Should New Jersey Put Highways Underground?

What if New Jersey put all the highways underground?

New Jersey might be called the Garden State, but let’s be honest — a huge chunk of it feels more like one giant highway system.

Think about it. Between the Garden State Parkway, the New Jersey Turnpike, Route 80, and Route 287 alone, there are nearly 650 miles of paved roadway cutting through the state. And that doesn’t even include the countless highways and major roads surrounding Philly, New York City, and western New Jersey.

Now imagine if all of that disappeared underground.

Could NJ Pull Off Something Like Boston’s Big Dig?

It sounds completely unrealistic at first, but Boston actually did something similar with its famous “Big Dig” project. For years, parts of the city were dominated by ugly elevated highways, traffic noise, and constant congestion. Today, much of that roadway is underground, opening up parks, green space, and a much better-looking city overall.

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Some Reddit users recently pointed out how similar old Boston looked to parts of New Jersey today. It had packed highways, nonstop traffic, and neighborhoods divided by giant roads.

Sure, moving highways underground would cost an insane amount of money and probably take forever, but imagine the payoff. The road would be a totally different experience.

How Underground Highways Could Change New Jersey

If major highways moved below ground, New Jersey could suddenly gain hundreds of miles of usable space. Parks, housing, restaurants, bike paths, entertainment districts — the possibilities would be endless.

It could even help reconnect neighborhoods that have been physically separated by highways for decades.

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Crazy idea? Absolutely. But honestly, it’s kind of fun to imagine what New Jersey could become without all the concrete everywhere.