The New Jersey Turnpike: What Exit? Quiz

Answer: 1

U.S. Route 1 in New Jersey is a portion of the United States Highway 1 which runs along the East Coast of the United States, stretching 2390 miles from Florida to Maine. In New Jersey, it runs 66.1 miles from the state capital in Trenton, paralleling Interstate 95 and the New Jersey Turnpike, heading northeast to the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee.

By the 1930s, US 1 (and US 130 south of New Brunswick), had so much traffic that the state of New Jersey considered the construction of a superhighway along this corridor. In response, proposals were developed to construct a 12-lane superhighway from Boston to Washington.

Answer: 1951

New Jersey Governor Alfred E. Driscoll first raised the idea for a new state highway in his 1947 inaugural address. In October 1948, the State Legislature enacted the New Jersey Turnpike Authority Act, which created the New Jersey Turnpike Authority "to construct, maintain, repair and operate Turnpike projects." General W.W. Wanamaker, a retired Army Corps of Engineers officer who had served in World War II, was appointed as the first executive director of the Turnpike Authority.

Crews broke ground for the construction of the New Jersey Turnpike in January 1950. The construction and planning were not without problems. In Elizabeth, there was a residential neighborhood directly in the Turnpike's way. After losing a court battle, over 200 families lost their homes to the Turnpike's path.

The first stretch of the Turnpike was opened to the public on November 5, 1951. A second stretch from Exit 5 north to Exit 11 in Woodbridge opened on November 30, 1951, followed by a third 16-mile-long stretch from Exit 11 north to Exit 15E in Newark on December 20, 1951. The fourth and final nine-mile-long stretch, from Newark (Exit 15E north) to Exit 18 in Ridgefield (GW Bridge), opened on January 15, 1952.

Answer: False

The Turnpike is designated as unsigned Route 700 from Exit 1 (Delaware Memorial Bridge) in Carneys Point Township up to Exit 6. It is Interstate 95 from Exits 6 (Mansfield Township) through 18 (Secaucus/Carlstadt).

Answer: After Exit 8A

North of Exit 8A, the Turnpike splits into a "dual-dual" configuration, with the outer lanes open to all vehicles and the inner lanes limited to cars only. From there to Exit 14 (Newark), the road ranges from 10 to 14 lanes wide.

Answer: Between Exits 14 and 18

Between Exits 14 and 18, the Turnpike splits into two spurs, an eastern spur and a western spur.

Answer: 6

The New Jersey Turnpike connects with the Pennsylvania Turnpike at Exit 6. This 6-mile long six-lane highway extension not only connects the Pennsylvania Turnpike with the mainline, but also has an exit to U.S. Route 130 near Florence.

Answer: 11

The Garden State Parkway is Exit 11. (Coming from the Garden State Parkway to the NJ Turnpike, you'd get off at Exit 129, but that's a whole 'nother quiz!)

Answer: 16W

Exit 16W (Sports Complex/Secaucus/Rutherfod) is the closest exit to The Meadowlands (where they have the horse races), Giants Stadium (where the New York Giants play), and Continental Airlines Arena (formerly known as Brendan Byrne Arena), where you can see sporting events and concerts.

Answer: Verrazano-Narrows Bridge

Take Exit 13 to the Goethals Bridge, which connects NJ with Staten Island, NY. The Verrazano Bridge connects Staten Island, NY with Brooklyn, NY. It is not in New Jersey. To get to it, you have to drive across Staten Island, NY and you are no longer on the Turnpike but rather on the Staten Island Expressway.

The Bayonne Bridge (Exit 14A) connects Bayonne, NJ with Staten Island, NY. The George Washington Bridge (Exit 18W) spans the Hudson River and connects Fort Lee, NJ with the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan.

Answer: 1

Exit 1 is the Delaware Memorial Bridge to 295 and I-95. It is a toll bridge.

Answer: Lincoln Tunnel

The Lincoln Tunnel (Exit 17) connects Secaucus, NJ with midtown Manhattan in New York. The other three tunnels are not in New Jersey. The Brooklyn Battery Tunnel connects Brooklyn, NY to Manhattan, and the Queens Midtown Tunnel connects Queens, NY with Manhattan. The Lehigh Tunnel is in Pennsylvania.

Answer: 14C

The Newark Bay Extension of the Turnpike was opened in 1956 and is actually a part of Interstate 78. It connects Newark with Lower Manhattan via the Holland Tunnel in Jersey City. This extension contains three exits (Exits 14A, 14B, and 14C).

Answer: 6A

Exit 6A is an exit to US-130 and Florence, NJ, that is officially called exit 6A even though most signs simply call it "Exit". Exit 6 also goes to the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Answer: McDonalds

Food services at the rest stops are handled by HMSHost Corp. McDonalds is not one of their franchises. Back in the 1980s when I first started driving on the Turnpike, the only places to eat were Roy Rogers and Big Boy. Now there is a bigger variety of franchise restaurants and fast food places, such as Burger King, Starbucks, Cinnabon, Pizza Hut Express, Arthur Treachers, Carvel, Nathans, TCBY, Popeyes and Blimpies.

Answer: Bruce Springsteen

Although The Boss is strongly associated with New Jersey, he does not yet have a service area named after him, despite the pleas of some of his fans.

Answer: 8

Exit 8 is Hightstown - Freehold. But don't go to Freehold expecting to visit a Springsteen Museum - there isn't one. According to an article by fellow Freehold native Mark Hyman in "Business Week" in 2000, that's the way The Boss likes it. Apparently he wants things to be low-key and "normal" when he goes there to visit his old haunts.

Answer: 3

Take Exit 3 for South Camden and the Atlantic City Expressway.

Answer: North of Exit 11

There is an unfortunate stereotype that all of New Jersey smells bad. This is not true. There are many beautiful places in NJ where you can breathe fresh air and enjoy nature. However, there is a general consensus that the Northern part of the Turnpike does often have a lingering unpleasant smell due to the oil refineries and industrial area north of Exit 11, specifically around exits 12 (Carteret - Rahway) and 13 (Elizabeth).

There is no Exit 19W.

Answer: 2

If you were counting Joyce Kilmer, you are incorrect. Joyce Kilmer was a male journalist, poet and environmentalist: his full name was Alfred Joyce Kilmer. While living in Mahwah, NJ, he wrote his best-known poem "Trees" containing the line "I think that I shall never see/a poem lovely as a tree".

There are only two service centers named after women: Clara Barton (southbound between Exits 1 and 2) and Molly Pitcher (southbound between Exits 8 and 8A). Clara Barton was a Civil War-era nurse who is best known for organizing the American Red Cross. Molly Pitcher was a Revolutionary War heroine who may have been a real person or a composite of various women.

Answer: "Garden State Stomp" by Dave Van Ronk

The words to "Garden State Stomp" by this eccentric folk singer consist solely of New Jersey town names. No highways are mentioned. In Simon and Garfunkel's "America", the protagonist and his friend Kathy are "counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike" while they ride a Greyhound bus.

In "You Can't Catch Me", Chuck Berry decides to take his new Cadillac for a drive on the turnpike. The first line of Springsteen's song "State Trooper" mentions the turnpike.