NB
Raritan River and South

Dipping way down into South Jersey, these are the three traffic signals on the Parkway, all marked as numbered exits, and all soon to be eliminated. Exit 10 photo courtesy HNTB Corporation.


This construction sign is the single worst I've ever seen. No two words are the same size, you can barely read which bridge is closed, and those aren't US 9 shields, those are police badges. There is a similar sign SB at Exit 29.


Sure enough, the shield badge is repeated on the Exit 29 2-mile advance. There's more Exit 29 goodness coming in a moment.


Over the Great Egg Harbor bridge. Typical bridge and county-line signage for the Parkway, but an atypically narrow bridge. The Beesley's Point Bridge on US 9 really wasn't any better.


Off the bridge, with a differently abled 1-mile shield, and a completely useless ½-mile advance. Finally, I come to the Interstate 9 exit. When Scott Colbert took this photo for me, the sign was right by the overpass, but apparently it's moved farther south. If anything, I-9 would be in California, so it should be moving west.


Why isn't this 38A-B? Ask the folks who came up with Exit 82/82A - apparently eastbound roads are the main exits, and westbound are secondary. Who would want to leave the Jersey shore? *cough cough*


These photos show you everything wrong with South Jersey signage on the GSP. I rant about the second sign's errors on the SB side (scroll to the bottom if you're desperate). This is at the end of the New Gretna bridge and multiplex. The freestanding shield (in the one-piece assembly) is horrid, but strangely better than the BGS shield. The ramp shield is perfect, if only it were a shield instead of a one-piece assembly. Second photo courtesy John P. Nasiatka, and comes to me from Doug Kerr.


Primitive overpass just south of NJ 37/Exit 82.


Ignore the strange exit numbering for a moment (we'll get to that on the SB side), and pass the background-less shields, but pray tell what is that... thing... in the lower right hand corner of the first photo? Can the big signs not be read? This gross debacle is repeated just south of here as well. The second photo kills with cuteness but, sadly, is incorrect, as the curve sign should be a diamond, the speed should be an exit advisory, and the shield should be separate with its own arrow. Well, there shouldn't be a shield.


Exit 98 is where NJ 138 and I-195 turn into each other. The second photo is on the C-D road, which as you can see doesn't encourage through traffic (onramp toll and all). Exit 100 is just east of the NJ 33/NJ 66 split, so even though Exit 100B is really for NJ 66 WB, it'll just turn into 33 WB. What's not excusable is the lack of shield backgrounds (unless all of NJ wants to go this way) - this could be the Turnpike Authority influence already creeping into Parkway signage. Also, Exits 100A-B seem to have grown further from Exit 100 in the last photo (and why, when Exits 100A-B were added, wasn't the whole thing changed to 100A-B-C instead of 100-100A-100B?). The first and last photos are courtesy HNTB Corp., middle three courtesy Scott Colbert.


The first sign precedes the Asbury Park toll plaza, and the other two are right next to each other (one on the right side, the other above). The lanes come back together at the Raritan plaza, just before crossing the Driscoll Bridge; traffic gets one opportunity to switch sides in the vicinity of the Garden State Arts Center. Oh, excuse me, PNC Bank Arts Center. Yay commercialism. It's rare to see button copy south of the Raritan River, so these signs are spiffing for that reason. Also note the tiny reminder for trucks to leave the highway at Exit 105 (they never get to come back). The final photo is on the Exit 105 ramp.


Tiny shields don't preclude regular-sized numerals here in the local lanes (sorry, I took this shot from the express lanes), but they aren't standard-looking numerals either. The other exit signage for 117 is just fine.


Courtesy Scott Colbert, I can only hope there will be more and bigger signs here when construction is complete. Maybe something for the eventual 4-4 split between the Parkway mainline and Exit 129. For now, this is just a touch ridiculous.


Ongoing construction on the new SB span of the Driscoll Bridge (the original span will only be NB), January 2005. Go to the SB side (link below) for older photos and more information.


I don't know how, but Lou Corsaro was able to take a clear photo of the bridge plaque.

Continue northward
Over to the SB lanes
The Beesley's Point stub (north of Exit 25)
Back to GSP main page

Exit 6 to NJ 147
Exit 29 or 50 to US 9
Exit 29 to NJ 52
Exit 82 to NJ 37
Exit 98 to I-195 and NJ 138
Exit 100 to NJ 33
Exit 100A to NJ 66
Exit 105 to NJ 18
Exit 105 or 117 to NJ 36
Exit 117 to NJ 35
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