5 Years And $2 Billion Later, NJ Turnpike Expansion Is Finished
By David Madden
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- It's taken 5 years and more than $2 billion, but expansion work on the New Jersey Turnpike is finished. Drivers will start to reap the benefits this weekend.
Three new lanes of traffic northbound from exit 6 through 8A will open this weekend, along with an extra lane from 8A to 9. Next weekend, the same drill on the southbound side. Turnpike spokesman Tom Feeney says drivers will notice the difference almost immediately.
"Most of the maddening delays they've experienced -- people who travel that regularly understand that to be an area where there's delays almost every day there -- those should be a thing of the past," he said.
The change creates a 12 lane highway from the Pennsylvania Turnpike access ramp north.
Another thing Feeney wants to stress: the project is coming in on time and some $200 million under budget.