Pearl Harbor Memorial Turnpike Extension

I-95 enters New Jersey at the Delaware River–Turnpike Toll Bridge over the Delaware River in Burlington Township, Burlington County, where the road continues west (south) into Pennsylvania as the Pennsylvania Turnpike.^[2][4] From the river, I-95 follows the six-lane Pearl Harbor Memorial Turnpike Extension of the New Jersey Turnpike east into New Jersey. Continuing east through a mix of fields and warehouses into Florence Township, the highway passes over NJ Transit's River Line and has an interchange serving US 130.^[2][5] This interchange has a toll plaza on the ramp to southbound I-95. After this interchange, the road comes to a toll barrier that marks the beginning of the turnpike ticket system northbound and the end of the ticket system southbound.^[5][6] The Pearl Harbor Memorial Turnpike Extension crosses into Mansfield Township and passes under I-295 before merging into the mainline of the New Jersey Turnpike at exit 6.^[2]

New Jersey Turnpike mainline

George Washington Bridge approach

In Ridgefield Park, I-95 continues north as a toll-free highway cosigned with the New Jersey Turnpike and maintained by the NJTA.^[2][9] This section of the Turnpike from this point to the George Washington Bridge approach is designated the “I-95 Extension” of the Turnpike.^[10] It has a large interchange serving US 46, part of which was the original northern terminus of the turnpike before it was extended.^[2] From this point, it has the appearance of a local–express lane configuration carrying three local lanes and two express lanes (3–2–2–3) in each direction, but the northbound "express" lane only leads exclusively to I-80 west while the northbound local lanes continues as the main trunk of I-95. (On the southbound side, the "express" lanes function as the main trunk of I-95 south while the southbound local lanes lead exclusively from I-80 east.) The road runs near suburban neighborhoods before entering Teaneck and intersecting with the eastern terminus of I-80. From here, I-95 turns northeast and splits into an actual local–express lane configuration with a 3–2–2–3 lane count, soon interchanging with CR 56 as it passes northwest of Overpeck County Park. The highway turns east as it skirts the border between Englewood to the north and Leonia to the south. After crossing CSX Transportation's Northern Branch, the highway enters inhabited areas as it passes over Route 93/CR 501 (Grand Avenue) and has a northbound exit and southbound entrance serving Broad Avenue.^[2][5] I-95 forms a hairpin turn around Leonia to the southeast into Fort Lee and heads due south to Route 4. I-95 runs under the Edgewood Road Bridge here, an overpass that runs high above the highway, and is considered an iconic view for drivers entering New Jersey from the George Washington Bridge. After the overpass, I-95 runs in between the travel lanes of Route 4 as the freeway comes to a large interchange with southbound exits and northbound entrances for Route 4, US 1/9, US 46, and a full interchange with the southern terminus of US 9W (Fletcher Avenue), where the New Jersey Turnpike officially ends and the jurisdiction changes from the NJTA to the PANYNJ.^[2]

Here, US 1/9/US 46 all join I-95 and the road continues southeast containing four local lanes and four express lanes in each direction, passing numerous highrise buildings through Fort Lee.^[2][5] The road has a southbound exit and northbound entrance to Route 67 from the express lanes before coming to the northbound-only toll plaza for the George Washington Bridge. Past the toll plaza, there is a southbound exit and northbound entrance for the Palisades Interstate Parkway, also from the express lanes. After the Palisades Interstate Parkway, the road crosses high over Henry Hudson Drive, then the Hudson River on the George Washington Bridge, which has eight lanes total on the upper deck (the express lanes) and six lanes total on the lower deck (the local lanes).^[2] US 46 terminates at the state border between New Jersey and New York, while I-95 and US 1-9 continue into upper Manhattan.

Routing through Central New Jersey: Somerset Freeway

The location of I-95 in the Trenton area had not been finalized when the route was first designated. The BPR preferred using the Trenton Freeway (US 1 and Route 174), which was completed to Whitehead Road, but New Jersey and Pennsylvania proposed using the Scudder Falls Bridge and its approach (Route 129), opened in 1961 to Scotch Road, due in part to low design standards of the Trenton Freeway. As a result, I-95 was routed to use the Scudder Falls Bridge approach.^[18][21] The approach to the Scudder Falls Bridge was extended in 1974, northeast to the planned interchange with the new I-95 freeway, and then east to US 1 as I-295.^[21]

From the I-95/I-295 loop around Trenton, the free routing of I-95 in New Jersey, was to divert from the loop between the Route 31 and Federal City Road exits in Hopewell Township. Then, the highway was to intersect CR 546 and US 206 before coming to I-287 in Piscataway.^[18] There was also meant to be a small connector roughly one mile (1.6 km) in length connecting I-95 with I-287 from the north and designated Interstate 695 (I-695).^[22] (The I-695 designation, along with I-95's alignment in Piscataway, was dropped when I-695's own alignment became the preferred routing for I-95 to a full three-way interchange with I-287 in Franklin Township.^[23][24])

At this point, the freeway would have continued northeastward through the western parts of Elizabeth and Newark, then terminate at the northern terminus of the New Jersey Turnpike at Ridgefield, but it was instead decided to route I-95 along the New Jersey Turnpike through North Jersey.^[18][25]

The truncated route, known as the Somerset Freeway, was intended to terminate in Piscataway at I-287, and I-95 would have continued east along present day I-287 until it intersected with the New Jersey Turnpike in Edison Township.^[18] The I-287 designation would probably have been truncated to begin at the junction with the Somerset Freeway. Both the Somerset Freeway and I-695 were projected to cost $55 million (equivalent to $384 million in 2023^[26]) in 1967, with the cost increasing to $375 million (equivalent to $1.27 billion in 2023^[26]) in 1979.^[22][27] At this point, residents in Hopewell Township, Princeton, and Montgomery Township raised opposition out of the fear the Somerset Freeway would bring unwanted development to area farmland. The NJTA joined environmental and community groups in opposing the Somerset Freeway, as it would provide a toll-free alternative to the New Jersey Turnpike.^[28][29] Due to this opposition, New Jersey Governor Brendan Byrne announced in 1980 that the state would not build the Somerset Freeway.^[30] The US Congress officially canceled the Somerset Freeway by way of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982, rerouting I-95 south on the New Jersey Turnpike to exit 6, and onto its Pennsylvania Extension to end at the state line on the Delaware River–Turnpike Toll Bridge, pending the construction of an interchange where the Pennsylvania Turnpike crossed existing I-95 in Pennsylvania.^[31] As a result of this cancelation, the federal government gave New Jersey $246 million (equivalent to $657 million in 2023^[26]) for road projects in the area where the Somerset Freeway was to be built.^[29]

In 1995, increasing truck traffic on US 206 and Route 31 motivated officials in Mercer County to have the state reconsider building the Somerset Freeway as a way to alleviate traffic on area roads. This option was ruled out due to a $700-million (equivalent to $1.28 billion in 2023^[26]) pricetag.^[32] Also around this time, I-95 was extended east along I-295 between the site of the Somerset Freeway interchange and US 1 in Lawrence Township.^[33]

Filling the I-95 gap

Due to the cancelation of the Somerset Freeway in 1983, a gap existed on I-95 within New Jersey for roughly 35 years.^[13] Northbound I-95 ended at US 1 in Lawrence Township where the road became I-295.^[34] Meanwhile, southbound I-95 entered New Jersey on the George Washington Bridge and continued along its present-day routing down the New Jersey Turnpike and across the Delaware River–Turnpike Toll Bridge, where the road became I-276 at the Pennsylvania state line.^[2] Until this gap was filled, traffic from Pennsylvania was directed along I-95 northbound (to the Scudder Falls Bridge), then on its continuation as I-295 southbound until its interchange at I-195, which leads eastward to the New Jersey Turnpike.^[35]

In order to close the gap, an interchange was constructed between I-95 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Bristol Township, Pennsylvania. The interchange was first planned in the 1980s after the Somerset Freeway's cancelation.^[36] As a result of this project, I-95 was rerouted from its former alignment in Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the easternmost part of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, replacing I-276 between the interchange and the Delaware River. In addition, I-295 was extended from its former northern terminus at US 1 westward (highway north) to the Scudder Falls Bridge and southward (highway west) through Pennsylvania to the new interchange. I-295 was initially chosen to be extended in this manner, but, in 2005, the plans were modified to extend I-195 from its current western terminus at I-295 and then north along I-295 and I-95 (bypassing Trenton) to the Scudder Falls Bridge and the new interchange.^[37] On May 20, 2015, the plans were reverted to extend I-295 to the interchange.^[38] The multiphased construction began in late 2010, and the approved design called for Stage 1 to tentatively end in 2020.^[39] Groundbreaking for the interchange took place on July 30, 2013, with Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett in attendance.^[40] In March 2018, I-95 was renumbered to I-295 between US 1 in Lawrence Township, New Jersey, and Taylorsville Road in Lower Makefield Township, Pennsylvania.^[41] The redesignation that officially bridged the I-95 gap was made official on September 22, 2018, before the completion of Stage 1.^[42][43]

Western Spur

More information County, Location ...

County	Location	mi[3]	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Essex	Newark	0.000	0.000		I-95 south / N.J. Turnpike south – Trenton	Southern terminus of the Western Spur (Route 95W)
		0.70	1.13	14-14C	I-78 to US 1-9 – Newark Airport, Bayonne, Jersey City, Holland Tunnel	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; singed as exits 14 (west to US 1-9) and 14A-C (east)
		1.15	1.85	15E	US 1-9 south – Newark, Jersey City	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
Hudson	Kearny	3.08	4.96	15W	I-280 west – Newark, Kearny	Eastern terminus of I-280
Bergen	East Rutherford	7.02	11.30	16W	Route 3 – Secaucus, Rutherford	Access to MetLife Stadium
	Carlstadt	7.18	11.56	Exit 16W Toll Plaza (northern end of ticket system)
		8.47– 8.95	13.63– 14.40	19W	Meadowlands Complex, American Dream	No northbound exit; E-ZPass only toll for the southbound exit and northbound entrance
	Ridgefield	10.13– 10.43	16.30– 16.79	—	Vince Lombardi Service Area
		11.01	17.72	—	I-80 west – Paterson	Eastern terminus of I-80; northbound left exit and southbound entrance
		11.26	18.12		I-95 north / N.J. Turnpike north / US 46 jct. – George Washington Bridge	Northern terminus of the Western Spur (Route 95W)
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Incomplete access        Tolled

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Express Lanes and G.W. Bridge Upper Level Lanes

The entire route is in Bergen County.

More information Location, mi ...

Location	mi[2]	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Ridgefield Park–Teaneck Township line	73.07	117.59		I-95 south / N.J. Turnpike south to US 46 – Newark	Southern terminus of Express lanes
Teaneck Township	73.59	118.43	69	I-80 west (Express Lanes) to G.S. Parkway – Paterson	Eastern terminus of I-80 Express; southbound exit and northbound entrance
Fort Lee	76.2– 76.53	122.6– 123.16	72A	Route 4 west – Paramus I-95 / N.J. Turnpike (Local Lanes) To I-80 / G.S. Parkway – Hackensack	Southern terminus of Upper Level lanes, northern terminus of southbound Express Lanes; no southbound exit
	76.62– 76.66	123.31– 123.37	72B	US 1-9 south / US 46 west – Palisades Park N.J. Turnpike ends	South end of US 1-9 / US 46 overlap southbound and US 1 / US 46 overlap northbound; southbound exit and northbound entrance; northern terminus of NJ Turnpike & concurrency with it
	76.66	123.37	South end of PANYNJ jurisdiction
	77.18	124.21	73	Route 67 / US 9W to Palisades Parkway – Fort Lee	Palisades Pkwy. not signed southbound, US 9W not signed northbound; southbound exit ramp also provides access to Hudson Terrace and Center Avenue
				US 9	Northbound entrance only; south end of US 9 overlap northbound; northern terminus of Express Lanes, southern terminus of northbound Upper Level lanes
	77.53	124.77	74	Palisades Parkway north	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
Hudson River	77.96	125.46	George Washington Bridge (northbound toll; E-ZPass or Toll by Mail) US 46 ends New Jersey–New York line
				I-95 north (US 1-9 north) to I-87	Continuation into New York City as the Trans-Manhattan Expressway
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access        Tolled       Route transition

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