The Garden State Parkway is a 172-mile toll road running the length of New Jersey, from Cape May (Exit 0) in the south to the New York State Thruway at Montvale in the north. Built mostly in the 1950s, it was designed as a scenic parkway with landscaped medians, and it remains the main route to the Jersey Shore. North of Exit 105, trucks over a certain weight are prohibited, keeping it a largely passenger-car road.

At a glance
Length About 172 miles
Southern end Cape May (Exit 0)
Northern end Montvale, connecting to the New York State Thruway
Opened Mainly 1954–1957
Operator New Jersey Turnpike Authority (since 2003)

Why it was built

In the late 1940s, traffic to the Jersey Shore choked older local roads such as Route 9. The state began building a highway, but funding ran short, and in 1952 the New Jersey Highway Authority was created to finish it as a toll road. Most of it opened by 1955, and it was completed in 1957.

A true parkway

The designers wanted a landscaped road with wide medians, trees and gentle curves — a pleasant drive rather than a purely functional highway. Trucks are allowed only south of Exit 105, preserving the parkway character in the densely populated north.

Exit Zero

Mileposts and exit numbers start at zero in Cape May, which proudly calls itself “Exit 0”. Exits are numbered by milepost, so Exit 105 is about 105 miles north of Cape May.

The Arts Center

The Highway Authority built the Garden State Arts Center at Holmdel in 1968 — today’s PNC Bank Arts Center — as a cultural venue funded by the highway. See our PNC Bank Arts Center guide.

Traveling the Parkway today

The Parkway carries heavy summer traffic toward the shore on Friday afternoons and back on Sunday evenings. Read Friday getaway traffic, Jersey Shore towns guide and the NJ Turnpike history.