New Parkway Pattern Eases Dangerous Merge

If you've traveled north of Exit 100 on the Garden State Parkway in the last few weeks, you've probably noticed the new cones that have been placed on the North side of the Asbury toll plaza.

There are also signs as you approach the plaza warning that drivers on the non-EZ-Pass side of the highway will have to remain in the Parkway's local lanes.

While a temporary fix like this will never be able to stop dangerous driving, it will certainly ease up one of the most dangerous practices that I would regularly see at the Express/Local split.

I can't tell you how many times I've seen vehicles go through the toll booth portion of the highway and immediately attempt to zip across 4 or more lanes of traffic to get into the express lanes.

I'm actually stunned that I've never personally witnessed an accident there. I've certainly seen my share of cars slamming on their brakes, horns being blasted, and creative hand gestures.

The way the cones are lined up now, anyone who goes through the toll booths will have to stay on the local side. On the EZ-Pass only side, the lane on the right merges into the local lanes, while the other two lanes continue on to the express side.

I've still seen people go through the EZ-Pass lane and cut across to get into the local lanes, but at least now you don't have drivers from both sides of the toll plaza cutting across from all directions.

Do you think this will help make this part of the Parkway safer? Let us know your opinion in the comments section!