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205-644: The Garden State Parkway , the North Jersey Coast Line , and several abandoned rail bridges in Matawan and Aberdeen is the dividing line between the northern and southern sections of the trail. The northern section runs 12 miles east from the Aberdeen-Keyport border to Highlands, north of and roughly parallel to Route 36 . A missing link in Atlantic Highlands requires on-road travel between Avenue D and

410-533: A flume of the Atlantic City Reservoir, which has a basin on each side of the highway. Continuing north, the highway enters Galloway Township and passes over NJ Transit 's Atlantic City Line before it comes to a partial interchange with White Horse Pike ( US 30 ), serving Absecon . North of this exit, the median is home to the Frank Sinatra Service Area, which also has a barrack of

615-556: A 40-mile (64 km) section between Sayreville and Paramus . The NJTA may temporarily reduce the speed limit when special hazards exist. Commercial trucks with a registered weight of over 10,000 pounds (4,500 kg) are not allowed to use the parkway north of exit 105, just past the Asbury Park Toll Plaza. The entire length of the Garden State Parkway carries the unsigned designation of Route 444, and

820-480: A beneficial environmental impact, the Sierra Club expressed opposition to such reforms, arguing "Whatever the proposed project is — whether it's a pipeline or a highway or a solar farm — it should be subject to the same commonsense review process. If we want these projects to move forward faster, we shouldn't be weakening environmental laws, but investing more resources into the agencies and staff." The Sierra Club has

1025-401: A border between residential neighborhoods to the west and forest to the east before passing to the east of a golf course and entering Barnegat , where the concentration of houses shifts to the east. After an interchange with West Bay Avenue ( CR 554 ), the parkway passes by residential neighborhoods on both sides of the highway before the median shortly narrows and the southbound roadway has

1230-501: A business district and crossing Norfolk Southern's Passaic Spur line. After passing many more residences near the route, the parkway reaches a partial interchange with the southern terminus of Route 20 . Immediately afterwards, the parkway crosses the Passaic River and enters Elmwood Park , Bergen County , where it comes to a second interchange with US 46, serving Garfield . Passing more homes, followed by several businesses,

1435-610: A dam and aqueduct on the Tuolumne River, one of the largest southern Sierra rivers, as a way to increase and stabilize the city's water supply. Gifford Pinchot , a progressive supporter of public utilities and head of the US Forest Service , which then had jurisdiction over the national parks, supported the creation of the Hetch Hetchy dam. Muir appealed to his friend U.S. President Roosevelt, who would not commit himself against

1640-454: A golf course, the parkway has the John B. Townsend Shoemaker Holly Picnic Area in the median before it crosses over the abandoned Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines Ocean City Branch. Continuing north, the highway comes to a diamond interchange with US 9 and Roosevelt Boulevard ( CR 623 ), which serves Ocean City and Marmora . North of this exit, US 9 begins to run concurrently with

1845-482: A history of filing lawsuits against new housing developments and trying to block legislative proposals to ease housing construction. Critics have characterized the Sierra Club's actions on housing as NIMBYism . In 2012, the Sierra Club sued to block the construction of a mixed-use development composed of 16,655 housing units (for an estimated 37,000 residents) and commercial space in Riverside, California. In 2018,

2050-546: A large Yosemite National Park surrounding the much smaller state park which had been created in 1864. This campaign succeeded in 1890. As early as 1889, Johnson had encouraged Muir to form an "association" to help protect the Sierra Nevada , and preliminary meetings were held to plan the group. Others involved in the early planning included artist William Keith , Willis Linn Jepson , Warren Olney , Willard Drake Johnson , Joseph LeConte and David Starr Jordan . In May 1892,

2255-614: A law was also passed that required tolls to be kept as long as there are construction projects occurring, effectively shooting down any proposals to de-toll the tolled segments. On July 9, 2003, Governor Jim McGreevey 's plan to disband the New Jersey Highway Authority and give control of the parkway to the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA) was completed. Additionally, in November of that year, construction

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2460-538: A major part of Sierra Club culture, and in some chapters, constitute the majority of member activity. Other chapters, however, may sponsor very few outdoor or recreational activities, being focused solely on political advocacy. Generally, chapters in California are much more active with regard to outdoor activities. The Sierra Club presents a number of annual awards, such as the Sierra Club John Muir Award ,

2665-467: A majority in 1968, but in the April 1969 election the anti-Brower candidates won all five open positions. Ansel Adams and president Richard Leonard, two of his closest friends on the board, led the opposition to Brower, charging him with financial recklessness and insubordination and calling for his ouster as executive director. The board voted ten to five to accept Brower's resignation. Eventually reconciled with

2870-509: A meeting was held between NJHA officials, Senator Charles W. Sandman Jr. , and the Cape May County Board of Freeholders . They discussed safety issues found at exit 12;'s exit ramp. A northbound-only ramp that traveled at-grade across the southbound lanes; it had been described as a "serious hazard" by the NJHA's safety committee. After an agreement was settled on and approval came from

3075-421: A natural feel. Many trees were planted, and the only signs were those for exits—there were no distracting billboards. Most of the signs were constructed from wood, or a dark-brown metal, instead of the chrome bars used on most other highways. The guardrails were also made from wood and dark metal. Most early overpasses were stone, but were later changed to concrete, with green rails and retro etchings, popular around

3280-554: A northbound entrance and southbound exit at Main Street ( CR 670 ), the lanes, now as a 4-3-3-4 configuration, merge as they cross the abandoned Raritan River Railroad and reach the Raritan Toll Plaza southbound. North of the toll barrier is an exit for Chevalier Avenue; all southbound vehicles exiting here must have an E-ZPass transponder. Paralleling US 9 and Route 35, the parkway becomes 15 lanes as it crosses

3485-599: A partial interchange. Continuing northeast past the community of New Gretna , the parkway passes over US 9 with no access before crossing the Bass River and the median widens and contains a maintenance yard. Past this point, the median temporarily narrows again as the northbound lanes have the New Gretna Toll Plaza. Crossing northward through Bass River State Forest , the six-lane highway becomes desolate as it enters Little Egg Harbor Township , Ocean County . Here,

3690-492: A priority. In March of that year, Hardroads Inc., a firm located in East Brunswick , was hired to construct this new interchange. They quickly acquired land for the interchage, and construction began shortly after. On October 25, 1982, this exit was partially opened to traffic. Later, on November 19, the final part of the ramp was completed. In 1980, plans was proposed to construct exit 84, which would have consisted of

3895-406: A single issue with some kind of geography involved. While much activity is coordinated at a local level, the club is a unified organization; decisions made at the national level take precedence, including the removal and creation of chapters, as well as recruiting and removing members. The club is known for engaging in two main activities: promoting and guiding outdoor recreational activities, which

4100-546: A southbound exit and northbound entrance onto Indian Head Road. They also would have widened the New Gretna Toll Plaza. However, it was declared unbeneficial after a study deemed it to likely discourage use of public transit, and despite a replanning of the interchange, it was later shelved indefinitely. Additionally, in 1983, plans were made to reopen exit 116 as a tolled interchange. However, they ended up unsuccessful after protest from Homdel officials. In 1980, plans were made to construct exit 171, which would serve

4305-457: A substantial amount of the early development of climbing. Much of this activity occurred in the group's namesake, the Sierra Nevada . The Sierra Club operates only in the United States and holds the legal status of 501(c)(4) nonprofit social welfare organization. Sierra Club Canada is a separate entity. The Sierra Club's stated mission is "To explore, enjoy, and protect the wild places of

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4510-526: Is a controlled-access , tolled highway that stretches the north–south length of eastern New Jersey from the state's southernmost tip near Cape May north to the New York state line at Montvale . Its name refers to New Jersey's nickname , the "Garden State". The parkway has an unsigned reference number of Route 444 by the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT). At its north end,

4715-608: Is an American environmental organization with chapters in all 50 U.S. states , Washington D.C. , and Puerto Rico . The club was founded in 1892, in San Francisco, by preservationist John Muir . A product of the progressive movement , it was one of the first large-scale environmental preservation organizations in the world. Since the 1950s, it has lobbied politicians to promote environmentalist policies, even if they are controversial. Recent goals include promoting sustainable energy and mitigating global warming , as well as opposing

4920-417: Is done throughout the United States but primarily in California (especially Southern California), and political activism to promote environmental causes. Described as one of the United States' "leading environmental organizations", the Sierra Club makes endorsements of individual candidates for elected office. Journalist Robert Underwood Johnson had worked with John Muir on the successful campaign to create

5125-474: Is elected annually by the Board from among its members. The executive director runs the day-to-day operations of the group. Michael Brune , formerly of Rainforest Action Network , served as the organization's executive director from 2010. Brune succeeded Carl Pope . Pope stepped down amid discontent that the group had strayed from its core principles. In January 2023, former NAACP president Ben Jealous became

5330-596: Is part of the National Highway System , a network of roads important to the country's economy, defense, and mobility. The parkway begins at an at-grade intersection with Route 109 in Lower Township , Cape May County , where Route 109 continues south toward Cape May and west toward US 9 and the Cape May–Lewes Ferry . The Garden State Parkway runs north as a four-lane freeway on

5535-537: Is present in the southeastern cloverleaf with Route 138. Passing to the west of Shark River Park , the median contains the Judy Blume Service Area, which provides a park and ride for commuters and access to Belmar Boulevard ( CR 18 ). The parkway enters Tinton Falls and has exits for Route 33 , which runs east toward Bradley Beach and west towards Freehold Township , and Route 66 , which heads east towards Asbury Park . Soon afterwards,

5740-591: Is primarily for passenger vehicle use; trucks weighing over 10,000 pounds (4,500 kg) are prohibited north of exit 105. The parkway was constructed between 1946 and 1957 to connect suburban Northern New Jersey with the Jersey Shore resort areas along the Atlantic coast and to alleviate traffic on traditional north–south routes running through each town center, such as US Route 1 (US 1), US 9 , and Route 35 . During planning and construction of

5945-555: Is subject to frequent congestion. The number of lanes on the parkway ranges from four in Cape May, Atlantic , and Bergen counties, to 15 on the Driscoll Bridge . Much of the highway runs closely parallel to, or concurrently with US 9 . The speed limit on the parkway is 65 mph (105 km/h) for most of its length. However, it is posted at 55 mph (90 km/h) on a five-mile (8.0 km) section near Toms River and on

6150-827: Is the northernmost exit of the Garden State Parkway, which crosses into the state of New York soon afterwards. From there, the route becomes the Garden State Parkway Connector, a component of the New York State Thruway system, which heads north toward the thruway mainline ( I-87 / I-287 ) in Nanuet . Plans for the Garden State Parkway date back to 1942, where it would have connected to the Palisades Interstate Parkway in Fort Lee. Following World War II, traffic increased substantially on highways along

6355-743: The Ansel Adams Award for Conservation Photography , the Francis P. Farquhar Mountaineering Award , the Edgar Wayburn Award for public officials, the Rachel Carson Award for journalists and writers, the William O. Douglas Award for legal work, and the EarthCare Award for international environmental protection and conservation. Land management, access, conservation are traditionally considered

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6560-568: The Cape May County Park & Zoo and a building complex containing the Cape May County Technical School District . After a southbound entrance ramp from US 9, the parkway leaves Cape May Court House and returns to a desolate wooded setting with a wide tree-filled median. Continuing north, the parkway has an interchange with Avalon Boulevard ( CR 601 ), serving Avalon and Swainton . North of this point,

6765-678: The Cape May Peninsula through the Cape Island Wildlife Management Area, running west of swampland, separating the highway from the Jersey Shore communities. Trees occupy the median and the sides of the road for the next several miles. After passing to the east of Cape May National Golf Club, crossing over Jones Creek, and passing a pond in the median, the highway enters Middle Township and has an interchange with Route 47 , which serves The Wildwoods resort area and

6970-591: The Garden State Parkway to Atlantic Highlands, with trail heads at Lloyd Road and Clark Street in Aberdeen/Keyport and Avenue D in Atlantic Highlands. This section suffers from many busy road crossings . East of the Atlantic sections terminus at Avenue D, a one mile (2 km) on-road detour is required to connect to the Bayshore extension to Highlands . It then turns onto Center Avenue, where it connects to

7175-487: The George Floyd protests and subsequent public reconciliation of systematic racism in public history , the Sierra Club described their own early history as intermingled with racism. In particular, the early Sierra Club favored the needs of white members to the exclusion of people of color, and Muir and some of his associates, such as Joseph LeConte , David Starr Jordan , and Henry Fairfield Osborn were closely related to

7380-851: The Grand Canyon . The book Time and the River Flowing: Grand Canyon authored by Francois Leydet was published in the Exhibit Format book series. Opposing the Bridge Canyon and Marble Canyon dam projects, full-page ads the club placed in The New York Times and The Washington Post in 1966 exclaimed, "This time it's the Grand Canyon they want to flood," and asked, "Should we also flood the Sistine Chapel so tourists can get nearer

7585-527: The New Jersey State Police . Immediately north of the service plaza, the parkway has an interchange with Jimmie Leeds Road ( CR 561 ), serving the community of Pomona . The parkway then enters the sparsely populated Pine Barrens , passing to the east of Stockton University and reaching an interchange with Pomona Road ( CR 575 / CR 561 Alt. ) Past this point, the road turns northeast and crosses into Port Republic as it winds north into

7790-506: The Passaic River opened on May 26, 1955. This extended the parkway's northern terminus to US 46 in present-day Elmwood Park . On July 1 of that year, the portion of the highway from US 46 to Route 17 in Paramus opened. In spring 1955, a widening project began between US 22 and the Raritan River bridge; this would expand the roadway from four to six lanes. It

7995-465: The Rahway River into Cranford , where there is an interchange with Raritan Road ( CR 607 ) and Centennial Avenue ( CR 615 ). After passing west of a business park and over Conrail Shared Assets Operations' Lehigh Line and the inactive Rahway Valley Railroad , the parkway crosses NJ Transit's Raritan Valley Line and reaches an interchange with Route 28 , which serves Roselle Park to

8200-591: The Raritan River on the Driscoll Bridge , the widest motor vehicle bridge in the world. On the bridge, the northbound lanes are divided into two roadways; only the eastern roadway has access to exit 127, an interchange for US 9 and Route 440 , providing access to the Outerbridge Crossing to Staten Island . Just north of exit 127 in Woodbridge Township , the parkway runs in between

8405-577: The Southern Secondary railroad line operated by the Delaware and Raritan River Railroad and bisects residential neighborhoods before crossing the Swimming River into Middletown Township , where the road has an interchange with CR 520 , which contains a park and ride and serves Red Bank and Lincroft . The parkway then passes over Normandy Road, which serves as a road and railroad link between

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8610-581: The Toms River and entering Toms River , the highway passes west of the Toms River Bus Terminal serving NJ Transit buses. Past this point, the road crosses the abandoned Conrail Barnegat Branch and reaches an exit for Lakehurst Road ( CR 527 ) before passing trees and reaching a cloverleaf interchange with Route 37 , which provides access to Lakehurst , Seaside Heights , and Island Beach State Park . After heading northwest between trees on

8815-548: The White Horse Pike the road initially operated as a temporary super two on the southbound lanes until August 21. This was extended south to Somers Point on August 27 (again as a super-two before the northbound lanes opened on September 22 ), then connected across the Mullica River to the existing section on August 28 over a temporary super-two, with the other lanes opened a few weeks later. The Cape May section of highway

9020-540: The 1860s as the Monmouth County Agricultural Railroad. The initial discussion concerning the construction of the railroad began in the 1840s, as an improved means of hauling produce to Keyport docks. The initial effort failed and began again in 1867 with work being completed about 1880. The railroad carried produce, manufactured goods and marl fertilizer to the rail pier in Keyport. The marl was dug from

9225-470: The 1920s and 1930s, the Sierra Club functioned as a social and recreational society, conducting outings, maintaining trails and building huts and lodges in the Sierra. Preservation campaigns included a several-year effort to enlarge Sequoia National Park (achieved in 1926) and over three decades of work to protect and then preserve Kings Canyon National Park (established in 1940). Historian Stephen Fox notes, "In

9430-510: The 1930s most of the three thousand members were middle-aged Republicans." The New Deal brought many conservationists to the Democratic Party, and many Democrats entered the ranks of conservationists. Leading the generation of Young Turks who revitalized the Sierra Club after World War II were attorneys Richard Leonard and Bestor Robinson , nature photographer Ansel Adams , and David Brower . Adams sponsored Brower for membership in

9635-406: The 1950s and 1960s. The parkway was designed to curve gently throughout its length so that drivers would remain alert and not fall asleep at the wheel. The highway was extended south to New Brunswick Avenue in Woodbridge Township , Middlesex County, on November 1 that year, In Cape May County, a four-mile (6.4 km) bypass of Cape May Court House opened on July 29, 1951, from exit 12 to

9840-463: The Atlantic Highlands marina. The southern (inland) section runs south from Matawan to Freehold Borough. A long missing link between Wyncrest Road and Big Brook Park in Marlboro divides this inland section into its own north and south segments, but planning is underway to connect the segments in 2025. The property for the inland sections is currently railbanked by New Jersey Transit (NJT), which leases

10045-660: The Barnegat Toll Plaza. Now in Ocean Township , the parkway meets the interchange with Wells Mills Road ( CR 532 ) and crosses over Oyster Creek before entering Lacey Township , where it crosses the south, middle, and north branches of the Forked River before reaching an interchange with CR 614 , serving the community of Forked River , and the Celia Cruz Service Area in the median. Father north,

10250-517: The Bayshore trail. A 1.4 miles (2.3 km) Bayshore extension opened in April 2009 and extends the Henry Hudson Trail eastward from the Atlantic Highlands marina below the bluffs of Atlantic Highlands , ending at Popamora Point Park at the western end of Highlands . The entirety of this segment is concurrent with the Bayshore Trail. The Marlboro Township section of the rail line began in

10455-469: The California legislature to give Yosemite Valley to the U.S. federal government, and preserving coastal redwood forests of California. Muir escorted President Theodore Roosevelt through Yosemite in 1903, and two years later the California legislature ceded Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove to the federal government. The Sierra Club won its first lobbying victory with the creation of the country's second national park, after Yellowstone in 1872. In

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10660-551: The Colonia South and Colonia North service areas. Crossing into Clark , Union County , the highway continues to pass through dense neighborhoods as a ten-lane roadway with a Jersey barrier. After crossing the Robinson's Branch Reservoir and passing an interchange with Central Avenue ( CR 613 ), the southbound lanes have access to a maintenance yard. The highway then passes west of a park and Winfield Township before crossing

10865-573: The Echo Park dam from the Colorado River project as approved in 1955. Recognition of the Sierra Club's role in the Echo Park dam victory boosted membership from 10,000 in 1956 to 15,000 in 1960. The Sierra Club was now truly a national conservation organization, and preservationists took the offensive with wilderness proposals. The club's Biennial Wilderness Conferences, launched in 1949 in concert with The Wilderness Society, became an important force in

11070-684: The Garden State Parkway briefly runs in between the carriageways of US 22 and the Union Watersphere appears on the east side of the parkway. Here, the parkway narrows to eight lanes, and the northbound lanes have access to the Whitney Houston Service Area. After the service area, the road crosses the Elizabeth River and briefly enters Hillside, where it reaches the northbound Union Toll Plaza before an interchange with I-78 . Running northeast into Irvington , Essex County ,

11275-472: The Garden State Parkway interchanges with North Green Street ( CR 539 ), which serves Tuckerton , before entering Eagleswood , where it crosses over Westecunk Creek and passes to the west of Eagles Nest Airport . Afterwards, the parkway enters Stafford Township where development along the road begins to increase. Here, the highway has an interchange with Route 72 , which provides access to Manahawkin and Long Beach Island . The parkway then forms

11480-415: The Garden State Parkway, and the two routes run east of the community of Beesleys Point before the median narrows, and they cross the Great Egg Harbor Bay on the Great Egg Harbor Bridge . The highway surfaces into Somers Point , Atlantic County , where the southbound roadway has the Great Egg Toll Plaza before US 9 leaves the parkway at a partial junction. Past this point, the median widens and

11685-432: The Great Egg Toll Plaza was replaced by a new, wider plaza north of the old one, and the Cape May toll plazas had two extra collection lanes constructed While initially planned for competition by July 1, competition was delayed to July 15. In the mid-1960s, a project to reconstruct interchanges in Essex County was undertaken. On January 1, 1966, a project was completed that constructed longer deceleration lanes and widened

11890-423: The Highway Authority announced that the interchange would be built at Red Hill Road. In November, it was announced the exit would replace the free exit 116, though rather than being demolished, it would simply be restricted to emergency traffic. Exit 114 would help relieve local congestion that traveled to the new Bell Labs Holmdel Complex and other industrial parks operating in the area. On December 14,

12095-413: The Highway Authority made an appropriation of $ 50,000 for the engineering work on the interchange. Construction began on the exit 114 ramps on July 30, 1962, when construction equipment was taken to the site. The exit was opened to traffic on December 20, 1962. with two toll facilities also being constructed. Exit 116 was closed as planned; this was received negatively by locals. On June 18, 1963,

12300-443: The New Jersey Highway Authority, however in 2003, the agency merged into the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA), which now maintains the parkway along with the New Jersey Turnpike . The parkway uses an open system of toll collection with flat-fee tolls collected at 11 toll plazas along the roadway, as well as at several entrances and exits. Tolls can be paid using cash or via the E-ZPass electronic toll collection system. Along

12505-526: The New Jersey coast. Due to the high traffic volume and presence of numerous traffic lights, it took motorists over three hours to travel between Paterson and Atlantic City . In 1946, plans were changed to construct a high-speed parkway to provide a bypass of Route 4 , which, prior to 1953, ran from Cape May north to the George Washington Bridge by way of Paterson, largely following present-day US 1 , US 9 , and Route 35 . This highway would be constructed using state funds and be known as

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12710-414: The Pascack Valley Toll Plaza—the northernmost toll plaza on the highway. North of the toll plaza, the median becomes substantially wider and trees begin to appear within it. The Garden State Parkway finally narrows from six to four lanes at the exit for Washington Avenue ( CR 502 ), serving Westwood and Emerson . Winding through the Pascack Valley region of Bergen County past many homes and woodland,

12915-405: The Raritan River was redirected onto a new roadway that lied in the median of the old one, the old were not demolished however, but rather became an exit onto US 9, effectively creating a collector-distributor road. This bypass effectively eliminated the two former exits, while these still exist, they are now Route 9 exits. On August 17, 1971, the same switch occurred to the northbound roadway,

13120-435: The Route 4 Parkway. Construction began in 1947, and the first section to open ran from Route 27 north to Cranford and opened on June 29, 1950. The landscape architect and engineer in charge of the newly named Garden State Parkway was Gilmore David Clarke of the engineering firm Parsons Brinckerhoff , who had worked with Robert Moses on the parkway systems around New York City . Clarke's design prototypes for

13325-420: The Sierra Club has expressed opposition to power lines and said that hydropower projects disrupt animal habitats. The Sierra Club opposes dams it considers inappropriate, including some government-built dams in national parks. In the early 20th century, the organization fought against the damming and flooding of the Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park . Despite this lobbying, Congress authorized

13530-460: The Sierra Club opposed SB 827 , which would have permitted dense housing near major public transit stations in California. Most other environmental groups supported the legislation, as dense housing construction near public transit was estimated to substantially reduce car pollution and help California reach its emissions target. Ethan Elkind, director of the Climate Change and Business Program at UC-Berkeley and UCLA Schools of Law, called it “one of

13735-407: The Sierra Club set a goal to close half of all coal plants in the U.S. by 2017. American business magnate and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg donated $ 50 million to the Sierra Club's anti-coal work in 2011, and announced another $ 30 million gift to Sierra's Beyond Coal campaign in 2015. The Beyond Coal campaign says 187 coal plants have been closed since 2010. Other funders of

13940-470: The Sierra Club sued the Puerto Rican government for 18 renewable energy projects on more than 2,000 hectares of land. The Sierra Club argued that the land was ecologically sensitive and of high agricultural value. The Sierra Club said that building renewable energy projects on agricultural land was a "serious attack on the food security of Puerto Rico." A goal of the Sierra Club is to replace coal with other energy sources. Through its " Beyond Coal " campaign,

14145-414: The Sierra Club would officially participate in the first civil disobedience action in its 120-year history as part of the ongoing protest calling on the Obama administration to reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, stating, "We are watching a global crisis unfold before our eyes, and to stand aside and let it happen—even though we know how to stop it—would be unconscionable." On February 13, 2013, Brune

14350-416: The Sierra Club's anti-coal campaign include the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation . The CEO of Chesapeake Energy , a natural gas company, donated $ 26 million to the Beyond Coal campaign between 2007 and 2010. The Sierra Club sued the Puerto Rico government in 2023 for its plans to build dozens of renewable energy projects. The Sierra Club said

14555-404: The Sierra Nevada were made on Sierra Club outings. Sierra Club members were also early enthusiasts of rock climbing. In 1911, the first chapter was formed, Angeles, and it began conducting local excursions in the mountains surrounding Los Angeles and throughout the West. Steve Roper 's Fifty Classic Climbs of North America , sponsored and published by the Sierra Club, is still considered one of

14760-481: The State Highway department, it was announced to the public on June 26 that the northbound ramp would close permanently. When this occurred on July 2, all northbound traffic that previously utilized the ramp was advised to use exit 13, only 0.5 miles (0.80 km) to the north, instead. The entrance onto the northbound lanes from US 9 was left unaltered. On July 31, 1964, a project to construct exit 38

14965-657: The Toms River segment was completed, at this point the project transitioned to widening the segment between the Asbury Park toll plaza and exit 100 from two to four lanes, as well reconstructing exits 102, and widening the segment in Lakewood from two lanes to three lanes. On November 17, 1980, the road was widened from three to four lanes between exits 129 and exits 141. These new lanes were HOV lanes that were restricted to vehicles with three or more occupants, though this

15170-451: The World , with color photographs by Eliot Porter . These coffee-table books, published by their Sierra Club Books division, introduced the Sierra Club to a wider audience. Fifty thousand copies were sold in the first four years, and by 1960 sales exceeded $ 10 million. Soon Brower was publishing two new titles a year in the Exhibit Format series, but not all did as well as In Wildness. Although

15375-415: The abandoned Orange Branch of the New York and Greenwood Lake Railway . Winding into Bloomfield as a six-lane roadway, the Garden State Parkway crosses NJ Transit's Montclair-Boonton Line and has an interchange with Bloomfield Avenue ( CR 506 Spur ), where the frontage roads end. After passing under Norfolk Southern Railway 's Boonton Line and reaching an exit for Belleville Avenue ( CR 506 ),

15580-449: The abandoned Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines Newfield Branch before an partial interchange with Washington Avenue ( CR 608 ) and a cloverleaf interchange with the controlled-access Atlantic City Expressway (which heads west towards Philadelphia ), where the northbound and southbound roadways split apart again. Upon leaving the commercial area, the highway passes to the east of Atlantic City International Airport and crosses over

15785-724: The administration of President Jimmy Carter . Efforts of the Sierra Club and others—including Black community organizers who fought against destructive "urban renewal" projects—led to passage of the National Environmental Policy Act and the Water Pollution Control Act . The Sierra Club formed a political committee and made its first presidential endorsement in 1984 in support of Walter Mondale 's unsuccessful campaign to unseat Ronald Reagan . McCloskey resigned as executive director in 1985 after 16 + 1 ⁄ 2 years (the same length of time Brower had led

15990-669: The battle against the Echo Park Dam in Dinosaur National Monument in Utah , which had been announced by the Bureau of Reclamation in 1950. Brower led the fight, marshaling support from other conservation groups. Brower's background in publishing proved decisive; with the help of publisher Alfred Knopf, This Is Dinosaur was rushed into press. Invoking the specter of Hetch Hetchy, conservationists effectively lobbied Congress, which deleted

16195-422: The board of directors voted to support PG&E's plan for the power plant. A membership referendum in 1967 upheld the board's decision. But Brower concluded that nuclear power at any location was a mistake, and he voiced his opposition to the plant, contrary to the club's official policy. As pro- and anti-Brower factions polarized, the annual election of new directors reflected the conflict. Brower's supporters won

16400-471: The books were successful in introducing the public to wilderness preservation and the Sierra Club, they lost money for the organization, some $ 60,000 a year after 1964. Financial management became a matter of contention between Brower and his board of directors. The Sierra Club's most publicized crusade of the 1960s was the effort to stop the Bureau of Reclamation from building two dams that would flood portions of

16605-408: The boom of office complexes replacing farmland across Chestnut Ridge road. In March 1985, the entrance leading onto the southbound parkway was opened, with the exit ramp opening on July 25 of that year. In 1973, plans were made to widen a 3.1-mile (5.0 km) segment in Toms River. While this widening was planned to be completed by 1975, however, its competition was delayed to 1978. By 1979, work on

16810-583: The campaign that secured passage of the Wilderness Act in 1964, marking the first time that public lands (9.1 million acres) were permanently protected from development. Grand Teton National Park and Olympic National Park were also enlarged at the Sierra Club's urging. In 1960, Brower launched the Exhibit Format book series with This Is the American Earth , and in 1962, In Wildness Is the Preservation of

17015-620: The campaigns to save the Grand Canyon and establish Redwoods National Park and North Cascades National Park . During the 1970s, McCloskey led the club's legislative activity—preserving Alaskan lands and eastern wilderness areas, and supporting the new environmental agenda: the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976, the Clean Air Act amendments, and the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, passed during

17220-604: The ceiling?" The ads generated a storm of protest to the Congress, prompting the Internal Revenue Service to announce it was suspending the Sierra Club's 501(c)(3) status pending an investigation. The board had taken the precaution of setting up the Sierra Club Foundation as a (c)(3) organization in 1960 for endowments and contributions for educational and other non-lobbying activities. Even so, contributions to

17425-447: The club dropped off, aggravating its annual operating deficits. Membership, however, climbed sharply in response to the investigation into the legitimacy of the society's tax status by the IRS from 30,000 in 1965 to 57,000 in 1967 and 75,000 in 1969. The victory over the dam projects and challenges from the IRS did not come without costs. To make up for the power that would have been produced by

17630-413: The club had played the leading role blocking PG&E's nuclear power plant proposed for Bodega Bay, California , in the early 1960s, that case had been built around the local environmental impact and earthquake danger from the nearby San Andreas Fault , not from opposition to nuclear power itself. In exchange for moving the new proposed site from the environmentally sensitive Nipomo Dunes to Diablo Canyon,

17835-472: The club's legislative director, was named executive director in 1992. In the 1990s, club members Jim Bensman, Roger Clarke, David Dilworth, Chad Hanson and David Orr along with about 2,000 members formed the John Muir Sierrans (JMS), an internal caucus, to promote changes to club positions. They favored a zero-cut forest policy on public lands and, a few years later, decommissioning Glen Canyon Dam . JMS

18040-417: The club, Brower was elected to the board of directors for a term from 1983 to 1988, and again from 1995 to 2000. Brower resigned from the board in 2000. Michael McCloskey, hired by Brower in 1961 as the club's first northwest field representative, became the club's second executive director in 1969. An administrator attentive to detail, McCloskey had set up the club's conservation department in 1965 and guided

18245-591: The club, and he was appointed to the editorial board of the Sierra Club Bulletin. After World War II Brower returned to his job with the University of California Press, and began editing the Sierra Club Bulletin in 1946. In 1950, the Sierra Club had some 7,000 members, mostly on the West Coast. That year the Atlantic chapter became the first formed outside California. An active volunteer board of directors ran

18450-516: The community of Iselin , passing to the east of several corporate offices. Immediately after passing under Amtrak 's Northeast Corridor east of the Metropark station serving Amtrak and NJ Transit's Northeast Corridor Line , the GSP has an interchange with Route 27 , which serves Rahway to the northeast. North of this point, the parkway curves northeast through densely populated neighborhoods, passing

18655-531: The community of Rio Grande . North of this point, the parkway crosses over the abandoned Wildwood Branch of the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines , and afterwards, the trees in the median disappear and the highway has a partial interchange with Route 147 , which provides access to North Wildwood , Whitesboro , and Burleigh . Crossing into the county seat of Cape May Court House , the median narrows and US 9 appears within yards of

18860-653: The conclusion that the highway ran through too many wetland areas. The idea has since been revisited after frequent traffic jams on Route 47 . The parkway was also planned to be the southern terminus of the unbuilt Driscoll Expressway , a 38-mile (61 km) toll road that was planned in the early 1970s to run from Toms River to the New Jersey Turnpike in South Brunswick ; this plan was abandoned in 1977. In 1979, proposals for an exit at milepost 124 were proposed; in 1980 construction of this interchange became

19065-461: The construction of O'Shaughnessy Dam on the Tuolumne River . The Sierra Club continues to support removal of the dam. The Sierra Club advocates the decommissioning of Glen Canyon Dam and the draining of Lake Powell . The club also supports removal, breaching or decommissioning of many other dams, including four dams on the lower Snake River in eastern Washington . The Sierra Club opposes

19270-527: The construction of two new toll facilities. In March of that year, construction also began on a new access road to the Garden State Arts Center at exit 116. It was completed in June of that year, and on August 8, exit 116 was reopened with a new exit number. In May 1966, the borough of Paramus and the New Jersey Highway Authority announced plans to replace exit 165, as well as widening of

19475-469: The contract. In November 2011, Sierra Club chairman Carl Pope stepped down amid discontent about the Clorox deal and other issues. Between 2007 and 2010, the Sierra Club accepted over $ 25 million in donations from the gas industry, mostly from Aubrey McClendon , CEO of Chesapeake Energy , a large gas drilling company involved in fracking . In January 2013, executive director Michael Brune announced that

19680-420: The core advocacy areas of the Sierra Club. Uniquely for a progressive organization, the Sierra Club has strong grassroots organization in rural areas, with much activity focused on ensuring equitable and environmentally-friendly use of public lands. This is particularly accentuated by the fact that the club attracts many people who primarily join the club for recreation and use of public land for hiking. In 2023,

19885-406: The country, Sierra Club also organizes hiking tours. Sierra Club's website has a "hiking near me" function. Section " Sierra Club Near You " shows all the upcoming trips in nearby area. The historic High Trips, sometimes large expeditions with more than a hundred participants and crew, have given way to smaller and more numerous excursions held across the United States and abroad. These outings form

20090-545: The dam had a friend in the White House. The bill to dam Hetch Hetchy passed Congress in 1913, and so the Sierra Club lost its first major battle. In retaliation, the club supported creation of the National Park Service in 1916, to remove the parks from Forest Service oversight. Stephen Mather , a Club member from Chicago and an opponent of the Hetch Hetchy dam, became the first National Park Service director. During

20295-403: The dam, given its popularity with the people of San Francisco (a referendum in 1908 confirmed a seven-to-one majority in favor of the dam and municipal water). Muir and attorney William Edward Colby began a national campaign against the dam, attracting the support of many eastern conservationists. With the 1912 election of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson , who carried San Francisco, supporters of

20500-494: The dams, the Sierra Club actually advocated for coal power plants. The result of the campaign and its trade-off was, in the words of historian Andrew Needham, that "the Grand Canyon became protected, sacred space," while "the Navajo Reservation"—which housed some of the main power plants picking up the slack—"became increasingly industrial." Despite the club's success in blocking plans for the Grand Canyon dams and weathering

20705-568: The definitive rock climbing guidebooks in the United States. The Wilderness Travel Course is a basic mountaineering class that is administered by the Sierra Club. In World War II , a number of Sierra Club leaders joined the 10th Mountain Division . Among them was David R. Brower , who managed the High Trip program from 1947 to 1954, while serving as a major in the Army Reserve. In many areas of

20910-482: The dualization of the Great Egg Harbor Bridge eliminated the final two-lane segment of the parkway. On September 18, 1969, a new exit 129 were opened, the remaining ramps were opened to traffic by early 1970. This replaced the existing interchange, and made it so that the turnpike had direct connections to both directions and vice versa. On November 24, 1970, southbound parkway traffic from there south to

21115-399: The early eugenics movement in the United States . Michael Brune, writing as the executive director of the Sierra Club, disavowed founder John Muir in the summer of 2020, but some board members said Brune's characterization of Muir was not representative of the organization. In January 2023, former NAACP president Ben Jealous became the organization's new executive director, making him

21320-440: The earth; To practice and promote the responsible use of the earth's ecosystems and resources; To educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment; and to use all lawful means to carry out these objectives." The Sierra Club is governed by a 15-member board of directors. Each year, five directors are elected to three-year terms, and all club members are eligible to vote. A president

21525-499: The east of a solar farm before reaching an interchange with Route 18 and Route 36 , which head north towards New Brunswick and east towards Long Branch , respectively. The connector road from the parkway to the western terminus of Route 36 and Hope Road ( CR 51 ) is designated by the New Jersey Department of Transportation as Route 444S. North of the interchange, the Garden State Parkway passes over

21730-420: The east. Upon entering Kenilworth , the highway passes many businesses before the road meets the interchange with Galloping Hill Road ( CR 509 ), passes to the east of Galloping Hill Golf Course , and enters Union , where the parkway has an interchange with Chestnut Street ( CR 619 ). Immediately afterwards, the road comes to an interchange with US 22 and Route 82 serving Hillside , where

21935-745: The entire segment between Woodbridge and East Orange was at least four lanes wide. On November 19, 1986, exit 131B was opened to traffic. The interchange, which was constructed as part of a related upgrade to Metropark station, cost $ 4.4 million to construct. In 1987, the NJHA purchased the 19 miles (31 km) of road that had been constructed by what is now the New Jersey Department of Transportation. These state-maintained segments were located in Cape May County between exits 6 and exits 12, in Ocean County between exit 80 and exit 83, and between exit 129 and exit 140. NJDOT sold

22140-403: The erection of temporary fences along the road's length. An extension north also proved tumultuous: though scheduled to open on January 4, the extension to North Arlington Avenue opened a day earlier than scheduled. Mayor William McConnell ordered a blockade on this section of the highway on January 4, stating that North Arlington Avenue would be unable to handle traffic coming from the parkway. It

22345-417: The existing ones, replacing lighting and signage, reconstructing the unaltered exits to meet with the new overpasses, and widening the parkway in the area from four lanes to six lanes. Work on the project was fully complete by December 1987. In 1988, the northbound exit 105 ramp was reconstructed, a new new loop ramp was built to feed onto NJ route 18 northbound was built, and the existing deceleration lane

22550-465: The exit and entrance ramps of exits 148 and 144. On January 10, tolling began on exit 148. In December 1965, a related project began to reconstruct exit 143. It would contain a collector-distributor roadway . The project was completed on April 12, 1966, exit 142 was then renumbered as exit 143 . Additionally, in December 1965, plans were announced to replace exits 145. Unlike

22755-623: The express roadway in each direction gains a third lane. Immediately north of here is a southbound exit and entrance at Lloyd Road ( CR 3 ), where the parkway briefly enters Aberdeen Township and passes over the Matawan Creek before crossing the North Jersey Coast Line for a second time while the southbound lanes of the parkway briefly enters Matawan . Upon entering Old Bridge Township , Middlesex County , and reaching an interchange for Matawan Road ( CR 626 ) serving Matawan ,

22960-564: The first African American to fulfill the role. In 2024, Sierra Club listed nuclear power as one of the sources included in Clean Energy Standard (CES). In 1901, William Colby organized the first Sierra Club excursion to Yosemite Valley . The annual High Trips were led by mountaineers such as Francis P. Farquhar , Joseph Nisbet LeConte , Norman Clyde , Walter A. Starr, Jr. , Jules Eichorn , Glen Dawson , Ansel Adams , and David R. Brower . A number of first ascents in

23165-465: The first decade of the 1900s, the Sierra Club became embroiled in the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir battle that divided preservationists from "resource management" conservationists. In the late 19th century, the city of San Francisco was rapidly outgrowing its limited water supply, which depended on intermittent local springs and streams. In 1890, San Francisco mayor James D. Phelan proposed to build

23370-489: The first instance in U.S. history where a rail trail reverted to railway usage. The missing section in Marlboro Township, New Jersey , between Wyncrest Rd. and Big Brook, is in the process of being developed, set for a trail opening in 2025. 40°25′49″N 74°06′30″W  /  40.43028°N 74.10833°W  / 40.43028; -74.10833 Garden State Parkway The Garden State Parkway ( GSP )

23575-496: The first segment, the road was to be a toll-free highway designated as the Route 4 Parkway . However, a lack of funding caused the remainder of the parkway to be built as a toll road. The highway has seen many improvements over the years, including the addition and reconstruction of interchanges , bridge replacements, widening of the roadway, and removal of at-grade intersections. Previously, the road had been maintained by an agency known as

23780-501: The frontage road for the southbound lanes is called Western Parkway. After an interchange with South Orange Avenue ( CR 510 ), the frontage roads end, and the parkway briefly enters Newark where it bisects Holy Sepulchre Cemetery , the northern end of which is in East Orange . After leaving the cemetery, the highway regains frontage roads which are known as Oraton Parkway. After passing East Orange General Hospital's Eastern Pavilion,

23985-412: The grounded ramp at exit 154. This part of the project began on August 1 and was completed by October 31. Construction had also began on a new exit 159. This interchange would serve I-80 with direct connections, as well as Midland Avenue with indirect connections. In preparation of this, exit 158 was had its northbound exit and southbound entrance closed permanently on March 16, 1963, with

24190-576: The highway enters Cheesequake State Park . After crossing the Cheesequake Creek near a marina and leaving the park, the road enters Sayreville and has the Jon Bon Jovi Service Area in the median, with access to both the express and local lanes of the highway. Passing to the southwest of South Amboy , the parkway has an partial interchange with US 9 and passes over Conrail Shared Assets Operations ' Amboy Secondary line. After

24395-590: The highway enters Dennis Township and has an partial interchange with Sea Isle Boulevard ( CR 625 ), serving Sea Isle City before reaching the Bruce Willis Service Area in the median. Past the service area, the parkway enters Upper Township and reaches the Cape May Toll Plaza northbound immediately before meeting the southern terminus of Route 50 , which serves Seaville , at a partial interchange. After passing east of several homes and

24600-516: The highway north of the Raritan River runs through heavily populated areas. Between the Raritan River and Toms River , the highway passes through lighter suburban development, while south of Toms River, the road mostly runs through unspoiled wilderness in the Pine Barrens and swampland, interspersed with small towns and Jersey Shore beach communities. The highway has a posted speed limit of 65 miles per hour (105 km/h) for most of its length and

24805-415: The highway passes west of a park and east of many houses before reaching a pair of interchanges for local roads and passing through a short tunnel underneath a parking lot for Irvington Bus Terminal , serving NJ Transit buses. North of this point, the parkway gains frontage roads in each direction, which are mostly lined by residences. The frontage road for the northbound lanes is called Eastern Parkway, and

25010-621: The highway south to US 9 in Sayreville. The southbound lanes were opened on the bridge south to Eatontown on August 4, and an extension to New Gretna opened the day after. Closing the northbound gap from Eatontown to Sayreville on August 7 provided for 90 miles of unbroken highway. Within Atlantic County, a large section from Tilton Road in Egg Harbor Township to the south bank of the Mullica River opened on August 11, though north of

25215-511: The highway then passes over the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway 's New Jersey Subdivision line and under NJ Transit's Bergen County Line before reaching an interchange with I-80 and the northbound Bergen Toll Plaza in Saddle Brook . Continuing northeast, the road passes through Saddle River County Park and crosses the Saddle River tributary into Rochelle Park . After leaving

25420-544: The highway was still under construction. On October 13, 1967, the I-280 segment and its ramps were partially opened, completing the project. These projects were carried out to reduce congestion, which had previously run rampant due to its interchanges being largely free of tolls. The Highway Authority rebuilt exit 4 into a full interchange, with new ramps being built and old ones being reconstructed to provide full connections. The project, completed on May 24, 1968, also involved

25625-537: The importation of energy from Quebec's hydropower plants to New York, arguing that importing excess energy by the Quebec plants will cause environmental damage and lead to fewer in-state New York renewable energy projects. Some chapters of the Sierra Club have lobbied against solar power projects, whereas other chapters have defended solar power projects. The Sierra Club opposed the Battle Born Solar Project,

25830-460: The inland section runs from Wyncrest Road in Marlboro north to Stillwell Street in Matawan, generally paralleling Route 79 for much of the way. This section was opened in 2006, with a short additional stretch completed in 2011. This segment has an old train station which has fallen into disrepair due to no longer being used. The Atlantic section running east–west was the first to be developed, opening in 1992. The route roughly parallels Route 36 from

26035-516: The large pits owned by many local farmers such as O.C. Herbert or Uriah Smock in Marlboro. The railroad can be seen on a map from 1873. All service ceased in the 1950s. The original 9-mile (14 km) "Atlantic" section is built on the former right-of-way of the Freehold and Atlantic Highlands Railroad , which was later absorbed by the Central Railroad of New Jersey . In September 2009, a portion of

26240-516: The largest solar project in the U.S., citing its potential impact on desert tortoise habitats. The Sierra Club sued the federal government to stop the 663.5-megawatt Calico solar station in the Mojave Desert in California, saying it would imperil protected wildlife. In response to proposed reforms to streamline the permitting process for environmental projects amid concerns that environmental permitting reviews were delaying and blocking projects with

26445-455: The left-hand ramp at exits 97, which had its southbound ramp closed on July 1, 1973. The speed limit was raised from 50 to 55 miles per hour (80 to 89 km/h) on January 3, 1974. Additionally, on February 21 of that year, a project to rebuild exit 91 to increase safety was completed, as part of this project, the at-grae intersection as toll plazas were constructed. On February 27, 1974, exit 117A (now exit 118) opened to

26650-573: The line for trail usage to the Monmouth County Park System. The trail is administered by the Monmouth County Park System and is leased through 2020 for use as a trail. If future economic conditions warrant resuming operation, NJT reserves the right to restore rail service at any time. The railroad line was never officially abandoned, unlike most rail trails. The Henry Hudson Trail was the first rail-trail developed in Monmouth County, and

26855-572: The median thorough Monmouth County; it was two lanes wide in each direction, and had much fewer exits than the local roadway. The segment from Sayerville to Keyport was opened on July 3. Alongside this project came new ramps onto exit 105. The segment of roadway from Keyport to the Tinton Falls toll plaza was opened on August 2 of that year. Alongside this segment came new ramps at exit 117. On November 1, 1975, motorcycles were relegalized after over 14 years of protest from motorcyclists; all of

27060-532: The missing movements both exit 139 and exit 140 lacked, had cost $ 108,487 in state funds to construct. On February 1, 1961, the state banned motorcycles, scooters, and bicycles from the entire road. This ban was approved by the highway department's safety committee and state attorney for the toll-free segments and NJHA's safety committee for the tolled ones. This followed a year involving 20 motorcycle accidents that resulted in two fatalities. Motorists who were caught using these modes of transportation on

27265-507: The northbound and southbound lanes of US 9. After passing under Conrail Shared Assets Operations' Perth Amboy Running Track, US 9 splits off to the east and the parkway reaches an interchange with the New Jersey Turnpike ( I-95 ). Running northwest through Woodbridge as a ten-lane roadway, the highway has an interchange with US 1 and crosses under Conrail Shared Assets Operations' Port Reading Secondary line as it enters

27470-512: The northbound direction opened. On February 13, tolls went into effect on the Ridgewood Avenue intersection. On January 6, 1967, exit 166 was closed to prevent traffic from traveling through them. The reasoning for this was that traffic heading onto them congested many of the local roads. By September, it had been forcibly reopened after a gag order was secured to prevent local authorities from affecting parkway operations. In early 1967,

27675-568: The old one also became a collector-distributor road, though it rather served as a US 9 ramp to connect to the northbound GSP as well as the New Jersey Turnpike. An expansion of the Driscoll Bridge across the Raritan River was completed on September 2, 1971. Work then began on widening the Sayerville side and repairing and widening the existing part of the bridge deck, work was completed by beginning of 1972. On January 17, 1973, exit 127

27880-419: The old ramps, this new one would provide access to I-280. Also as part of this project, exit 146 would be demolished, and an overpass would be built to replace part of the depressed roadway. The exits 146 and 145 were permanently closed to traffic in late 1965. On January 12, 1966, the replacement exit 145 were opened to traffic, though the ramps onto I-280 at the latter remained barricaded off while

28085-603: The organization's new executive director, making him the first African American to fulfill the role. The Sierra Club is organized on both a national and state level with chapters named for the 50 states and two U.S. territories (Puerto Rico and Washington D.C.) California is the lone state to have numerous chapters named for California counties. The club chapters allow for regional groups and committees, some of which have many thousands of members. These chapters further allow for special interest sections (e.g. camera, outings), committees (conservation and political), and task forces on

28290-532: The organization), and assumed the title of chairman, becoming the club's senior strategist, devoting his time to conservation policy rather than budget planning and administration. After a two-year interlude with Douglas Wheeler, whose Republican credentials were disconcerting to liberal members, the club hired Michael Fischer, the former head of the California Coastal Commission , who served as executive director from 1987 to 1992. Carl Pope , formerly

28495-465: The organization, assisted by a small clerical staff. Brower was appointed the first executive director in 1952, and the club began to catch up with major conservation organizations such as the National Audubon Society , National Wildlife Federation , The Wilderness Society , and Izaak Walton League , which had long had professional staff. The Sierra Club secured its national reputation in

28700-401: The other restrictions remained. Particular pushback was made by Malcolm Forbes , who filed two lawsuits to stop this ban. On April 14, 1976, exits 142 was opened to traffic. This interchange constructed by the highway department was first proposed in 1966. The parkway was planned to have a interchange with Route 55 constructed at milepost 19. This was canceled in 1975 after

28905-532: The park, it crosses a pair of interchanges for Route 208 and Route 4 as it enters Paramus near the Garden State Plaza shopping mall. North of Route 4, the parkway passes east of the Arcola Country Club and runs closely parallel with Route 17 before interchanging with it. Past this interchange, the median becomes grass-filled. After passing east of businesses and west of homes,

29110-453: The parkway as a self-liquidating toll road from Cape May to the New York state line. The parkway was extended north to Union Township on July 16, 1953. On September 16, 1953, pedestrians were banned from the parkway in order to increase safety on the segment with at-grade intersections. Sections opened in quick succession in 1954; these were the first to be tolled. The first tolled segment

29315-520: The parkway as outlined in original plans. Soon after the parkway's opening, congestion on Route 17 increased substantially, prompting an extension of the parkway to Montvale , connecting to the newly-built New York State Thruway . By November 30, 1955, it had been determined that this extension was financially feasible. On January 18, 1956, the NJHA entered into an agreement with the New York State Thruway Authority (NYSTA) for

29520-508: The parkway briefly enters Hillsdale before entering Woodcliff Lake , where there is a northbound exit and southbound entrance for Chestnut Ridge Road, which is accessed via CR S73 and serves Saddle River . The parkway then enters Montvale , where it reaches the James Gandolfini Service Area, the northernmost service area on the road. Immediately north is an exit for Grand Avenue ( CR 94 ) serving Park Ridge ; this

29725-568: The parkway combined the example of the Pennsylvania Turnpike , a model of efficiency with parallels in the German autobahn routes of the 1930s, with the Merritt Parkway model that stressed a planted "green belt" for beauty. Both design models featured wide planted medians to prevent head-on collisions and mask the glare of oncoming headlights. The Garden State Parkway was designed to have

29930-432: The parkway comes to an interchange with I-280 and Central Avenue ( CR 508 ), which serve Downtown Newark . At the interchange, the Garden State Parkway loses a lane in each direction and passes under NJ Transit's Morris & Essex Lines near East Orange station . The parkway continues to run in between frontage roads containing many houses before passing west of several apartment buildings and hospitals and crossing

30135-409: The parkway crosses into uninhabited areas again before heading into a commercial area and widening to six lanes. Here, the road has an interchange with Black Horse Pike ( US 40 / US 322 ) and Tilton Road ( CR 563 ), marking the first of three interchanges with roads that serve Atlantic City , located to the east. The median then transitions to a Jersey barrier and the parkway passes over

30340-550: The parkway enters a more suburban area and the southbound parkway has the Essex Toll Plaza. The highway briefly enters Nutley before crossing back into Bloomfield, where the jersey barrier becomes a grassy median and the parkway reaches a diamond interchange for Watchung Avenue ( CR 655 ) serving Montclair and passing the Larry Doby and Connie Chung service areas, serving northbound and southbound traffic respectively, to

30545-470: The parkway faced either a fine of $ 200 or 30-day jail sentence. On December 5, 1962, a new ramp from exit 120 onto the northbound lanes opened to traffic, serving direct access to them without traveling through Cheesequake State Park . In March 1961, the Highway Authority announced that plans were being made to construct a new interchange at either Red Hill Road or Nutswamp Road. By June,

30750-575: The parkway has an interchange with Route 70 , serving Brick Township and Point Pleasant to the east; this interchange also serves CR 528 . Running along the border of Lakewood and Brick townships, the route has an interchange with CR 549 before crossing the South Branch of the Metedeconk River and passing over Route 88 with no access. Now entirely within Brick Township,

30955-522: The parkway meets the southern terminus of the Route ;19 freeway, which heads north toward Paterson . Past this point, the highway curves northeast and passes over NJ Transit's Main Line before the median transitions to a Jersey barrier and the highway has a northbound exit and southbound entrance at Hazel Street ( CR 702 ), serving Passaic . The parkway heads northeast past many homes before heading into

31160-443: The parkway northbound, and from the parkway southbound to US 46 westbound. In May 1958, a bid of the project went to Thomas Nichol Company, Inc. of Farmingdale , and construction began immediately. By August 1958, the piers for the new viaduct from US 46 eastbound to the parkway northbound were finishing up. In September, the completed piers had roadway construction on top of them. The new ramps opened on January 1, and

31365-458: The parkway passes in between the Paramus Park shopping mall and New Bridge Medical Center before reaching an interchange with East Ridgewood Avenue ( CR 80 ), which serves Oradell and has a park and ride. After bisecting residential neighborhoods, the parkway has an partial interchange with Linwood Avenue ( CR 110 ) before entering Washington Township where the southbound lanes have

31570-493: The parkway passes to the west of the Jersey Shore Premium Outlets and has a partial exit for Asbury Avenue ( CR 16 ), where the road widens to ten lanes. North of this point, the parkway reaches the northbound Asbury Park Toll Plaza. Immediately north of the toll barrier, the road divides into a local-express lane configuration with two express and three local lanes in each direction. The parkway passes to

31775-627: The parkway passes west of Brick Township Reservoir through woods. The parkway crosses the Manasquan River and passes under the Capital to Coast Trail before reaching a large interchange near Allaire State Park . The interchange includes a pair of collector-distributor roads and serves the eastern terminus of I-195 (which runs west across Central Jersey toward Trenton ), Route 34 (which runs southeast toward Point Pleasant), and Route 138 (which runs east toward Belmar ). A park and ride

31980-537: The parkway passes west of the Greate Bay Country Club and some homes before a partial interchange with West Laurel Drive, which provides access to Somers Point and Ocean City. After passing to the west of more residences, the median briefly becomes a Jersey barrier as the route crosses the Patcong Creek into Egg Harbor Township , where developments begin to appear on the west side of the highway. Eventually,

32185-522: The parkway was opened through Clifton in 1955, a spur was supposed to open south of its exit to Broad Street at exit 155P. However, by 1965, no other construction had occurred, and the parkway's spur had been canceled. Because of this, in 1967, work began on a project to construct the remaining ramps at exit 155P (now exit 155A); instead of serving as a spur of the parkway, they would serve Route 20 (now Route 19 ) instead. The ramps were opened to traffic on October 20, 1969. In 1972,

32390-416: The parkway was widened from four lanes to six lanes between the Bergen Toll Plaza and exit 161 in Paramus. In 1968, the road was widened from four lanes to six lanes between exit 163 and exit 165. In early 1969, the roadway was widened between exit 163 and exit 161. These widenings made the entire 80-mile (130 km) stretch from Ocean County to Paramus at least six lanes wide. When

32595-423: The parkway would be reconstructed to be wider. Work on this project began immediately, and the ramp was opened to traffic in January 1998, six months ahead of schedule. Despite the fact it was not designed with it in mind, the overpass carrying I-80 traffic was not rebuilt, instead, a retaining wall was constructed instead On April 1, 1998, a project to construct a new northbound ramp to Lomell lane at exit 83

32800-406: The point where the parkway directly parallels US 9 north of Burleigh. However, due to a lack of funds, construction of the Route 4 Parkway stalled. The only segment to open was 1952, only the bypass of Toms River was opened on July 3. The solution was for the state to establish the New Jersey Highway Authority (NJHA) in April 1952 to oversee construction and operation of the remainder of

33005-450: The projects were planned to be built on lands that were ecologically sensitive and of high agricultural value. At the time, Puerto Rico was overwhelmingly dependent on fossil fuels for its energy use, while only 2% of its energy came from renewable sources. The Sierra Club is "unequivocally opposed" to nuclear power. The Sierra Club has lobbied against hydropower projects and large-scale dams. In lobbying against hydropower projects,

33210-404: The prompt, and coordinated plans for extension. The agreement was formally signed on February 1 by NJHA Chairwoman Katharine E. White and NYSTA Chairman Bertram D. Tallamy. Groundbreaking for the road began on May 1 of that year. Unlike previous segments of the roadway, this one uses prestressed concrete for overpasses; this made correcting errors during construction or future demolition easier. It

33415-474: The public; a temporary northbound ramp was opened while exit 117 was reconstructed into a right side exit. This was completed later that year, the new exit 117 as well as the southbound exit 117A were tolled, unlike their original equivalents. On July 2, 1973, southbound traffic heading onto exit 105 was redirected onto a new right hand ramp, and the left-hand ramp was permanently closed. In mid 1974, construction began on new express roadways in

33620-424: The ramps. In June 1958, the southbound road between the exit 117 and the Asbury Park Toll Plaza was widened from two lanes to three lanes. Additionally, that same summer, the Highway authority began enforcing the speed limit through use of radar . On June 19, 1959, the northbound roadway equivalent was widened, completing the project. On December 30, 1959, exit 139B was opened. The ramp, which served

33825-428: The remaining connections closed on June 22. On December 23 of that year, the ramps onto Midland Avenue from exit 159 were opened to traffic. Tolling of the interchange began immediately. However, the ramps to and from I-80 would not open until October 20, 1964. The project cost a total of $ 4,500,000. In November of that year, the northbound exit and southbound entrance at exit 157 were permanently closed. This,

34030-413: The road becomes the Garden State Parkway Connector , a component of the New York State Thruway system that connects to the Thruway mainline in Ramapo, New York . The Garden State Parkway is the longest highway in the state at approximately 172 miles (277 km), and, according to the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association, was the busiest toll road in the United States in 2006. Most of

34235-428: The road crosses over Cedar Creek and enters Berkeley Township , passing west of a golf course and Central Regional High School while traversing Double Trouble State Park . The route then crosses into Beachwood and passes west of several homes before entering South Toms River , where the median narrows and the parkway becomes concurrently with US 9 once again at an interchange with CR 530 . After crossing

34440-497: The road heads into suburban areas. North of Tinton Falls , the route splits into a local-express lane configuration, which it maintains through Sayreville . Here, the highway crosses the Raritan River into Woodbridge Township , where it meets the New Jersey Turnpike ( Interstate 95 , I-95). North of here, the Garden State Parkway passes through densely populated communities in Middlesex and Union counties and intersects I-78 near Newark . The parkway eventually passes to

34645-489: The route are 11 service areas , providing food and fuel to travelers. Historically, the road had ten picnic areas along its length, but only one remains open today. The Garden State Parkway begins at Route 109 in Cape May County . It runs north along the Jersey Shore , crossing the Great Egg Harbor Bay and passing to the west of Atlantic City . The parkway passes through the sparsely populated Pine Barrens until it reaches Toms River in Ocean County . From here,

34850-406: The route crosses the North Branch of the Metedeconk River and reaches a second exit for CR 549, where a pedestrian bridge for the Brick Park & Ride, located to the east, passes over the parkway. North of this interchange, the road widens to eight lanes and passes west of a solar farm . Upon entering Wall Township , Monmouth County , the southbound lanes have a truck inspection area and

35055-431: The sections for one dollar with the requirement that tolls were never to be charged on them. That same year, the roadway between mileposts 99.5 and 83.5 was restriped from two lanes with a shoulder to three lanes with no shoulder. In December 1986, a new right hand ramp at exit 100 was opened, the existing the left-hand one was then closed permanently. Work also began in March 1987, to construct new overpasses, implode

35260-408: The segment to three lanes. It would have involved construction of new overpasses and demolition of the old ones, including a new pedestrian overpass to serve a nearby school. Costing $ 3.7 million (equivalent to $ 26.5 million in 2023 ), Construction on the new complete interchange began almost immediately, with the new southbound ramps opening on November 30, 1966, On December 29, the dual ramps on

35465-406: The south and east of Paterson and meets I-80 in Saddle Brook . After traversing the suburban northern section of Bergen County , the road enters the state of New York where it becomes the Garden State Parkway Connector , continuing north to the New York State Thruway mainline. The parkway serves as a major route connecting North Jersey with all of the state's shore points, and as such,

35670-490: The southbound entrance from Bloomfield Avenue, until an inspection proved the highway safe; the exits were finally opened on January 21. During this conflict, the section from Route 3 to Hazel Street in Clifton opened on January 4. A similar blockade was threatened to be placed, but the announcement of speedy construction of fencing prevented this. On May 10, 1955, legislation was passed that made it legal for emergency vehicles to not pay tolls when on duty. The bridge over

35875-401: The southbound entrance once was, thus eliminating the traffic signal that existed prior. This was completed on November 20, 1996, though at the cost of $ 4.4 million. In April 1997, plans to construct an jughandle overpass from southbound exits 159 onto eastbound I-80 were made. Also as part of this, new traffic signals would be installed at the Midland avenue ramps, and its overpass crossing

36080-434: The southbound lanes of the parkway as it passes west of The Shore Club golf course. The two highways then split apart and the Garden State Parkway bisects residential areas before reaching an interchange for Stone Harbor Boulevard ( CR 657 ), which serves the Cape Regional Medical Center and Stone Harbor . Past this point, the road comes to an interchange for Crest Haven Road ( CR 609 ), which provides access to

36285-416: The southern section of the trail from Texas Road (Matawan) to Greenwood Road (Marlboro) was closed for an 18-month project for a Superfund cleanup at the site of the former Imperial oil company. In 2001, NJT resurrected the idea of utilizing the rail corridor for its MOM commuter rail line . According to the Sierra Club , should the transit agency opt to restore commuter service along the line, it would be

36490-399: The state line, where the parkway would meet with a connecting spur from the mainline of the New York State Thruway. Part of the extension to Chestnut Ridge opened on July 3, 1957, and the Thruway's Garden State Parkway Connector opened on August 29 that year. In only 36 hours, the extension reported 8,000 drivers. On February 7, 1958, U-turning was banned in order to increase safety. This

36695-433: The time suggested that the parkway would become toll-free once bonds used for its construction were paid off. However, this speculation never became a reality. Segments north of Irvington began opening in the months thereafter. The section from Irvington to Central Avenue in East Orange was scheduled to open on November 26, but complaints about the road's safety from Irvington officials stalled opening until December 9, after

36900-464: The toll booths on the ramps opened the in February, replacing the toll booths on the grounded ramps, which were later demolished. The total cost of the project was $ 2.25 million, which was half a million higher than the original estimate. Dedication of the overpasses occurred on January 15, 1959, when the Highway Authority and several city officials attended a ceremony and a luncheon. During 1959, traffic counts noted 1.5 million cars used

37105-414: The transition from 501(c)(3) to 501(c)(4) status, tension grew over finances between Brower and the board of directors. The club's annual deficits rose from $ 100,000 in 1967 and 1968 to some $ 200,000 in 1969. Another conflict occurred over the club's policy toward the nuclear power plant to be constructed by Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) at Diablo Canyon near San Luis Obispo, California . Although

37310-474: The two sections of Naval Weapons Station Earle . Continuing northwest past houses and parks, the route has an interchange with Red Hill Road ( CR 52 ) as it enters Holmdel Township , where it serves the PNC Bank Arts Center and the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans' Memorial . Upon entering Hazlet , the parkway crosses NJ Transit's North Jersey Coast Line before reaching an interchange for Route 35 and Route 36, which serves Keyport . At this point,

37515-420: The uninhabited Port Republic Wildlife Management Area. With some occasional development appearing along the sides of the road, the median narrows to a Jersey barrier as US 9 merges back onto the parkway, along with the Pine Barrens Byway , and the three routes cross the Mullica River . The highway surfaces into Bass River Township , Burlington County , and US 9 and the Pine Barrens Byway depart at

37720-458: The use of coal , hydropower , and nuclear power . Its political endorsements generally favor liberal and progressive candidates in elections. In addition to political advocacy, the Sierra Club organizes outdoor recreation activities, and has historically been a notable organization for mountaineering and rock climbing in the United States. Members of the Sierra Club pioneered the Yosemite Decimal System of climbing, and were responsible for

37925-435: The west and neighborhoods on the east, the Garden State Parkway turns northeast as the median widens and contains a maintenance yard, and US 9 leaves the parkway at an interchange with Route 166 . Past the interchange, the parkway reaches the bi-directional Toms River Toll Plaza and passes by lighter suburban development in addition to parkland, with Ocean County College to the east. Upon entering Lakewood Township ,

38130-448: The west of the Upper Montclair Country Club. The parkway crosses into Clifton , Passaic County , where it reaches an interchange with Route 3 . At this point, the space between the northbound and southbound roadways contains the Allwood Road Park and Ride serving NJ Transit buses. After passing under a set of power lines and bisecting a residential area, the route has an incomplete interchange with US 46 . Immediately north,

38335-433: The young botany professor, Willis Linn Jepson from the University of California, Berkeley helped Muir and attorney Warren Olney launched the new organization modeled after the eastern Appalachian Mountain Club . The charter members of the Sierra Club elected Muir president, an office he held until his death in 1914. The first goals of the club included establishing Glacier and Mount Rainier national parks, convincing

38540-425: Was also extended north to Route 50 at Seaville that day, which then was extended south to Route 47 on September 4, and north to Beesley's Point Bridge on October 6. The entire highway south of Irvington was declared finished on October 9, 1954. The lone exception was across the Great Egg Harbor; the parkway temporarily detoured onto US 9 and over the Beesley's Point Bridge at this point. Literature from

38745-437: Was also rebuilt to give each direction dedicated toll canopies instead of all traffic merging into a single canopy like previously. The project was completed in December 1963. They also repaved a 2 mile segment of roadway from the Passaic County line to exit 154 in order to add a one inch overlay of asphalt. This project also entitled lengthening and widening northbound acceleration lanes to exit 153A, exit 153B, and

38950-474: Was arrested along with forty-eight people, including civil rights leader Julian Bond and NASA climate scientist James Hansen . In May 2015, the Sierra Club appointed its first black president of the board of directors, Aaron Mair . The Sierra Club endorsed Hillary Clinton in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and Joe Biden in the 2020 U.S. presidential election , citing its opposition to Donald Trump 's environmental deregulation. In 2020, in wake of

39155-400: Was completed on July 9 of that year. In late 1955, construction of a northbound roadway began in Cape May. The new roadbed was opened north of Seaville by October 17, south of Cape May Court House by October 25, and fully by October 28. On April 16, 1956, the parkway's trailblazer was posted. The final stretch of permanent roadway was opened alongside the Great Egg Harbor Bridge , completing

39360-413: Was completed on the $ 16.23 million exit 89, a new southbound exit and northbound entrance in Lakewood . This new exit featured a toll facility, and was located in the same general area as exit 88. Due to featuring collector-distributor lanes, the Cedar Bridge Road bridge had to be demolished and a replacement with a wider superstructure built in its place. Sierra Club The Sierra Club

39565-407: Was completed. Later that year, a traffic signal was installed at exit 81, in addition to other safety improvements. Later that year, large portions of the roadway had their speed limit increased to 65 miles per hour (105 km/h). In June 1999, a project to expand the Barnegat toll plaza was completed and with it eliminated the final single canopied mainline plaza. Also included in this project

39770-416: Was completed. The cloverleaf interchange , which costed $ 800,000,000 was built to serve as a link to the newly constructed Atlantic City Expressway . In May 1962, plans were announced to widen the segment from exit 154 to just near exit 158 from two lanes to three lanes. As part of this, the Passaic River Bridge was to be reconstructed with a wider superstructure and piers. The Bergen Toll Plaza

39975-427: Was done to encourage use of exit 159. On March 8, 1965, a project began to improve the segment between the Cape May Toll Plaza and exit 30. It involved a major reconstruction of exits 29, replacing the at-grade intersection with a new grade separated northbound exit and southbound entrance. Exit 30 also had its northbound entrance and southbound exit closed and a toll plaza constructed. Additionally,

40180-555: Was enforced at both the toll plazas and on the main roadway, and was considered a violation even if done to correct error. By the time the parkway had been extended to the New York State Thruway, the need for a full interchange at the exit 154 was noted. Following the recommendation of a survey to do so, D. Louis Tonti, the executive director of the New Jersey Highway Authority, announced plans in December 1957 to construct two new overpasses at exit 154 in Clifton . These overpasses would connect drivers from US 46 eastbound to

40385-472: Was joined by the Union Transportation rail-trail in 2010. The southern segment of the inland section runs from downtown Freehold north to Allen Road in Marlboro (near Marlboro High School and Route 79 ). This section was largely opened in 2006. In 2013 a connecting trail was built from a point near the Allen Road terminus to the trails of the county's Big Brook Park. In 2024, the trail was extended further south into Freehold Borough. The northern segment of

40590-523: Was later lowered to two or more occupants in June 1981. They were converted into general use lanes in 1982 after almost universal criticism. In late 1983, a project to widen the segment of roadway near the Raritan Toll Plaza from five to six lanes began. The entire project was completed by 1984. Work on the rest of the project was completed at the end of 1985. Also as part of this project the Asbury Park and Union toll plaza were reconstructed with dedicated canopies in each direction. This project made it so that

40795-429: Was new fencing, new electrical work, increased landscaping, and a toll re-coordinating shed. E-ZPass was first installed at the Pascack Valley Toll Plaza in December 1999, with the Raritan Toll plaza following in April 2000. By August, installation of the system had been fully completed. In April 2001, a project to replace the Dover Road overpass to allow for improvements to said road was completed. Later that year,

41000-547: Was only when the southbound section was opened to exit 148 on January 8 that the blockade was lifted on the southbound section. At this point, Bloomfield mayor Donald E. Scott prevented the opening of the northbound lanes until the completion of a new bridge carrying Bloomfield Avenue over Second River needed to carry exiting traffic. Though this bridge was not completed for some time, the highway opened fully to US 46 on January 19, negating this prerequisite. However, Mayor Scott still barred all entrances and exits except for

41205-399: Was opened on January 13, 1954, from US 22 to Mill Road. Due to poor weather conditions, tolls were not collected until January 15. The Toms River bypass was extended south to Manahawkin on July 15, and north to the Eatontown Spur (now Route 36 ) on July 30, 1954. The bridge carrying the parkway over the Raritan River was also opened to northbound traffic on this day, extending

41410-424: Was opened to Route 440 south. By June, the link to Route 440 north had opened. In May 1973, exit 98 was opened to northbound traffic. On July 3, 1973, the southbound exit 98 opened, completing the project. this exit replaced the preexisting exits 96, 97, and 97A, with the new exit featuring a right hand collector-distributor roadway combining the cloverleafs at exits 97 and 97A as well as

41615-470: Was originally proposed as part of a northern extension of the unbuilt Route 101 , a highway that was intended to run from Kearny to Hackensack . The extension, Route S101, would have continued northward from Hackensack to the state line via Paramus. Approximately nine miles (14 km) in length, the extension was planned to run north through the Bergen County municipalities of Paramus, Washington Township, Hillsdale, Woodcliff Lake, and Montvale to

41820-468: Was replaced by a new one. In addition, an on-ramp was built that allows southbound Route 18 traffic to enter the southbound local roadway. In 1994, a third lane was added to the segment between mileposts 81 and 82. The Highway Authority rebuilt exit 74. In addition to the construction of toll plazas in both directions, other alterations were made, such as demolishing the southbound entrance and exit ramps and constructing new ones to turn around at where

42025-408: Was successful in changing club positions on both counts. In 2008, several Sierra Club officers quit in protest after the Sierra Club agreed to promote products by Clorox , which had been named one of a "dangerous dozen" chemical companies by the Public Interest Research Group in 2004. According to Carl Pope, the Sierra Club chairman, the deal brought the club $ 1.3 million over the four-year term of

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