July 3 & 5: Traffic on Jersey turnpike bad?

Question

I will be driving up to Fort Dix, NJ from the Baltimore, MD area on July 3. The drive should ideally take about 3 hours, but I've heard that traffic will be horrible on the turnpike on that day, since it's the day before July 4. Is this true? If so, how much extra time should I allow for the drive?

Also, I plan to leave Fort Dix, NJ to return to Baltimore, MD on July 5 sometime in the mid-late morning. Will traffic be horrible on the turnpike at that time on that day as well?

Thanks!

Answer 1

You should add at least another hour to your planned travel time. Traffic on the NJ turnpike is always heavy, and the portion of the turnpike that you will be traveling only has 2 lanes in each direction. An accident can cause serious delays.

Seeing as you are traveling the day before the holiday, you should expect heavier than normal traffic. With the holiday in the middle of the week, it will not be as bad as if it were near the weekend, but there will still be heavy traffic.

If you do not already have one, get an EZpass for the tolls.
http://www.ezpassmd.com/
The EZpass will cut your wait at the tolls considerably. You will not even have to stop at the toll booth at the entrance to the NJ turnpike, they have express lanes that you can travel through at 50+ MPH.

When you are heading north, the left lanes are the EZ pass lanes on the JFK. When you get to the toll booth in DE, stay to the far right. The far right lane actually goes around the main toll both and to an additional booth, with 4 lanes.

There is no toll northbound on the Delaware Memorial bridge. With the EZpass stay to the left when you get on the NJ Turnpike, so you avoid the toll booth.

Answer 2

I would give more than an half hour! also be careful on turnpike ,lots of bad drivers in New Jersey!!!Prob the worst state to drive in! Im from New Jersey TOO!

Answer 3

You're driving North so it shouldn't be too bad -- the traffic does bottleneck up around Exit 8 all the time in both directions though -- When you return to the 5th your basically way down passed all the exits where it gets congested so don't worry -- give yourself maybe any extra 1/2 hour in both directions. Good Luck.