Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The Garden State Parkway is one of those highways that can feel like an entirely different road depending on when you travel it. On a quiet weekday morning, it's the daily route for commuters heading to work. A few days later, the very same pavement may be carrying thousands of families toward the Jersey Shore, turning an ordinary highway into the unofficial beginning of a summer vacation.
Every Friday afternoon, almost like clockwork, the traffic begins to change. Around lunchtime, more vehicles are loaded with beach chairs, coolers, bicycles, and suitcases instead of briefcases. Families leave work a little early, hoping to get a head start on the weekend. By mid-afternoon, the southbound lanes are often crowded all the way from North Jersey toward the Shore, and the closer you get to the beach exits, the slower the journey becomes.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
* The information presented in the overlay of the video is for demonstration purpose only.
0:00 Essex Toll Plaza (southbound)
Bloomfield, Essex County, NJ
3:45 I-280 – Newark, The Oranges
East Orange, Essex County, NJ
6:48 I-78 – Springfield, Newark
Hillside, Union County, NJ
12:06 NJ-28 – Roselle Park, Cranford
Cranford, Union County, NJ
18:56 NJ 27 – Iselin, Metuchen
Woodbridge Township, Middlesex County, NJ
20:17 US 1 – Newark, Trenton
Woodbridge Township, Middlesex County, NJ
21:19 I-95, I-287
Woodbridge Township, Middlesex County, NJ
The Garden State Parkway is one of those highways that can feel like an entirely different road depending on when you travel it. On a quiet weekday morning, it's the daily route for commuters heading to work. A few days later, the very same pavement may be carrying thousands of families toward the Jersey Shore, turning an ordinary highway into the unofficial beginning of a summer vacation.
Every Friday afternoon, almost like clockwork, the traffic begins to change. Around lunchtime, more vehicles are loaded with beach chairs, coolers, bicycles, and suitcases instead of briefcases. Families leave work a little early, hoping to get a head start on the weekend. By mid-afternoon, the southbound lanes are often crowded all the way from North Jersey toward the Shore, and the closer you get to the beach exits, the slower the journey becomes.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
* The information presented in the overlay of the video is for demonstration purpose only.
0:00 Essex Toll Plaza (southbound)
Bloomfield, Essex County, NJ
3:45 I-280 – Newark, The Oranges
East Orange, Essex County, NJ
6:48 I-78 – Springfield, Newark
Hillside, Union County, NJ
12:06 NJ-28 – Roselle Park, Cranford
Cranford, Union County, NJ
18:56 NJ 27 – Iselin, Metuchen
Woodbridge Township, Middlesex County, NJ
20:17 US 1 – Newark, Trenton
Woodbridge Township, Middlesex County, NJ
21:19 I-95, I-287
Woodbridge Township, Middlesex County, NJ
