New GSP exit 125 construction site .jpg

The construction site of a new Exit 125 ramp from the southbound Garden State Parkway as seen from Chevalier Avenue in Sayreville. Officials said there is not enough space to build a conventional toll plaza here. (Larry Higgs | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

When the new exit 125 ramp opens off the Garden State Parkway south in 2018, drivers will be required to use E-ZPass to pay the toll.

The exit, which is under construction, will not accept cash, officials said. Drivers who want to pay with cash either have to detour to the next exit or face a $25 toll violation, officials said.

Two factors, cost and the narrow size of the property, are behind the EZPass only exit, said John O'Hern, chief operating officer for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.

"There isn't enough room for a toll plaza," O'Hern said.

In addition to not having enough land for toll booths, exit 125 from the Parkway south also lacks room to build a needed employee parking lot and a toll building between the highway and Chevalier Avenue, he said.

There is room to build E-ZPass gantries, similar to those used in express E-ZPass lanes, O'Hern said.

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"There is not enough room to put equipment and to get people into position (in and out of toll booths) safely," O'Hern said.

In addition, the majority of drivers, almost 80 percent, pay tolls with E-ZPass on the Parkway, he said. That number swells to 90 percent during peak commuting hours, O'Hern said.

Tolls are being added to the southbound exit, so drivers don't use it to beat the $1.50 toll by avoiding the nearby Raritan Toll Plaza, officials said.

Drivers who pay cash can use the Raritan Toll Plaza and exit 124 for Main Street, Sayreville, O'Hern said.



Exit 125 is getting a $72.3 million upgrade with new ramps from the southbound lanes and toll booths and replacement of two bridges that carry the Parkway over local streets. The northbound exit ramp will be realigned to make better connections with local streets.



The project will take drivers, who now use exit 124 to navigate around the incomplete exit 125, off of local streets.

A contract was awarded for that work last April and it is 13 percent complete and on-schedule, officials said.

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

