State Is Proposing Changes To Garden State Parkway Exit 109

The state will hold an information session in Middletown to discuss proposed changes to Exit 109 on the Garden State Parkway.

The New Jersey Turnpike Authority will set up a Public Information Center from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Middletown Library Community Room, 55 New Monmouth Road, Middletown.

Drivers and residents are invited to stop in during that three-hour period to view displays and ask questions. Turnpike Authority representatives will be available to talk about the proposed improvements at Interchange 109, which connects the Parkway to Newman Spring Road, according to an advisory from the agency.

Officials hope the proposed improvements will eliminate traffic congestion in the area during peak travel times.

According to the advisory, the proposal calls for:

• reconfiguring several intersections on Newman Springs Road
• eliminating the existing eastbound jug handle at Half Mile Road
• constructing an eastbound entrance loop ramp and bridge over Newman Springs Road to the northbound Parkway
• adding lanes to Newman Springs Road
• replacing four functionally-obsolete Parkway bridges over Newman Springs Road to accommodate the new lanes

As part of the proposal, the state agency must submit an Environmental Impact Statement to the state Department of Environmental Protection, and input offered by the public at Thursday’s event will be incorporated into that document, the advisory said.