Starting at the beginning (location-wise), much closer to the beginning (time-wise) of the Parkway than the other photos on this page. This is entering from NJ 109 at Mile 0 in 1977.


Here's the modern equivalent. I argue that most people passing this sign are not using the ferry from Delaware so the Parkway message should take priority like it used to.


Is it really that necessary to paint secondary reassurance in an exit lane? It's not Exit Only.


These are the three traffic signals on the Parkway, all marked as numbered exits with odd sign designs (and each one is odd in different ways), and all have since been eliminated. The 3rd and 4th photos are on the left and right of the road, and the Exit 10 intersection photo is courtesy HNTB Corporation.


Let's start with the good: the picnic area signs are properly designed, although the first one's supplemental panel needs a bottom border. Then I start struggling. The BGS borders are not rounded to a 12" radius like a large sign ought, the shields are shaped wrong, all of the text on the first sign is the wrong size and spacing (first N in NORTH should be larger, distance seems too small), the wrong arrow type on the last sign, and the larger "2" in 623. I could go on, but I design signs for a living.


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, now (as of 2013) signed as Temporary US 9, which we all know will be made permanent someday. 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.


The SB and NB sides of the Exit 30 overpass that's original to this stretch of the Parkway. It used to be a full trumpet, with US 9 coming to an at-grade intersection just north of the Great Egg Toll Plaza. Over time, the NB movements were taken out of Exit 30 and built into a new Exit 29 at US 9, leaving just the SB exit on what was formerly a two-way overpass road. As of 2020, it is officially planned to complete Exit 29 and finish removing these bridges and the original interchange, finally giving Laurel Dr. residents some peace and the ability to exit their neighborhoods. Had the Parkway been widened to 3 lanes each way south of mile 35, these would already have been gone by 2020.


Presenting an assortment of things that can go wrong with signs: lazy shield outline (the first US 322), bad layout (US shields on the second sign), inconsistency between signs at the same interchange, and too many destinations.


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*

Blue signs aren't exempt from font requirements.


Through the service area, with a look at the official surface road exit from there. Usually (think Cheesequake) this is discouraged, especially when it can be used to dodge a toll (think Cheesequake), but here it was encouraged until a new Exit 41 was built instead. How do they know I didn't litter?


These photos show you everything wrong with South Jersey signage on the GSP (though the brown sign is quite okay by me). I rant about the third sign's errors on the SB side (scroll to the bottom for the link 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. The fourth photo is courtesy John P. Nasiatka, and comes to me from Doug Kerr.


The stripey first sign is doing fine in an era of higher tolls but is showing its age, while the second sign should be replaced. The third one has just been replaced, and I'm sure it's not confusing that Exits 63 and 63A are now 63A and 63B. I can see a few issues with people following old directions. Of note, the little signs on the bottom of the Exit 58 BGS are reversed from the SB condition.

Interchanges 48-63 widening
The Beesley's Point stub (north of Exit 25)
Continue northbound
Over to the SB lanes
Back to Garden State Parkway main page

Any of several exits to US 9
Exit 20 to NJ 50
Exit 36 to US 40
Exit 36 to US 322
Exit 38 to the Atlantic City Expwy.
Exit 58 to CR 539
Back to New Jersey Roads
Back to Roads