Interstate 78 is an east-west route stretching from Union Township, Pennsylvania to New York City. In New Jersey, I-78 is called the Phillipsburg-Newark Expressway and the Newark Bay Extension. Interstate 78 runs for 66 miles (106 km) in the state of New Jersey from the Interstate 78 Toll Bridge at the Pennsylvania state line to Holland Tunnel at the New York state line. I-78 continues in Manhattan for less than a mile.

Route description

The western-most section of Interstate 78 in New Jersey opened in November 1989 after a more northerly alignment along present day U.S. Route 22 was rejected due to community opposition. The new alignment ends at Exit 3 in New Jersey, where US 22 rejoins I-78. The section from Exit 3 to Exit 13, west of Clinton Township, was built c. 1960. This section runs along Musconetcong Mountain with a summit near milepost 10; the west slope features an automatic deicing spray. From Exit 13 to Exit 15, old US 22 was upgraded on the spot, and Route 173 joins I-78 and US 22 for a concurrency. I-78 and US 22 continue east concurrently south of Clinton Township and Annandale to Exit 18.

At Exit 18, US 22 splits onto a four-lane surface highway, while I-78 continues roughly and closely parallel until Readington Township, where US 22 turns southeast while I-78 continues a due east course. Exit 29, a complicated interchange at Interstate 287, provides access to other areas of northeast New Jersey. This section of freeway, completed c. 1970, after Exit 29 crosses the Second Watchung Mountain into the valley of the upper Passaic River, continuing along the Dead and Passaic Rivers before gradually climbing and then crossing the Second Mountain again near Exit 41, a local exit for Drift Road in Watchung. The section from Drift Road to Route 24 (Exit 48) in Springfield Township was delayed because of environmental impacts to the Watchung Reservation. In order to mitigate opposition to the original plan, that section (finally opened in 1986) was shifted closer to the northern edge of the Reservation, which required extensive cuts into the Second Watchung Mountain. Extra land was added to the Nike Site Road overpass (milepost 45.74) and a separate land bridge at milepost 46.18 was built to allow for animal migration. These land bridges were later scorned by local communities for the amount of deer (and the resulting damage to flora on private property) that moved into the neighboring towns of Summit, New Providence and Berkeley Heights. The road was also designed to use a narrower right-of-way with no median strip and just a Jersey barrier dividing the highway, to minimize the amount rock to be removed.

At Route 24, I-78 divides into local and express lanes. In 2006-07 the highway between Route 24 and the Garden State Parkway was rebuilt. In this section of the highway, most access is via the local lanes, though Exit 49 (Route 124) includes a direct westbound onramp to the express lanes. Exit 49, and the westbound local lanes at this point, were designed to accommodate the semi-directional T terminus of the unbuilt extension of Interstate 278 (Union Freeway). Exit 56, which provides local access to Irvine Turner Boulevard in southwestern Newark, is a large semi-directional T interchange with full access to the local and express lanes. The interchange was built as the south end of the never-built Route 75, which would have connected to Interstate 280 (where unused ramps were also built) and Route 21.

The final interchange on the free part of I-78 is the massive complex at the Newark Airport, called the Newark Airport Interchange, with ramps to and from U.S. Route 1/9, U.S. Route 22, Route 21, and many local roads. Several ramps provide access to the express lanes. Just to the east, the local and express lanes rejoin at the toll gate for the New Jersey Turnpike. An interchange just beyond the toll booth provides full access to Interstate 95, the main line of the Turnpike; I-78 then rises onto the Newark Bay Bridge into Bayonne. Exits 14A and 14B, numbered as part of the New Jersey Turnpike, provide local access to Bayonne and Jersey City, and Exit 14C is the number given to the toll plaza at the end of the turnpike extension. After the toll plaza, there is a recently built exit for a Hudson-Bergen Light Rail park and ride. Then after an exit for Columbus Drive and Montgomery Street, I-78 heads down to surface level and merges with the Route 139 freeway. I-78 and Route 139 head east along 12th Street (eastbound) and 14th Street (westbound) in downtown Jersey City, running through four traffic signals (in violation of Interstate standards) before heading into the Holland Tunnel (tolled eastbound) under the Hudson River into New York City.

The expressway (like many other interstates in New Jersey) once had solar powered emergency call boxes every , however with the advent of cell phones the usage of these call boxes became extremely limited. So to save on maintenance costs the NJDOT removed these call boxes in 2005, and with difficulty replacing parts, they are disappearing from many other highways such as I-195, I-280, I-295, I-80, NJ 55, NJ 208. [213371] [213372]

History

The oldest section of Interstate 78, the Holland Tunnel, was established in September 1927. The tunnel predated the Interstate Highway System, as a commuter linking Jersey City and Manhattan. Six months after it was opened, 3,655,000 passengers used the tunnel.

The Newark Bay Extension of the New Jersey Turnpike was the first limited-access section of I-78 to be built in the state of New Jersey. The long expressway was opened in 1956 to provide access from the New Jersey Turnpike mainline to the Holland Tunnel.

In July 1963, New Jersey Governor Richard J. Hughes approved a plan to build I-78 through the city of Newark at a cost of $204,696,637.

A section of Interstate 78 in New Jersey was closed off in August 1989 when a debris pile under a bridge caught fire and damage the elevated highway. The road was opened nine days after the fire occurred.

Exit 52 (Garden State Parkway) in Union Twp, NJ and Hillside, NJ is being reconstructed due to missing ramps from the Parkway and I-78 since Interstate 278 (known as the Union Freeway) was cancelled. I-278 was to connect with Route 24 and I-78 in Springfield, NJ to its current end at U.S. Route 1/9 in Linden, NJ. Construction began in June 2008 is supposed to be finished by January 2012.

Exit list

Except when noted, parentheses () mean that the number is not signed. When there are two numbers, the one in parentheses is still the unsigned number.

County	Location	Mile	#	Destinations	Notes
Warren	Phillipsburg	0.00	Interstate 78 Toll Bridge over the Delaware River
	Greenwich Twp	3.94	3		West end of US 22 overlap
		5.48	4	Warren Glen, Stewartsville	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	Franklin Twp	7.03	6	Warren Glen, Asbury	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
Hunterdon	Bloomsbury	7.46	7
	Union Twp	11.76	11
		13.42	12
		15.01-15.07	13		West end of NJ 173 overlap; westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	Franklin Twp	16.06	15		East end of NJ 173 overlap
	Clinton Twp	17.32-17.87	17		Signed as exits 16 (north) and 17 (south) eastbound
		18.34-18.83	18		East end of US 22 overlap
	Lebanon	20.78	20	Lebanon, Round Valley Recreation Area, Cokesbury	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; signed as exits 20A (south) and 20B (north)
	Tewksbury Twp	25.03	24
Somerset	Bedminster Twp	27.11	26
		30.80-30.87	29
	Warren Twp	34.58	33
		37.39	36
		40.98	40
Union	Berkeley Heights	42.22	41		No eastbound entrance
		44.01	43	Berkeley Heights, New Providence,Watchung
		44.52	44	New Providence, Berkeley Heights (CR 527)	Eastbound exit and entrance
	Summit	46.72	45		Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
	Springfield Twp	49.28	48
	Union Twp	50.58	49	, Union, Maplewood	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; signed as exits 49A (east) and 49B (west)
		51.43	50	Union, Millburn, Maplewood	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; signed as exits 50A (south) and 50B (north)
		53.11	52		Movements from GSP south to I-78 east is handled by a U-turn at exit 50; toll station at ramp
	Hillside Twp	54.32	54	Hillside, Irvington	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
Essex	Newark	54.88-55.00	55	Hillside, Irvington	Eastbound exit is part of exit 54
		56.45	56	Hillside Avenue to Clinton Avenue – Downtown Newark	Originally built for the Route 75 freeway
		57.23	57		No westbound exit
		57.45	57
		58.03	58A
				Frontage Road	Eastbound exit is via exit 58B
		58.32	58B
		58.6	New Jersey Turnpike Toll Plaza
		58.93	14(WB)(59(EB))		Number not signed eastbound (EB).
Hudson	Jersey City	62.01 (N3.5)	14A(62)	NJ 440, Bayonne
		64.20 (N5.5)	14B(64)	Jersey City, Liberty State Park
		64.5 (N5.9)	New Jersey Turnpike Toll Plaza
		64.63	(65A)	Liberty State Park, Light Rail Park & Ride	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; number not signed
		65.60	(65B)	Merseles Street/Columbus Drive - Jersey City	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; number not signed
		66.49	(66)	NJ 139 West	West end of NJ 139 overlap; westbound exit and eastbound entrance; left exit; number not signed
		66.76	(67)	Boyle Plaza at Jersey Avenue	Traffic signal; number not signed
		66.85	(68)	Boyle Plaza at Erie Street	Traffic signal; number not signed
		66.94	(69)	Grove Street/Manila Avenue	Traffic signal; number not signed; Street Name changes at Eastbound Intersection
		67.03	(70)	Luis Munoz Marin Boulevard	Traffic signal; number not signed
		67.1	Holland Tunnel toll plaza
		67.83	Holland Tunnel under the Hudson River

See also

• New Jersey Turnpike
• Holland Tunnel
• Interstate 78 Toll Bridge
• Newark Airport Interchange

References

External links

• I-78 in New Jersey Exits
• Interstate 78 in New Jersey @ NorthEastRoads.com
• Photos of Interstate 78 at New Jersey Roads
• Speed Limits for New Jersey State Roads: Interstate 78
• A history of the building of I-78 in NJ