New Jersey Turnpike Authority Proposes To Widen the Garden State Parkway in the Pinelands
PPA main staff contact on this issue: Theresa Lettman - theresa@pinelandsalliance.org or (609) 859-8860 x22
Current Status

Environmenal and Transportation Groups Ask Governor Corzine to rethink proposed toll road widenings. Click here to see the February 2008 letter in which Pinelands Preservation Alliance participated.

Pinelands Commission Approval: The Turnpike Authority continues to meet with Pinelands Commission staff to hammer out a "Memorandum of Agreement" that will probably waive certain Pinelands rules in exchange for the purchase of new conservation land or other forms of "mitigation." The public has not yet been shown a draft Agreement.
What the Turnpike Authority Proposes:
  • Widening of the Garden State Parkway from Interchange 30 in Somers Point to Interchange 80 in South Toms River by one lane in each direction.  Total project area consists of 50 miles.
  • Expanding the shoulders on both sides, beyond the additional lanes, by up to 18 feet.
  • Widening of 20 bridges, rehabilitation of the Mullica River and Bass River Bridges, and construction of two new bridges to the east of the existing Mullica River and the Bass River bridges to carry two north bound lanes.
  • The project runs through 14 municipalities in Ocean and Atlantic Counties.
  • The project will negatively impact 68 acres of suitable threatened and endangered species habitat and 46 acres of critical threatened and endangered species habitat.
  • A total of 155.58 acres of existing vegetated areas will be cleared, of which 88.84 acres will be converted to paved area with a total of an additional 222.24 acres of impervious cover.
  • A total of 7.7 acres of wetlands will be directly altered, with additional downstream impacts on streams and wetlands.
Printable version of map (.pdf file)
Basic Issues and Problems wtih this Proposal:
  • Widening may be a waste of money very quickly, as traffic increases to fill the added space and congestion returns (even if it ever goes away temporarily.)
  • With so many bridges in New Jersey deemed deficient in their state of repair, it would be more prudent to devote the money to fixing the assets we already have - and be sure to avoid a catastrophe such as happened in Minnesota - than to spend it widening the Parkway.
  • The construction plan will destroy some habitat of threatened and endangered species, in violation of the Pinelands and coastal zone management environmental regulations.
  • Spending the money on more lanes means not spending it on more sustainable forms of transit to serve Atlantic City and the shore.
  • Widening the Parkway will promote even more rapid development of the Shore's few remaining undeveloped acres of land - that is, more sprawl.
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