Turnpike, Parkway To Replace Message Signs

Officials have agreed to spend nearly $32 million to replace signs that alert motorists to traffic problems on the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway.

The turnpike’s red neon signs date to the 1950s and the parkway’s dot matrix signs were installed in the 1990s. Officials say both are limited in the amount of information they can display.

Turnpike Authority assistant chief engineer Rob Fischer tells the Asbury Park Press  the new signs will have the capability to provide more information with improved color graphics. Fisher says they can help a driver decide to take an alternate route if there’s an accident.

Similar signs are on the parkway north, just before the Asbury Park toll plaza and on the turnpike south near Interchange 12.