Possibly one of oldest sections of interstate highway pavement in New Jersey is finally going to be replaced, to the delight of the tens of thousands of commuters who drive on it.

Drivers who use I-78 in Newark know the concrete section of highway near the New Jersey Turnpike erupts seasonally into a garden of tire-flattening potholes. And every pothole season brings a chorus of pleas to replace the aged concrete.

For years, the pleas of commuters to repave the 12-lane, one mile section of scarred superhighway were met with the same answer, not this year.

They’ll only have to wait a little while longer.

“We are putting together plans to repave it with asphalt,” said Rob Fischer, NJ Turnpike Authority chief engineer. “We want to award it (a contract) one year from now.”

This is where we’ll pause for an impromptu singing of the Hallelujah Chorus by the Newark Bay Bridge commuter choir. Roughly 110,000 vehicles a day use this section of I-78, according to NJDOT.

This pock-marked concrete section of I-78 both east and westbound, express and local lanes, is maintained by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, because it feeds the mainline and Hudson County extension of the toll road. That’s why the authority is planning now to replace the concrete, Fischer said.

What’s to hate about this piece of hellish highway?

During a particularly bad pothole season in 2018, a whopper of a hole opened up in the left lane of I-78 in Newark flattening tires and taxing AAA emergency service crews. Patches are a temporary reprieve and holes often return, especially in the growing seams between the slabs of concrete.

Even after the bad pavement is dug out and holes are fixed, this piece of I-78 looks like a poorly made quilt of black asphalt and light tan patches of pavement that provide a bumpy ride to and from the Turnpike Toll plaza at Exit 14.

The section of concrete pavement is the original highway built between 1974 and 1977 and is the last cement section of I-78 left, officials said.

“It’s the original pavement on I-78,” Fischer said.

It’s also seemed to be an concrete orphan for years.

A earlier $72 million project replaced a concrete roadway with asphalt on an adjoining part of I-78 in both directions of I-78 from Ramsey Avenue in Union Township to the Route 21 interchange in Newark between 2012 and 2014. That was deemed one of the busiest stretches of highway in the state with an average of 145,000 vehicles traveling it daily.

That project, used federal money to repave the express and local lanes.

Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com . Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry .

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