I worked for the parkway, but not back then ! what a memory as a kid though...I was proud to be a part of the team that made that one of the safest and most well maintained roadways in the US. Thanks for this :)
Coming from a NJ native, The Parkway is a beautiful highway, esp. in Monmouth County. It is good enough to show off to visitors, which I do sometimes--but not on Labor Day.
And 13 years later also 😁 from A native of Jersey City/BENNIE😉 The whole of the parkway is a wonder to behold! & much better traveling today with EZPASS. The task of planning the construction of a brand new 173-mile road through one of the most densely populated states in the nation was not simple. The project required feasibility studies, skilled and dedicated leaders, large infusions of cash, a team of qualified consultants, and a highly effective public relations campaign to build political and broad popular support. A well planned project could change the course of New Jersey history; a poorly planned project could take decades to build-or worse, fail to win the public support needed to fund it. The effort paid off, with planning and construction of the main stem between Paterson and Cape May completed by early 1955
I love minutes 6-8 LOL. Last time I attempted to make it to the shore (l972), I turned around after being in traffic for one hour and moving nowhere. Never returned. Moved to Massachusetts. Thoroughly enjoyed this movie. hmmmm perhaps I was conceived in one of those traffic jams.....
Wow, a flashback. I noticed the people stuck in traffic had their windows down. Not many cars had A/C in those days. I was on the GSP yesterday and it remains one of my favorite roads. NJTA has their act together.
Thank you so much for posting this. It also brought back wonderful memories and I can't wait to let my family know it's here. You can be proud of your folks and happy they let you be in it, too.
The GSP was paid off on August 22 1978, yet it never reduced the price of tolls several years later they increased the price to .35 cents and on 1999 created EZPASS that was increased to 30% in 2008 and 30% in 2011. No more small tolls just headaches and high volume drivers who talk text and drive all day long...I long for the older days when it was better and the GSP was cheaper.
The tolls are used to pay the toll takers and their pensions. Crossing from Atlantic County to Cape May County was 25c in the 70s is now $2.10 after an increase end of 2023. There is no toll where the road was there before the GSP constructed. Only a few exits in CMC are toll free.
Never saw the Parkway that clean before. Now it's all bumper to bumper from Saddle Brook to Clifton. Also there are more accident on that highway than I-95
Being from Essex County its nice to know they had traffic woes then also; By the way tolls were supposed to come down once roadway was paid for. Hmmmm wonder if its paid for yet.....
@dohc73 I KNOW. That's why we ended up in Colonia, NJ,which is nice but my parents never thought they would leave East Orange. They (the parkway folks) came in and took our neighborhood which the toll booth is now where our livingroom used to be. Hawthorne Ave was never the same.
wow.. cool video of the nj parkway! look at all those old cars in the beginning of the video! if u watch the video at 6:33.. you hardly see any cars using the parkway back then!! only 2 lanes both directions?! look how people driven in those days..nice & easy .. not like maniacs we have today!! there are nice sections driving on the parkway I like heading to Atlantic city where u have trees & such & lanes shorten to 2... my dad told me back in the 50s the parkway ended at the Roselle exit...nothing but woods.. this true?? someone made a post making more lanes?? we'll still have traffic up the kazoo... doesn't matter if they make 20+ or more each way... it'll never change.. nice vintage video of the parkway.. thumbs up! :)
Yeah - and now another major north to south highway should be built to relieve the traffic on the Parkway. To think I used to call it "The Friendly Highway" when I started driving in the early 70s. Now it's just a bunch of frigging maniacs!
I had gotten a VHS copy from the N J Highway Authority about 20 years ago, and made a copy for Bryan Katz, who posted this on TH-cam so its many generations away from the original.
The parkway is good. But on labor day weekend, it's blocked up. Think about staying in Atlantic City, Ocean City, Wildwood, or Cape May for a long time. Until the weekend rush is over.
Easy friend, I am from NJ. Not all of this state is ugly. You have to get away form NYC area. Blueberries, tomatos, apples, corn, etc. are abudant and grown without pesticides and are GMO safe at this time. That said, I understand your comment. Peace to you and yours. Lizzy.
Two lanes north and south through Iselin and Woodbridge lol. Every bit of real estate in that area of the video is now used as part of the road and it's very slow through that area no matter what time of day it is. Still, the GSP is one of the nicest highways in all of America, IMHO.
The widest part now is the Driscoll Bridge and the part that still has the original amount is South of the Great Egg Harbor Bridge and North of Exit 168
Bellyplobs 2 Mr Discroll never had anything to do with GSP He was the Governor of New Jersey 1947-54 His name was used because the GSP was being built and he was Governor. ps, I see more holes in your limited minded head than I saw holes in the Driscoll Bridge these past 58 years
Tthe area between Woodbridge and Cranford is now backed up every morning during rush hours. Thank you Mr Driscol for your limited vision of the future. Would it have been too much to ask to add 20 lanes each way?
Good luck with that. They would have had to plow through a bunch of homes and businesses, reroute other roads, etc. It would have been more expensive to move homes and businesses out of the way than to built the Parkway.
There was a film made about building of the Parkway, but its been unavailable for many years. Produced by the Asphalt Institute in 1955 they discarded their copy in 1975, and the N J Highway Authority has a copy but trying to get them making a copy is impossible.
I worked for the parkway, but not back then ! what a memory as a kid though...I was proud to be a part of the team that made that one of the safest and most well maintained roadways in the US. Thanks for this :)
Coming from a NJ native, The Parkway is a beautiful highway, esp. in Monmouth County. It is good enough to show off to visitors, which I do sometimes--but not on Labor Day.
I know I’m 13 years late, but it’s beautiful down in Atlantic county and cape May county too..
And 13 years later also 😁 from A native of Jersey City/BENNIE😉 The whole of the parkway is a wonder to behold! & much better traveling today with EZPASS. The task of planning the construction of a brand new 173-mile road through one of the most densely populated states in the nation was not simple. The project required feasibility studies, skilled and dedicated leaders, large infusions of cash, a team of qualified consultants, and a highly effective public relations campaign to build political and broad popular support. A well planned project could change the course of New Jersey history; a poorly planned project could take decades to build-or worse, fail to win the public support needed to fund it.
The effort paid off, with planning and construction of the main stem between Paterson and Cape May completed by early 1955
I love minutes 6-8 LOL. Last time I attempted to make it to the shore (l972), I turned around after being in traffic for one hour and moving nowhere. Never returned. Moved to Massachusetts. Thoroughly enjoyed this movie. hmmmm perhaps I was conceived in one of those traffic jams.....
Wow, a flashback. I noticed the people stuck in traffic had their windows down. Not many cars had A/C in those days. I was on the GSP yesterday and it remains one of my favorite roads. NJTA has their act together.
Thank you so much for posting this. It also brought back wonderful memories and I can't wait to let my family know it's here. You can be proud of your folks and happy they let you be in it, too.
The GSP was paid off on August 22 1978, yet it never reduced the price of tolls several years later they increased the price to .35 cents and on 1999 created EZPASS that was increased to 30% in 2008 and 30% in 2011. No more small tolls just headaches and high volume drivers who talk text and drive all day long...I long for the older days when it was better and the GSP was cheaper.
welcome to new jersey home of corruption and money allegedly stolen from the tax payer lol
The tolls are used to pay the toll takers and their pensions. Crossing from Atlantic County to Cape May County was 25c in the 70s is now $2.10 after an increase end of 2023. There is no toll where the road was there before the GSP constructed. Only a few exits in CMC are toll free.
Never saw the Parkway that clean before. Now it's all bumper to bumper from Saddle Brook to Clifton. Also there are more accident on that highway than I-95
they marketed the parkway to be "safe" and "fun"
Being from Essex County its nice to know they had traffic woes then also;
By the way tolls were supposed to come down once roadway was paid for.
Hmmmm wonder if its paid for yet.....
all lies by scumbag politicans
My guess would have been movie theaters, that's where stuff like this usually showed back then...not everyone had TV yet...
@dohc73 I KNOW. That's why we ended up in Colonia, NJ,which is nice but my parents never thought they would leave East Orange. They (the parkway folks) came in and took our neighborhood which the toll booth is now where our livingroom used to be. Hawthorne Ave was never the same.
wow..
cool video of the nj parkway! look at all those old cars in the beginning of the video!
if u watch the video at 6:33.. you hardly see any cars using the parkway back then!! only 2 lanes both directions?! look how people driven in those days..nice & easy .. not like maniacs we have today!! there are nice sections driving on the parkway I like heading to Atlantic city where u have trees & such & lanes shorten to 2...
my dad told me back in the 50s the parkway ended at the Roselle exit...nothing but woods.. this true?? someone made a post making more lanes?? we'll still have traffic up the kazoo... doesn't matter if they make 20+ or more each way... it'll never change..
nice vintage video of the parkway.. thumbs up! :)
The Garden State Parking lot, lol. Seriously, it's an iconic highway in New Jersey.
I call it the Garden State Speedway as people fly on that highway even through toll booths and construction zones
The beginning of our addiction for highways.
The "no grade intersections" was not true until last year when they removed the last 3 traffic lights from the GSP.
They removed the stoplights around cape may? i remember those.
Yes, they are all gone now. They built overpasses.
Vey interesting. Is the narrator Hugh Beaumont of Leave It To Beaver fame?
Sure sounds like his voice.
Great video.
Yeah - and now another major north to south highway should be built to relieve the traffic on the Parkway. To think I used to call it "The Friendly Highway" when I started driving in the early 70s. Now it's just a bunch of frigging maniacs!
wish this film was clearer. very interesting.
I had gotten a VHS copy from the N J Highway Authority about 20 years ago, and made a copy for Bryan Katz, who posted this on TH-cam so its many generations away from the original.
The parkway is good. But on labor day weekend, it's blocked up. Think about staying in Atlantic City, Ocean City, Wildwood, or Cape May for a long time. Until the weekend rush is over.
From Montvale to Lower Township
no more traffic tensions the guy says in 1952 lol. yeah right.
Yeah, traffic, and the tolls, and constant roadwork!! What a great drive!!
Lizzy inA Tizzy What the heck did you expect from the armpit of the nation, New Jersey
Easy friend, I am from NJ. Not all of this state is ugly. You have to get away form NYC area. Blueberries, tomatos, apples, corn, etc. are abudant and grown without pesticides and are GMO safe at this time. That said, I understand your comment. Peace to you and yours. Lizzy.
+Lizzy inA Tizzy OK. I'll give it to you. northern NJ is the problem. middle and southern seems to be OK.
im from nj too for over 50 years lots of it are nice but its run like sh&t by trenton beurocrats hehe
Two lanes north and south through Iselin and Woodbridge lol. Every bit of real estate in that area of the video is now used as part of the road and it's very slow through that area no matter what time of day it is. Still, the GSP is one of the nicest highways in all of America, IMHO.
The widest part now is the Driscoll Bridge and the part that still has the original amount is South of the Great Egg Harbor Bridge and North of Exit 168
"Took an Hr to get 12mi" , is good and wishful today
Bellyplobs 2 Mr Discroll never had anything to do with GSP He was the Governor of New Jersey 1947-54 His name was used because the GSP was being built and he was Governor. ps, I see more holes in your limited minded head than I saw holes in the Driscoll Bridge these past 58 years
Tthe area between Woodbridge and Cranford is now backed up every morning during rush hours. Thank you Mr Driscol for your limited vision of the future. Would it have been too much to ask to add 20 lanes each way?
Good luck with that. They would have had to plow through a bunch of homes and businesses, reroute other roads, etc. It would have been more expensive to move homes and businesses out of the way than to built the Parkway.
Excellent video. Do you have any of the Parkway actually being built?
There was a film made about building of the Parkway, but its been unavailable for many years. Produced by the Asphalt Institute in 1955 they discarded their copy in 1975, and the N J Highway Authority has a copy but trying to get them making a copy is impossible.
New Jersey is the safest state in road deaths.
People have been riding in the left lane since it opened. Smh 😂
funny enough the parkway originally had many left exits too. Great design
It solved traffic?
Self liquidating.... BWAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!
this didn't age well
how many cars got Popped in the rear Those Days.? Just Wondering