7 days ago
Drivers will now have to pay a toll to leave this N.J. expressway service area
Drivers who used a backstreet at the Garden State Parkway's Connie Chung service area to avoid a toll or get a meal have hit the end of the road.
The surreptitious route between the service center and a Bloomfield neighborhood is officially off limits to drivers using it as a way to beat the southbound Parkway toll, officials said.
The change was first reported by Fox 5 news, which said the driveway off Broad Street was used by residents to go to the service area for a snack, but it was also discovered by drivers looking to beat the toll instead of getting off at the next exit.
That driveway behind the service area had been closed off by a gate to prevent cars from exiting onto Broad Street in Bloomfield until Aug. 17, 2022, Tom Feeney, a spokesman for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority told NJ Advance Media.
That's when the service area was closed for renovations, he said.
'When the new building opened on Aug. 9, 2023, the driveway between the service area and Broad Street was two-way, cars could enter or exit,' he said.
But some drivers learned they could use that hidden driveway to avoid paying the $1.15 toll at Exit 151 Toll Plaza.
The Turnpike Authority did a traffic analysis and 'discovered that a large number of vehicles were leaving the southbound Parkway and cutting through the service area to exit onto Broad Street to avoid the toll' at the Watchung Avenue exit, Feeney said.
How much was lost in toll revenue wasn't calculated, but the added traffic put pedestrians on local streets at risk, he said.
'That was not just a toll revenue issue, but also a safety issue,' he said. 'The parking lot and driveway in the service area are not designed to serve as a Parkway exit ramp.'
Three months ago, the driveway at the rear of the service area was converted to one-way, and traffic was prohibited from exiting onto Broad Street, Feeney said.
Residents can still go to the service center for food but to get home, they'll have to 'tip' the Parkway a $1.15 toll at the next exit.
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