Expanded lanes open on New Jersey Turnpike

The expansion cost more than an NBA team, but to drivers on the New Jersey Turnpike, their delay-free travel Sunday on the three new northbound lanes was a blessing worth any price.

"We just breezed through," said Albert Nagell, 90, of Reston, Va., who was en route to New York with his daughter. "And we are delighted."

The northbound lanes of the $2.3 billion project between Mansfield in Burlington County and East Brunswick in Middlesex County - better known to frequent motorists as the 35-mile bottleneck of I-95 between Exits 6 and 8A - opened Sunday. Southbound lanes are expected to open next weekend. The construction began in 2009, and lanes on each side were doubled from three to six.

At the Woodrow Wilson Service Area just south of Exit 7A, many travelers were unaware of the new stretch of road ahead.

Betty Oliver, 68, of Rincon, Ga., has traveled back and forth to Boston for years and said she had missed "many a family function" as a result of delays in New Jersey.

"We were late for both a wedding and a funeral," Oliver said about past trips.

Oliver and her husband will be glad not to share a lane with trucks, which often throw off tire parts that can damage cars.

"We don't have to worry about dodging alligators," she said, using their pet name for pieces of blown-off truck tire treads.

"The test will be on the heavier travel dates," said Michael Turner, 56, of Livingston, N.J., who uses the road about six times a year.

Marion Helmers of Warren, Somerset County, who was driving back from Florida with family Sunday, said she had been looking forward to the opening for a long time after suffering frequent congestion and delays.

"This," she said, "has been better."

Though it was smooth sailing for northbound motorists Sunday, for southbound drivers . . . well, not so much.

Tim Quinn and his family were on their way back to West Chester from Westchester County, N.Y., after some Halloween sightseeing in Sleepy Hollow when traffic came to a crawl approaching the merge near Cranbury.

"It's a tease to see that other highway just sitting there waiting for someone to open it up," Quinn said during a break at the Richard Stockton Service Area.

He said it was a "necessary evil" to go through New Jersey, but he was happy any future travel might be easier.

Carol Henderson, 66, of Williamsburg, Va., has driven the turnpike back and forth to Long Island enough to know that on a Sunday afternoon, the southbound truck lane was often less crowded.

"Everybody was jammed in the cars-only lane," she said. She figured she avoided the worst of a two- to three-mile delay by taking the truck lane.

Henderson, who tries to avoid traveling I-95 because of the frequent delays, may reconsider now that the expansion is complete.

Weather permitting, the southbound lanes will be open next week after workers finish with last-minute fixes and lane striping, said Tom Feeney, spokesman for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority. "Do a happy dance for good weather," he said, "and we will be fine."