Governor Corzine announces completion of new ramp between I-78 eastbound and Garden State Parkway

(Trenton) - Governor Jon S. Corzine and New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) Commissioner Stephen Dilts today announced completion of work to re-engineer the I-78 eastbound ramp to the Garden State Parkway Union Toll Plaza, noting that the work is among many improvements in recent years to benefit motorists along the busy corridor.

NJDOT had partially closed the ramp over the past month to reduce the ramp’s height as part of a larger project in the vicinity.

“This work is the most recent example of our multi-year strategy to improve safety and traffic flow on this heavily traveled corridor that plays such a key role in linking residents to jobs,” Governor Corzine said. “Over the past 4 years, we’ve revamped this vital stretch of road and we’ve done it ahead of schedule and with real benefits for New Jersey drivers.”

Interstate 78 accommodates more than 145,000 automobile trips each weekday.

“From repaving local and express lanes to providing real-time travel alerts, we have made significant investments in the past several years along Interstate 78 for motorists who rely on this major east-west artery,” said NJDOT Commissioner Stephen Dilts.

Improvements in recent years include:

• $12.7 million project funded with federal stimulus money for pavement reconstruction of more than 2 miles of the interstate in Newark, started last month.

• The state’s first permanent real-time Intelligent Transportation System travel alert system along the interstate between Springfield Township in Union County and the NJ Turnpike interchange in Newark, introduced March, 2009.

• $25 million road resurfacing project including upgrades to bridge decks and guiderails from Drift Road to Route 124 in Somerset and Union counties, under construction now.

• $42 million express and local lane reconstruction project along 2.3 miles of the interstate from Route 24 to the Garden State Parkway in Union Township, completed October, 2007, ahead of schedule by 3 months.

• $20 million ramp realignment project in Newark to provide a more efficient connection to Newark from I-78, completed in the fall of 2007.

The Department continues progress on a $149 million rehabilitation project that will improve traffic flow at the Garden State Parkway interchange with I-78, where two new ramps will be constructed from the Garden State Parkway northbound to I-78 westbound and from the Garden State Parkway southbound to I-78 eastbound. The project is designed to reduce congestion by creating more direct and convenient travel patterns. 

The new flyover ramp from the Garden State Parkway northbound to I-78 westbound is nearing completion and will open later this month on a date NJDOT will announce soon.