| SR-444 | |||
| Get started | Cape May | ||
| End | nanuet | ||
| Length | 172 mi | ||
| Length | 277 km | ||
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According to existingcountries, the Garden State Parkway is a parkway in the US state of New Jersey. The highway is a toll road and runs parallel to the urbanized coast of New Jersey, from Cape May to Nanuet in New York. Along the way, the many small coastal towns that form a conurbation and the western suburbs of New York are visited. The entire route is 277 kilometers long, making it the longest road in New Jersey.
Travel directions
The Garden State Parkway at Roselle Park.
The interchange between the Garden State Parkway and State Route 440.
The junction with State Route 17 in Paramus.
The Garden State Parkway begins at Cape May, the southernmost town in New Jersey, and then travels 45 kilometers into Cape May County. The highway here has 2×2 lanes and runs over a peninsula with dense forest. There are many small towns in the area, the more densely built-up barrier islands are a bit further from the Garden State Parkway. Numerous wetlands and tidal swamps connect the barrier islands to the Garden State Parkway. Large parts of the Garden State Parkway have a broad wooded median strip.
At Ocean City, one crosses the Great Egg Harbor, a lagoon, via the Great Egg Harbor Bridge. One then enters Atlantic County, the Garden State Parkway covers about 35 kilometers in it. Pretty soon, from Somers Point, the Garden State Parkway has 2×3 lanes and heads a little further inland here, further from the urbanized coastal region around Atlantic City. There follows a cloverleaf with the Atlantic City Expressway. Also in Atlantic County, large parts of the Garden State Parkway have a wooded median strip.
The Garden State Parkway then briefly passes through Burlington County, part of this section coincident with US 9, as the Garden State Parkway is the only bridge over the Mullica River in the area. Next, the Garden State Parkway travels over 60 miles through Ocean County. Southern Ocean County is more sparsely populated, with the region’s population density and suburbanization increasing to the north. The Garden State Parkway has 2×3 lanes continuously through Ocean County. The main place on this part of the route is Toms River.
The Garden State Parkway then travels 40 miles in Monmouth County, a highly urbanized region, both on the coast and further inland, around the Garden State Parkway. Near Belmar, Interstate 195 from Trenton terminates at the Garden State Parkway. From the Ocean County border, the highway has 2×4 lanes, but the Garden State Parkway retains its broad wooded median strip through much of Monmouth County. From Eatontown, where State Route 18 connects, a parallel structure with 3+2+2+3 lanes begins, from Keyport 3+3+3+3 lanes. This part of the highway also often has a wide median strip.
The Garden State Parkway then covers 25 kilometers through Middlesex County. This is a densely populated region with a few larger cities. At Perth Amboy you cross the Raritan River via the Driscoll Bridge. The highway here is very wide with 4+4+7 lanes. US 9’s adjacent Edison Bridge has an additional 2×3 lanes, so 21 lanes cross the Raritan River at the site. Immediately after, complex interchanges with State Route 440 and the New Jersey Turnpike follow. The parallel structure also ends at the New Jersey Turnpike in Woodbridge, after which the highway has 2×5 lanes through continuously built-up areas.
In Union County, the Garden State Parkway travels about 9 miles, this section has 2×5 lanes until the interchange with Interstate 78. The highway here forms a western bypass of Elizabeth, the surrounding area is mostly residential. At Union there is an interchange with I-78. The Garden State Parkway then travels 10 miles through Essex County, somewhat on the border of the older, more populous cities to the east and the more sparsely populated and more wooded suburbs to the west. From I-78, the highway has 2×4 lanes and passes through western Newark. At East Orange there is a junction with Interstate 280, after this the Garden State Parkway has 2×3 lanes. The Garden State Parkway then leads through a series of small suburbs that have grown together.
The Garden State Parkway then leads 7 kilometers through Passaic County, this part is highly urbanized and passes the city of Paterson. The highway here has 2×3 lanes and has interchanges with State Route 3, State Route 19 and State Route 21. One then crosses the Passaic River, which also forms the border with Bergen County, the last county on the route in New Jersey. The Garden State Parkway spans more than 20 miles through Bergen County, with denser older suburbs giving way to more sparsely built suburbs further north. The main interchange here is with Interstate 80, but there are also connections to State Route 4 and State Route 208. The Garden State Parkway has 2×3 lanes until Westwood, after that there are 2×2 lanes, the highway gets its parkway character again. After Park Ridge the border with New York State follows, the Garden State Parkway ends 4 kilometers away at an interchange with Interstate 87 and Interstate 287.
History
According to Anycountyprivateschools, in 1945, the construction of a 165-mile parkway was approved to run south from northern New Jersey along the coast, numbered State Route 4. The parkway had to be built because parallel roads such as US 1 and US 9 were approved. were overloaded.
Construction of the highway began in 1947, but due to lack of funding, the highway had only progressed for 18 miles by 1950; mile 8 to mile 12, mile 80 to mile 83 and mile 129 to mile 140. In 1952 the road came under the management of the New Jersey Highway Authority, and construction accelerated. In 1954, 130 miles opened up between Irvington and Manahawkin. In 1955, 265 kilometers had been completed between Cape May and Paramus. On August 25, 1957, the highway was completed with the construction of the last 12 miles between Paramus and Interstate 87. The Garden State Parkway’s designs resembled those of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, which was based on 1930s German Autobahnen, with a view similar to the one on the Merritt Parkwayin Connecticut so that drivers could drive through a beautiful landscape with many trees. The speed limit on the parkway is only 100 kilometers per hour, and trucks are not allowed to use the northern portion of the parkway, as is customary on parkways.
Over the years, portions of the Garden State Parkway have been significantly widened, most notably the section between Belmar and the New Jersey Turnpike, where a complete parallel 4×3 lane structure has been constructed over 40 miles. Part of this is the Driscoll Bridge, one of the widest bridges in the world with 15 lanes. The Driscoll Bridge was already widened in 1972 with a second span, a third bridge followed in 2006 so that 4+4+7 lanes were possible, plus the 2×3 lanes of the adjacent Edison Bridge.
Before 1995, the Garden State Parkway was widened to 2×4 lanes as far as Point Pleasant from the north, and 2×3 lanes further to Toms River. Between 2010 and 2017, the Garden State Parkway was widened further south to 2×3 lanes in phases over a 50-mile (80 km) stretch between Point Pleasant and Toms River.
Farther north in the urbanized region of New Jersey, the Garden State Parkway is also wide, tapering gradually from 2×5 to 2×3 lanes. These parts were already widened before 1995, when exactly is not known. The urban section in Northern New Jersey was constructed in the 1950s and the design of the highway here differs little from other expressways built in the region at the time, this section does not have the parkway character as further south along the coast.
Opening history
| From | Unpleasant | Length | Date |
| mp8 | exit 12 | 6 km | 00-00-1950 |
| exit 80 | Exit 83 | 5 km | 00-00-1950 |
| Exit 129 (NJ Tpk) | Exit 140 (I-78) | 18 km | 00-00-1950 |
| Exit 83 | Exit 129 (NJ Tpk) | 74 km | 00-08-1954 |
| exit 63 | exit 80 | 27 km | 00-08-1954 |
| exit 0 | mp 8 | 13 km | 00-10-1954 |
| exit 12 | exit 63 | 82 km | 00-10-1954 |
| Exit 140 (I-78) | Exit 165 | 40 km | 01-07-1955 |
| Exit 165 | Exit 177 (I-87) | 19 km | 25-08-1957 |
Toll
The Garden State Parkway is a toll road, operated by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority. Unlike the New Jersey Turnpike, the Garden State Parkway has an open toll system with periodic toll stations. On September 13, 2020, the toll rates were increased by 27%.
Traffic intensities
| Mile | Location | 2007 |
| 0 | Cape May | 10,000 |
| 5 | wildwood | 25,000 |
| 8 | Cape May Court House | 32,000 |
| 13 | Avalon | 28,000 |
| 19 | Seaville | 33,000 |
| 24 | marble | 30,000 |
| 30 | Somers Point | 35,000 |
| 33 | Linwood | 48,000 |
| 37 | Atlantic City Expressway | 63,000 |
| 46 | Port Republic | 52,000 |
| 51 | Bass River | 46,000 |
| 58 | Tuckerton | 43,000 |
| 66 | Barnegat | 59,000 |
| 72 | Forked River | 73,000 |
| 79 | South Toms River | 87,000 |
| 82 | Toms River | 121,000 |
| 88 | Lake Riviera | 123,000 |
| 92 | Point Pleasant | 116,000 |
| 99 | Interstate 195 | 158,000 |
| 104 | Neptune | 160,000 |
| 108 | Lincroft | 66,000 |
| 113 | Middletown | 98,000 |
| 120 | Aberdeen | 104,000 |
| 125 | Driscoll Bridge | 240,000 |
| 126 | Interstate 287 | 235,000 |
| 129 | Woodbridge | 212,000 |
| 140 | Kenilworth | 226,000 |
| 145 | Interstate 280 | 215,000 |
| 150 | Bloomfield | 161,000 |
| 153 | State Route 3 | 148,000 |
| 159 | Interstate 80 | 94,000 |
| 162 | State Route 4 | 141,000 |
| 166 | border with New York | 85,000 |
Lane Configuration
The Garden State Parkway at the Atlantic City Expressway.
| From | Unpleasant | Lanes |
| exit 0 | Exit 30 | 2×2 |
| Exit 30 | exit 90 | 2×3 |
| exit 90 | Exit 100 | 2×4 |
| Exit 100 | Exit 105 | 2×5 |
| Exit 105 | Exit 117 | 3+2+2+3 |
| Exit 117 | Exit 124 | 4×3 |
| Exit 124 | Exit 127 (I-287) | 2×8 |
| Exit 127 (I-287) | Exit 129 (I-95) | 4+5 |
| Exit 129 (I-95) | Exit 142 (I-78) | 2×5 |
| Exit 142 (I-78) | Exit 145 (I-280) | 2×4 |
| Exit 145 (I-280) | Exit 172 | 2×3 |
