Plans for a major overhaul of the Garden State Parkway in the Toms River area will be presented to the public Wednesday as the New Jersey Turnpike Authority prepares to move forward with a project aimed at improving traffic flow and safety along one of the region’s busiest highway corridors.
The Turnpike Authority, which controls the Parkway and Turnpike, will hold a public hearing from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, September 16, at the Ocean County Library’s Toms River Branch, 101 Washington Street. Members of the public will have an opportunity to ask questions and provide oral or written comments.
The proposed improvements cover approximately 5.7 miles of the Parkway, from milepost 78.8 in the Beachwood area to milepost 84.5 in Toms River Township. The project corridor encompasses Interchanges 80, 81 and 82-82A and extends north to Interchange 83 at Route 166.
The Turnpike Authority says the corridor experiences high traffic volumes, elevated crash rates and operational deficiencies stemming in part from roadway designs that date to the Parkway’s construction in the 1950s. The project is intended to reduce travel times, improve safety and eliminate problematic weaving and merging movements.
There were over 60 crashes in that area in 2025.
Among the most significant changes would be the addition of a new southbound entrance ramp and northbound exit ramp at Interchange 80, providing full access between the Parkway and surrounding local roads.
At Interchange 81, the southbound exit ramp would be relocated. The project also calls for new collector-distributor roads in both directions to separate entering and exiting traffic from vehicles traveling through the corridor. Those roads would serve Interchanges 81, 82 and 82A.
The authority also plans to bring the roadway and ramps up to current design standards, including 12-foot travel lanes and shoulders. The changes are designed to reduce the weaving that currently occurs as motorists enter and exit the Parkway in a relatively short stretch around the Toms River interchanges.
The project is expected to have a significant impact on the Parkway’s configuration around Exit 82 and 82A, where traffic heading toward Toms River and Seaside Heights would be separated from through traffic traveling north or south.
The plans are part of a broader effort to address traffic conditions in an area that has experienced substantial growth and increasingly heavy Parkway use. Earlier versions of the project were unveiled in 2023, but the plans have since been modified as other proposed Toms River roadway projects changed or were canceled.
The project is currently in its final design phase, with construction expected to begin in Spring 2027 and comes with a roughly $509 million price tag.
