New Jersey Roads - I-287 - SB - Morristown and N.

, Morristown and north



If that first sign looks a little odd to you, it's because it's so far north on the I-287 roadway that it's in New York, and that's standard NYSDOT signage. In the late '80's and early '90's, the overpass in the last photo, which is I-287 NB, was a ghost overpass, and the 287 SB split was barricaded off.


If looks could kill, no one would make it to the next exit.


Yet another button-copy gore sign, and if you're paying attention you'll remember this stretch covers the old NJ 208. 208 really doesn't go south from here, but east, and should really be signed as part of NJ 4, but that's a tangential topic. Most traffic is indeed going from 208 NB to I-287 SB.


Heading SB, we see yet another style of ALT banner, one that looks much better than the style just north of it at Exit 55. The shields are also refreshingly normal. CR's have both Alts and Spurs; this seems much more like a Spur to me, since Alt. CR 511 never rejoins its parent, but ends at US 202. After the scenic look at the Ramapo Lake area, the next BGS is really just about 1/4 mile from the exit, not 1/2 mile.


Same thing as NB - because the stretch between Exits 52-53 opened before the rest of the highway, signage is fully reflective. This should just be EXITS 52B-A (or A-B).


Taking the Exit 41B ramp into I-80 work through the interchange in 2013. It now adds a 5th lane west to the next exit.

Coming on from I-80, definitely the end of the detour and definitely ugly.


The last photo is at Exit 40B, which has a boring non-reflective sign for Entin Rd. Why is Exit 40B south of Exit 40A? It's newer, which explains why it lacks button copy.


In 2013, there were periodic closures of the SB-EB ramp to I-80, which resulted in a detour posted from Exit 41A (first photo) onto Exit 40A (second photo), jogging left to head back north on I-287 (last photo) to its I-80 EB exit. All with wide shields.


Mixing some ugly among the beauty.


What I said on the NB side goes here - the Airport sign has been replaced by a non-button copy one with the added (unnecessary) word "Liberty". Also, because the SB side is getting widened with an extra exit lane south of the Eden Lane and Whippany River bridges, the ½-mile and gore BGS's have been replaced by two-lane-wide ones (there is one new BGS in the photos above, see if you can pick it out). Click on the last photo to see the sign that replaced it, finally telling travelers that NJ 24 is a (VERY) useful shortcut to I-78.


2012 work on said widening; the hard part is rehabbing and widening the Whippany River bridge to add the lane, which moved traffic all over the roadway as the bridge was rebuilt in pieces.


The new second lane on Exit 37, open but not fully paved in the early 2000s; the final course will be laid as soon as the weather stays warmer. The bridge over I-287 is half-old, half-new; the northern (left) side of the old bridge was torn off to extend the overpass. For whatever reason, the second lane ends just past the interchange; hopefully, 24 will be widened to six lanes in the near future up to Exit 7, helping to alleviate the chronic traffic in this corridor.


The 2nd/3rd photos are left/right on the same gantry and the last two are on the Exit 36 ramp and the Ridgedale Ave. spur of that ramp, respectively. The latter is very short, and has a blind curve just before a traffic light; I'm surprised there aren't more accidents there. In case you're wondering, the ¼-mile BGS is the first warning there is. I suggested making the contractor at the NJ 24 ramp widening install a 1-mile BGS (with adequate compensation), but the resident engineer figured it wasn't worth the administrative hassle.


For the second ramp in a row, the original directional signage exists, but this time it's not all-caps, so it's probably a bit newer. Of course, this was NJ 24 and not 124 when it went up (124 replaced surface 24 for each piece of freeway built). The blue sign is courtesy Greg Pniewski.

Continue south on I-287 SB
Over to the NB side
Back to the I-287 main page


Exit 66 to NJ 17
Exit 59 to NJ 208
Exit 58 or 47 to US 202
Exit 57 to Skyline Drive
Exit 55 or 40A to CR 511
Exit 53 or 55 to Alt. CR 511
Exit 53 to CR 694
Exit 52 to NJ 23
Exit 42 to US 46
Exit 41 to I-80
Exit 39 to NJ 10
Exit 37 to NJ 24
Exit 37 to I-78
Exit 37 to Newark Airport
Exit 36 to CR 510
Exit 35 to NJ 124
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