Tag: Reopening

Tony Soprano’s late.

Okay, really it’s the Garden State Parkway service area named for James Gandolfini, the iconic actor who played mob boss Tony Soprano, that was expected to reopen around July 4 of last year.

Relax. His namesake Bergen County service area in Montvale isn’t sleeping with the fishes.

But it’s expected reopening this month ends a 7-year, $250 million project that rebuilt or renovated all the service areas on the state’s two largest toll highways.

“The main service area building should open by the end of the month,” said Tom Feeney, a New Jersey Turnpike Authority spokesperson.

The Gandolfini service remained closed because of soil contamination discovered during construction, which halted that work while the pollution was remediated, Feeney said.

“Construction resumed months ago when the clean-up was finished and is now nearly complete,” he said.

The Sunoco gas station at the service area should open around the same time, he said.

The main building and service station and commuter bus park and ride lot closed for renovations on Dec. 4, 2023.

When it reopens, the service area will have Dunkin’, Burger King, Auntie Anne’s, Nathan’s and an Applegreen market located there, he said.

It was part of a larger $250 million project, announced in 2017 by former Gov. Chris Christie and funded by the company that operates the service areas, which received a 25-year contract to run them.

Since then, eight new service area buildings were constructed and six newer structures were refurbished at the company’s expense, sparing toll payers the cost to make needed improvements. Sunoco funded gas station improvements.

The Gandolfini and Jon Bon Jovi service areas on the Parkway, and the Clara Barton and John Fenwick Service Areas on the Turnpike were the last four to be completed.

Both the Gandolfini and Bon Jovi service centers were renovated because they are in newer buildings. The John Fenwick and the Clara Barton, both located in in Oldhams Township in Salem County, were demolished and replaced with new buildings.

The $250 million project replaced or rebuilt all the service areas on both toll roads except for the Frank Sinatra and Bruce Willis service areas, which had already been renovated, Feeney said.

The two Colonia North and South service areas on the Parkway in Woodbridge are the exceptions, because they are privately owned and run. However, new convenience stores and gas stations have been constructed there by the private owners.

Gandolfini, whose most iconic role was in the hit TV show “The Sopranos,” was born in New Jersey in 1961. He died in 2013, after suffering a heart attack.