May 26, 1956: The Garden State Parkway Opens

May 26, 1956, 70 years ago: The Great Egg Harbor Bridge opens, over Great Egg Harbor Bay in southern New Jersey, connecting Somers Point in Atlantic County with Upper Township in Cape May County. With this opening, the Garden State Parkway is fully open.

A 2nd bridge, taking northbound traffic, was added in 1972. The original, southbound bridge was replaced in 2016; the northbound one, in 2019.

Like the New Jersey Turnpike, which opened in 1951, the Parkway was the brainchild of Alfred E. Driscoll, Governor of New Jersey from 1947 to 1954. Just as the Turnpike was designed to ease the traffic flow of U.S. Route 1 in North and Central Jersey, and U.S. Route 130 in South Jersey, the Parkway was meant to do the same thing for U.S. Route 9.

Of course, it didn't work out that way. The huge growth of New Jersey's suburbs meant that the traffic on both 1 and 9 -- which merge in Woodbridge, Middlesex County, near the interchange that is Turnpike Exit 11 and Parkway Exit 129, and then go up together to the George Washington Bridge -- filled up anyway. But it's still better to have the 2 big superhighways than not. Similarly, the Atlantic City Expressway opened in 1964, but has never really eased Shorebound traffic on U.S. Route 30.

The Parkway runs the spine of New Jersey, paralleling Route 9, at times running concurrent with 9. It starts in Lower Township, Cape May County, with an interchange labeled "Exit 0," 2 1/2 miles north of the beach in Cape May City. The exits, more or less, match the mileposts. Exits 9, 10 and 11 were at-grade interchanges, complete with traffic lights, until grade-separated interchanges replaced them in 2014. (Bumper stickers for Cape May contain the legend "EXIT 0," much as those for Montauk, at the eastern end of New York's Long Island, read "THE END."

It goes from Cape May County to Atlantic County at the aforementioned Great Egg Harbor Bridge, near Exit 29. Atlantic City can be accessed via Exits 37 (U.S. Routes 40 and 322), 38 (the Atlantic City Expressway, that road's Exit 7) and 40 (U.S. Route 30).

Exits 50 and 52 are the only ones in Burlington County. In Ocean County, Exit 63 accesses New Jersey Route 72 and Long Beach Island; and Exit 82, N.J. Route 37 and Seaside Heights. In Monmouth County, Exit 100 is for N.J. Route 33 and Asbury Park; Exit 105 is for N.J. Route 36, the Monmouth Mall in Eatontown, and the Monmouth Park horse racing track in Oceanport; and Exit 116 is the only access point for the PNC Bank Arts Center (formerly the Garden State Arts Center) in Holmdel. You can't access this concert facility any way except through the Parkway.

At Exit 120, the Parkway enters Middlesex County. After Exit 125, it crosses the Raritan River, via a bridge named for Driscoll. Exit 127 is an interchange with Interstate 287, U.S. Route 9, and N.J. Route 440, with ramps so tangled, it is known as "Spaghetti Junction." At Exit 129, it connects with the New Jersey Turnpike/Interstate 95 and its Exit 11. It intersects with U.S. Route 1 at Exit 130. At Exit 131 in Woodbridge, it passes under Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, formerly the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Heading southbound, approaching Exit 129

Exits 135 to 142 are in Union County, including Exit 142, an interchange with Interstate 78, which connects the Parkway with Newark Liberty International Airport. Exits 143 to 151 are in Essex County, including 145, in my parents' hometown of Newark, an interchange with Interstate 280; and 148, 149, 150 and 151, in my original hometown of Bloomfield.

Passaic County includes Exits 153, 154, 155 and 156. Exit 153 intersects with N.J. Route 3, providing access to the Meadowlands Sports Complex. Exits 157 to 172 are in Bergen County. Exit 159 is an interchange with Interstate 80. Exit 161 provides access to the Garden State Plaza Mall in Paramus. Exit 172 is in Montvale. From here, the Parkway continues north, over the State Line, as the Garden State Parkway Connector to the New York State Thruway.

Unlike the Turnpike, which only has toll booths at the exits, the Parkway has 11 toll barriers, leaving drivers "nickel-and-dimed" from Cape May County to Bergen County.

Also unlike the Turnpike, which is bannered as Interstate 95 from Exit 6 northward, the Parkway has never been part of the Interstate Highway System, created the same year that the Parkway opened. As part of the Interstate System, the federal government did not absorb existing state toll roads, as federal funding is typically meant for toll-free, interconnected national routes.

Rather, it is part of the National Highway System, and while there are absolutely no signs along it mentioning it as such, it is officially New Jersey Route 444. This allows New Jersey to collect tolls on the road, but also to ban trucks from any part of its length, and they are banned from Exit 105 northward. By law, an Interstate Highway must allow commercial traffic. And that's why the Parkway is not bannered as part of Interstate 91, 93, 95, 97 or 99.