trees that provided shade and visual isolation from the roadway. Grills, benches, running water, and restrooms were provided. Over time as the parkway transformed into a road of commerce, the picnic areas were closed for a variety of reasons. Their ramp terminals became insufficient to accommodate the high-speed mainline traffic and in addition to the decreasing number of users, the picnic areas were becoming more effective as maintenance yards and were converted as such or closed altogether.

The one remaining picnic area, John B. Townsend Shoemaker Holly in Upper Township, is closed from dusk to dawn. Posted signs within the picnic area prohibit fires and camping.

There were ten operational picnic areas:

Name	Location	Mile	km	Direction	Opened	Closed	Notes
John B. Townsend Shoemaker Holly	Upper Township	22.7	36.5	Both	October 20, 1965	—	John B. Townsend was a physician from Ocean City who became the New Jersey Highway Authority's second Vice Chairman in 1955. The word Shoemaker comes from the last name of the landowner in the way of the parkway's alignment during its initial construction. The term Holly comes from the holly tree that was on Shoemaker's property. The tree is presumed to be 300 years old and one of, if not, the oldest holly tree in the United States. The bathrooms at Shoemaker Holly were demolished in August 2014.
Stafford Forge	Stafford Township	61.6	99.1	Both	May 27, 1955	1990s
Oyster Creek	Lacey Township	71.3	114.7	Both	May 27, 1955	1980s	The murder of Maria Marshall orchestrated by her husband Robert O. Marshall occurred in the Oyster Creek picnic area on the night of September 7, 1984. The story was made into a novel and television miniseries on NBC.
Double Trouble	Beachwood	79.0	127.1	Southbound	June 1955	February 23, 1961	The NJHA chose to abandon the picnic area due to the outbreak of mosquitoes from a nearby cranberry bog.
Polhemus Creek	Toms River	82.0	132.0	Northbound	June 4, 1955	1980s–1990s
Herbertsville	Wall Township	94.6	152.2	Southbound	May 27, 1955	1980s	Converted to a maintenance yard of the same name and heavy vehicle weigh station.
Telegraph Hill	Holmdel	115.8	186.4	Both	April 24, 1957	2010s	The picnic area was off exit 116, next to the PNC Bank Arts Center.
Glenside	Woodbridge	130.2	209.5	Southbound		October 23, 1987	Closed due to illegal use for sex and drugs.
Madison Hill	Clark	134.9	217.1	Northbound	November 1, 1950	1980s–1990s	Madison Hill was an overlook constructed as part of the original Route 4 Parkway.
Tall Oaks	Clark	137.0	220.5	Southbound		July 1988	Closed due to illegal use for sex and drugs; converted to maintenance yard

Emergency assistance

On the Garden State Parkway, the emergency assistance number is #GSP, which is #477 in number form. Towing and roadside assistance are provided from authorized garages. The New Jersey State Police is the primary police agency that handles calls for service on the parkway. New Jersey State Police Troop D serves the Garden State Parkway, with stations in Galloway, Holmdel, and Bloomfield. Other emergency services such as fire and first aid are usually handled by the jurisdictions in which that section of the parkway passes.

Exit list

The parkway was the first highway in the United States to use mileage-based exit numbers. Historically, the exit numbers on the northbound and southbound roadways were not symmetrical. The New Jersey Highway Authority considered each as a separate road and as a result, many exits had non-matching numbers.

County	Location	mi	km	Old exit	New exit	Destinations	Notes
Cape May	Lower Township	0.00	0.00		–	Route 109 south – Cape May	Southern terminus; at-grade intersection
		0.1	0.16		0	Route 109 north to US 9 – North Cape May	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; to Cape May–Lewes Ferry
	Middle Township	3.90	6.28		4	Route 47 – Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, Rio Grande	Tolled northbound exit and southbound entrance; signed as exits 4A (south) and 4B (north) southbound; signed for The Wildwoods northbound, Wildwood/Wildwood Crest southbound
		6.54	10.53		6	Route 147 – North Wildwood, Whitesboro	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		8.40	13.52		9	US 9 / Shell Bay Avenue
		9.90	15.93		10	Cape May Court House, Stone Harbor	Access via CR 657
		11.04	17.77		11	Crest Haven Road (CR 609) to US 9	No northbound entrance; serves Cape May County Park & Zoo
		11.80	18.99		12	Crest Haven Road (CR 609)	Northbound entrance only
						US 9	Southbound entrance only
		13.60	21.89		13	To US 9 – Swainton, Avalon	Access via CR 601; southbound left entrance
	Dennis Township	17.50	28.16		17	Sea Isle City, Dennis Township	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; access via CR 625
	Upper Township	19.38	31.19	Cape May Toll Plaza (northbound)
		20.25	32.59		20	US 9 / Route 50 north – Upper Township	Northbound left exit and southbound entrance; southern terminus of Route 50
		25.34	40.78		25	US 9 south (CR 623) – Ocean City	Southern end of US 9 concurrency; serves Corson's Inlet State Park
Great Egg Harbor Bay		27.77	44.69	Great Egg Harbor Bridge
Atlantic	Somers Point	28.78	46.32	Great Egg Toll Plaza (southbound)
		28.90	46.51		29	US 9 north – Somers Point, Ocean City	Northern end of US 9 concurrency; northbound exit and southbound entrance
		30.00	48.28		30	Somers Point, Ocean City	Southbound exit (tolled) and northbound entrance; access via West Laurel Drive
	Egg Harbor Township	35.82	57.65		36	US 40 / US 322 – Northfield, Pleasantville	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; access via CR 563/CR 651
		36.08	58.07			CR 563 – Northfield, Margate City	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		36.59	58.89		37	To US 40 / US 322 – Pleasantville	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; access via CR 608; to CR 563
		37.23	59.92		38	A.C. Expressway – Atlantic City, Camden	Signed as exits 38A (east) and 38B (west); exits 7S-N on A.C. Expressway
	Galloway Township	40.04	64.44		40	US 30 east – Absecon, Atlantic City	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		41.70	67.11		41	CR 561 – Galloway, Pomona	Serves Stockton University; Pomona not signed southbound
		43.98	70.78		44	CR 575 / CR 561 Alt. – Port Republic, Smithville, Pomona	Serves Stockton University; signed for Port Republic/Smithville northbound, Pomona southbound
	Port Republic	48.29	77.72		48	US 9 south – Port Republic, Smithville	Southern end of US 9 concurrency; southbound exit and northbound entrance
Burlington	Bass River Township	50.67	81.55		50	US 9 north – New Gretna, Tuckerton	Northern end of US 9 concurrency; northbound exit and southbound entrance
		52.70	84.81		52	New Gretna	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; access via CR 654
		53.54	86.16	New Gretna Toll Plaza (northbound)
Ocean	Little Egg Harbor Township	58.69	94.45		58	CR 539 – Little Egg Harbor, Whiting, Tuckerton	Signed for Whiting northbound, Tuckerton southbound
	Stafford Township	64.11	103.18		63	Route 72 – Long Beach Island, Pemberton	Signed as exits 63A (east) and 63B (west) northbound
	Barnegat Township	67.81	109.13		67	CR 554 – Barnegat, Pemberton	Signed as exits 67A (east) and 67B (west) southbound; Pemberton not signed northbound
		68.61	110.42	Barnegat Toll Plaza (southbound)
	Ocean Township	70.45	113.38		69	CR 532 – Waretown	Tolled southbound exit and northbound entrance
	Lacey Township	75.34	121.25		74	Forked River	Tolled southbound exit and northbound entrance; access via CR 614
	Berkeley Township	77.40	124.56		77	Berkeley	Tolled southbound exit and northbound entrance; access via CR 618/CR 619
	South Toms River	80.85	130.12		80	US 9 south / CR 530 / CR 619 south – Beachwood, South Toms River	Southern end of US 9 concurrency; northern terminus of CR 619; southbound exit and northbound entrance
	Toms River	81.85	131.72		81	Lakehurst Road (CR 527) – Toms River
		82.35	132.53		82	Route 37 – Seaside Heights, Lakehurst	Signed as exits 82 (east) and 82A (west); serves Island Beach State Park
		84.10	135.35		83	US 9 north / Route 166 south / CR 571 – Lakewood	Northern end of US 9 concurrency; northern terminus of Route 166; no southbound exit
		84.72	136.34	Toms River Toll Plaza
	Lakewood Township	89.36	143.81	88	89A	Route 70 – Lakehurst, Brick, Point Pleasant	Tolled southbound exit and northbound entrance; signed as exits 89A (east) and 89B (west) southbound
		90.18	145.13		89B (NB) 89C (SB)	CR 528 – Lakewood	Tolled southbound exit and northbound entrance
	Brick Township	91.10	146.61		90	CR 549 south – Brick	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		92.62	149.06		91	CR 549 – Lakewood, Brick, Herbertsville, Point Pleasant	Tolled southbound exit and northbound entrance; signed as exits 91B (south) and 91A (north) southbound
Monmouth	Wall Township	98.23	158.09	96-97A	98	I-195 west / Route 138 east / Route 34 – Belmar, Trenton	Tolled southbound exit and northbound entrance; eastern terminus of I-195; western terminus and exits 35A-36 on Route 138
	Tinton Falls	101.24	162.93	100	100A	Route 33 east – Ocean Grove, Bradley Beach	Bradley Beach not signed southbound
		101.49– 101.74	163.33– 163.73	100A	100B	Route 66 east – Asbury Park	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; western terminus of Route 66
				100A (SB) 100B (NB)	100B (SB) 100C (NB)	Route 33 west – Freehold
		103.15	166.00		102	Neptune, Asbury Park	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; access via CR 16
		103.96	167.31	Asbury Park Toll Plaza (northbound)
		104.20	167.69	Southern terminus of local–express lanes
		106.12– 106.39	170.78– 171.22		105	Route 18 / Route 36 east – New Brunswick, Eatontown, Long Branch, Tinton Falls	Tolled northbound entrance; southbound exit and northbound entrance from express lanes; no northbound access to Route 18 south; no southbound access to Route 18 from express lanes; all trucks must exit; signed for New Brunswick northbound, Tinton Falls southbound
	Middletown Township	110.14	177.25		109	CR 520 – Red Bank, Lincroft	Tolled southbound exit and northbound entrance
	Middletown–Holmdel township line	113.88	183.27		114	Holmdel, Middletown	Tolled southbound exit and northbound entrance; access via CR 52
	Holmdel Township	115.85	186.44		116	PNC Bank Arts Center	Exit number only signed at gore; to New Jersey Vietnam Veterans' Memorial
	Hazlet	118.50	190.71		117	Route 35 / Route 36 south – Hazlet, Keyport	Tolled southbound exit and northbound entrance; southbound exit and northbound entrance from express lanes; northern terminus of Route 36
	Aberdeen Township	118.79	191.17	117A	118	Aberdeen	Access via CR 3; southbound exit (tolled) and entrance
Middlesex	Old Bridge Township	121.13	194.94		120	Laurence Harbor, Matawan	Access via CR 626; to Cheesequake State Park
	Sayreville	124.64	200.59		123	US 9 south – Sayreville, Old Bridge	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		124.99	201.15		124	Main Street (CR 670)	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		125.28	201.62	Northern terminus of local–express lanes
		125.68	202.26	Raritan Toll Plaza (southbound)
		126.36	203.36		125	US 9 south / Route 35 / Chevalier Avenue – Sayreville, South Amboy	E-ZPass-only toll on southbound exit; signed for US 9/Route 35/Sayreville/South Amboy northbound, Chevalier Avenue southbound
	Raritan River	127.33	204.92	Driscoll Bridge
	Woodbridge Township	128.22	206.35	127A	127	US 9 north / Route 440 to I-287 north – Woodbridge, Staten Island	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		129.50	208.41	128	129	I-95 Toll / N.J. Turnpike – New York City, Trenton, Philadelphia To US 9 / Route 440 / I-287 north – Woodbridge, Perth Amboy	Exit 11 on I-95 / Turnpike; no southbound access to US 9/I-287/Route 440; signed for Trenton northbound, Philadelphia southbound
		130.63	210.23		130	US 1 – Trenton, Newark	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; signed as exits 130A (north) and 130B (south)
		131.33	211.36		131A	Wood Avenue South (CR 649 north)	Signed as exit 131 southbound
		131.83	212.16		131B	Metropark	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; access via CR 657
		131.97	212.39	131	132	Route 27 – Iselin, Metuchen
Union	Clark	136.22	219.22		135	Clark, Westfield	Access via CR 613
	Cranford	137.59	221.43		136	Linden, Roselle	Access via CR 607/CR 615
		138.74	223.28		137	Route 28 – Roselle Park, Elizabeth, Cranford	Signed for Roselle Park southbound, Elizabeth northbound
	Kenilworth	140.34	225.86		138	CR 509 – Kenilworth
	Union Township	141.10	227.08		139	Roselle Park, Union	No southbound exit; signed as exits 139A (Roselle Park) and 139B (Union); access via CR 619
		141.70	228.04		140	US 22 east / Route 82 east – Hillside	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
						US 22 west / Route 82 – Elizabeth, Somerville, Union	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; signed as exits 140A (Route 82 west) and 140B (US 22/Route 82 east)
		142.10	228.69		141	US 22 east / Vauxhall Road (CR 630)	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; US 22 not signed
	Hillside	142.66	229.59	Union Toll Plaza (northbound)
		142.80– 142.90	229.81– 229.98		142	I-78 to N.J. Turnpike (I-95 Toll) – Springfield, Newark Airport, Newark	Tolled northbound entrance; signed as exits 142A (east) and 142B (west); exit 52 on I-78; to Holland Tunnel
		143.00	230.14	142A	142C	Maplewood	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; access via North Union Avenue
Essex	Irvington	144.00	231.75		143	To Route 124 west – Irvington, Maplewood, Hillside	Access via CR 602/CR 603; signed as exits 143A (Hillside), 143B (Maplewood), and 143C (Route 124) southbound
		145.98	234.93		144	CR 510 (South Orange Avenue)	Tolled northbound exit and southbound entrance
	East Orange	146.93– 147.15	236.46– 236.81	145–145A	145	I-280 / CR 508 / CR 509 – Newark, The Oranges	Tolled southbound entrance; exit 12B on I-280; no southbound access to CR 509; CR 509 not signed
				146		Springdale Avenue – East Orange, Newark Area	Former northbound exit and southbound entrance; closed January 12, 1966
		148.44	238.89		147	East Orange	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; access via Springdale Avenue
	Bloomfield	149.20	240.11		148	CR 506 Spur / CR 509 – Bloomfield, Glen Ridge	Tolled northbound exit and southbound entrance; Glen Ridge not signed southbound
		150.22	241.76	148A	149	CR 506 – Glen Ridge, Belleville	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		150.66	242.46	Essex Toll Plaza (southbound)
		151.11	243.19	149A	150	Hoover Avenue (CR 651)	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		152.40	245.26		151	Montclair, Nutley	Tolled southbound exit and northbound entrance; access via CR 655
Passaic	Clifton	154.06– 154.45	247.94– 248.56		153	Route 3 to US 46 west – Secaucus, Wayne	Tolled southbound exit and northbound entrance; signed as exits 153A (east) and 153B (west) northbound; no southbound access to Route 3 west; to Meadowlands Complex and Lincoln Tunnel
		155.91– 156.40	250.91– 251.70		154	US 46 east – Clifton	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
				155P	155A	Route 19 north to I-80 west – Paterson	Northbound left exit and southbound entrance; southern terminus of Route 19
					154	US 46 west – Clifton	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		156.68	252.15	155	155B	Passaic	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; access via CR 702
		158.19	254.58		156	Route 20 north – Elmwood Park	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; southern terminus of Route 20; access via US 46
Bergen	Elmwood Park	158.87	255.68		157	US 46 east – Garfield	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
						US 46 west to Route 20 north – Garfield	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	Saddle Brook	160.00– 160.35	257.50– 258.06	158	159	I-80 – Saddle Brook, Paterson, George Washington Bridge	Tolled northbound exit; no northbound access to I-80 west; access to Saddle Brook via CR 67; signed for Paterson southbound, George Washington Bridge northbound; exit 62A on I-80
		160.46	258.24	Bergen Toll Plaza (northbound)
	Paramus	161.53	259.96		160	To Route 208 north – Fair Lawn, Hackensack	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; access via CR 62
		161.88	260.52		161	Route 4 east – Paramus	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		163.06– 163.29	262.42– 262.79		163	Route 17 to Route 4 – Mahwah, Paramus, George Washington Bridge	Same-directional access only; to Meadowlands Sports Complex
		164.94	265.45		165	Ridgewood, Oradell	Tolled northbound exit and southbound entrance; access via CR 80; signed as exits 165A (Oradell) and 165B (Ridgewood)
		165.93	267.04		166	Washington, Westwood	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; access via CR 110
	Washington Township	166.25	267.55	Pascack Valley Toll Plaza (southbound)
		167.46	269.50		168	CR 502 – Washington, Westwood	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	Woodcliff Lake	170.15	273.83		171	Woodcliff Lake, Saddle River	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; access via CR S73
	Montvale	171.52	276.03		172	Montvale, Park Ridge	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; access via CR 94
		172.40	277.45		–	To I-87 / I-287 / New York Thruway – New York City, Albany	Northern terminus; New York state line; access via G.S. Parkway Connector
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Closed/former       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access        Tolled

See also

• U.S. Roads portal
• New Jersey portal

External links

Template:Attached KML/Garden State Parkway

KML is from Wikidata

• New Jersey Turnpike Authority & Garden State Parkway Official Website
• "NJ Route 444" (PDF). (2.82 MB) Straight Line Diagram
• Photos of the Garden State Parkway
• New Jersey Expressways and Tollways
• Garden State Parkway (NJ 444) (Greater New York Roads)