New Jersey Turnpike

The Exit 7 ramp.

Why are the R's all brighter? Why are the corners round? What about that ampersand? In the Richard Stockton rest area.


On the ramp to I-195, and as you can see is patched over; the patch is recent, so click on it for the old version courtesy Doug Kerr.


These are off Exit 8A, with the ubiquitous "Obey the law" signs and nearly the beginning of NJ 32. Despite that sign, NJ Straight Line Diagrams say that NJ 32 begins where the ramps from I-95 connect to the overpass, although all other official documents suggest 32 begins at the eastern end of the overpass, across I-95's 10 (soon to be 12) lanes. I'm inclined to believe the latter, since it would be difficult for NJDOT to have built only part of an overpass, and they wouldn't turn over some but not all of it to the county as Middlesex CR 612. Oh yeah, and maintenance and signage both put the terminus at the overpass' end as well.


From when my camera broke, video captures of the Joyce Kilmer Service Area plaques for the Basilone Memorial Bridge (the inauspicious Turnpike crossing of the Raritan River), dating to 1951. Of note is that service areas were originally numbered, not named - Joyce Kilmer was 8N, being the eighth service area from the bottom of the Turnpike, and just happened to be located just south of Interchange 9. Service Areas 10N and 10S (Grover Cleveland and Thomas Edison) are actually north of Interchange 11, which proves the numbering is just sequential. Also of note, though it didn't come out in my darkened video, is that Interchange 8A is on the plaque, even though it didn't open for more than 20 years after the rest of the Turnpike. If the plaque was altered at that time, why weren't the service area names put in?


Coming onto Exit 10 from I-287/NJ 440/one of many other roads. Between Exits 14 and 8A, prospective mainline Turnpike travelers face the choice in the second photo (well, they only have a choice if they're in cars).


Although this belongs on the Garden State Parkway page, since it's the Exit 11 onramp, I include it here to show you why these are variable message signs. Here are the other two possible messages between Exits 14 and 8A.


Two sides of the same very long gantry, off of Exit 10; notice how every sign is narrow. Click on the first one for a closeup, courtesy John Krakoff.


The continuation of Exit 10 signs, heading to I-287 NB. You can see that the unreplaced NJ 440 and US 9 shields are terribly nonreflective due to their age. The signs in the previous five photos are all old enough that NJ 440 is signed east-west instead of north-south, a relatively recent change made to fit with the rest of 440 as it goes through NY and back into NJ in Bayonne. By the final photo, the ramp from CR 514 EB has merged in, meaning that you could theoretically go from 514 EB to 514 EB on this ramp, or from I-95/Turnpike back to I-95. Also, the I-95 shield in the last photo once had NORTH above it, because I-95 SB was meant to follow now-I-287 and the Somerset Freeway.


Heading off Exit 11 and past the tollbooths, one first encounters the ramp to the GSP NB, and then comes to this old sign, yes, with yummy button-copy shields and still the failure to use a single GSP shield. Hey, are you sure the Turnpike Authority controls the Highway Authority now? Also a square and ugly NJ 440 shield, for those who just can't wait till Exit 10. It's all the Tangle, it's all good. Going straight merges you with the GSP SB ramp to US 9 SB, and then 9 SB comes in. Go to the GSP page for more, link below.


EB and WB respectively on CR 602/Roosevelt Ave. at Exit 12, another entry sign with green button copy. WB sign courtesy HNTB Corporation. The only other one I know of is on the Meadowlands access road paralleling NJ 3 EB at Exit 16W.


Not button copy, but there was a left turn here until recently thanks to a developer's dream that went unfulfilled. Exit 12 T-ed at a half-baked intersection, and this sign is for traffic from Roosevelt Ave. that is really forced left. New construction is making this interchange more directional, adding ramps and access points.


I dare you to slow down enough to read that first tiny sign, on the onramp side. The second sign, which could use replacement and a shield, is on the offramp side.


A problematic new assembly on the Exit 13 ramp, courtesy HNTB Corporation, and then an old shield on the same ramp. NORTH NJ 439 should lead TO US 1 US 9; they're not all multiplexed.

I-95/N.J. Turnpike NB
I-95/N.J. Turnpike SB

To free I-95 around Trenton
To the rest of the Turnpike, NJ 700
The Pennsylvania Extension, I-95
North to the eastern spur
North to the western spur
Back to I-95/NJ Turnpike main page

Exit 6 to I-276 in PA
Exit 7A to I-195
Exit 8A to NJ 32
Exit 8A to US 130
Exit 10 to CR 514
Exit 10 or 11 to I-287
Exit 10 or 11 to NJ 440
Exit 10 or 11 to the Garden State Parkway
Exit 11 to US 9
Exit 11 to US 1
Exits 11-13 to US 1-9
Exit 13 to I-278
Exit 13 to NJ 439
The NJ Turnpike on Steve Anderson's nycroads.com
The Pennsylvania Extension on Steve Anderson's phillyroads.com
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