Interstate 78 or I -78 is an Interstate Highway in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The highway forms an east-west route in the north of the state, connecting the state of Pennsylvania with the metropolitan area of New York. The road begins on the Delaware River at Philipsburg, and runs to Jersey City on the Hudson River. The highway is 109 kilometers long.
Interstate 78 crosses the 150-foot-wide Delaware River at Philipsburg. There are 2×3 lanes available here. One comes through forested area of the Musconetcong Mountains. Although this area is not part of the New York built-up area, there are many small villages and the population density is quite high. At Pluckemin one crosses Interstate 287, the western bypass of the New York metropolitan area. This is the starting point of the urban area, which extends the rest of I-78’s route. From here, 2×4 lanes are available.
This area is slightly hilly and not as densely built-up as further east. Here and there are already some industrial estates along I-78. Further on, 2×3 lanes are available again. This area is park-like and quite densely wooded. State Route 24 merges at Springfield, and from here it gets busier and more built-up. There is a parallel lane system with short-term 4+2+3+4 lanes, 13 in total. Further on there are 4+2+2+4 lanes. The first larger suburb is Union, with 55,000 inhabitants. Here one crosses the Garden State Parkway. One arrives in the city of Newark, the largest city in New Jersey with 274,000 inhabitants. Most New York suburbs are quite small. Via a large complex you cross the US 1and US 22, the Pulaski Highway, with dozens of flyovers and connecting roads to Newark Airport, among others. Here you cross 6 different road numbers. It is one of the largest hubs in the New York area.
You then cross I-95, the New Jersey Turnpike, which has no less than 6×3 (18) lanes here. There are even 23 lanes further on. After this, I-78 has only 2×2 lanes and via the Newark Bay Bridge, a toll bridge between Newark and Jersey City, you cross Newark Bay. This leads to the harbor area of Jersey City, a city of 242,000 inhabitants. One crosses the Pulaski Skyway again and via 3 traffic lights arrives at the Holland Tunnel which runs to Manhattan.
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History
In 1906, plans were started for a connection between Manhattan and Jersey City. At first there was talk of a bridge, but this plan was turned into a tunnel in 1913. Because of shipping, the bridge had to be quite high, and there was no money or space for such embankments, especially in Manhattan. In the following years, various proposals were made for the tunnel, including a double-deck tunnel in one tube. Construction began on March 31, 1922 in Manhattan. On November 13, 1927, the Holland Tunnel opened to traffic with two tunnel tubes with a total of 2×2 lanes. On the first day, 52,000 vehicles used the tunnel.
The following years there was no question of a connecting highway with the Holland Tunnel. The first section of Interstate 78 opened over Newark Bay in 1956 for eight miles around the New Jersey Turnpiketo connect to the Holland Tunnel. In July 1963, a plan was approved to build Interstate 78 in the state of New Jersey at a cost of $205 million. The section between what is now exit 11 and 13 opened as early as 1953. In 1957, the section between exit 13 and exit 16 opened in Clinton. In 1959, a 7-mile section in western New Jersey opened between exits 3 and 6. In 1968, this section was widened from 2×2 to 2×3 lanes. The section between exit 6 and 11 opened in 1962. Between 1966 and 1968, the section between exit 16 and exit 30 (I-287) was constructed and the section from exit 2 to exit 16 was widened to 2×3 lanes.
A 2×3 section was opened between exit 30 and exit 41 in 1970 and 1971. Between 1974 and 1977, the route through Newark between exits 48 and 59 was opened, connecting to the New Jersey Turnpike. Construction around the Watchung Reservation, a nature reserve, was delayed for years. This piece was not completed until August 1986. In 1984, construction began on the last stretch of Interstate 78 around Philipsburg in western New Jersey. This part opened in November 1989.
