Memorial Day meets Taylor Swift. How to navigate roads, air and transit in NJ this weekend
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
The feel of prepandemic travel — congestion, traffic and crowds — is expected to resurface for Memorial Day weekend this year.
“This is expected to be the third busiest Memorial Day weekend since 2000, when AAA started tracking holiday travel,” said Paula Twidale, Senior Vice President of AAA Travel. “More Americans are planning trips and booking them earlier, despite inflation. This summer travel season could be one for the record books, especially at airports.”
The New Jersey area is expected to be no different.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey issued a travel advisory Tuesday suggesting that people travel earlier, leave cushion and consider public transportation as they head to barbecue, beaches and other destinations to enjoy the warm weather. The bistate agency expects 5.5 million people to travel through its facilities this weekend, nearly half of them through the airports.
Taylor Swift traffic at MetLife
Adding to the traffic this weekend will be those attending the Taylor Swift concerts at MetLife Stadium on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
"We expect the combination of holiday weekend get-away traffic, regular Friday commuter and commercial traffic, and traffic for the sold-out Taylor Swift concert at MetLife Stadium to combine to cause heavy delays during the day and into the evening," advised Tom Feeney, spokesman for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority. "Drivers should plan to use the Eastern Spur of the Turnpike or other alternate routes if they can."
Here is what to look out for on local roadways, airports and on public transportation.
Related: Getting Taylor Swift tickets at MetLife was no problem for this Bergen official. See how
More travelers at airports
The Port Authority advises airplane travelers to plan for additional travel time starting Friday through Tuesday. The agency also suggests to pre-book parking or consider public transportation options to arrive at Newark Liberty International Airport, JFK Airport, La Guardia Airport and New York-Stewart International Airport.
"Due to an expected increase in air travelers during the holiday, the Port Authority strongly encourages customers to pre-book parking or to use alternate transportation modes to the airports including mass transit, for-hire-vehicles and taxis," the Port Authority advisory said.
PATH trains
PATH will operate on a Saturday schedule on Monday, May 29.
Here are the advisories for PATH stations that may or may not have closures:
The 9th Street and 23rd Street stations, normally closed from midnight to 5 a.m. for maintenance, will remain open during the overnight hours for the holiday weekend. The stations will resume overnight closures at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, May 30.
The southwest entrance to the Harrison station is closed at all hours to accommodate construction underway at the station. During construction, riders are required to use traffic signal pedestrian crossings at Angelo Cifelli Drive and Guyon Drive to access a corresponding station house on the opposite side of Frank E. Rodgers Boulevard.
Customers who use the PATH World Trade Center station during overnights should use the street level entrances at Fulton Street or Vesey Street via the North Concourse in the 2 World Trade Center transit lobby. Oculus access is limited overnight from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m.
NJ Transit 'early getaway service'
Most NJ Transit bus lines are running on normal weekday service on Friday, May 26, but some are running on different schedules. Those schedules are available on the agency's website. On Monday, May 29, some bus routes will run holiday, Saturday or Sunday schedules; some routes won't run at all. Those schedules are also available on the website.
The agency is also offering "early getaway service" on bus and rail Friday, May 26 with extra outbound trains starting at 1 p.m. and some trains will be canceled or combined in the 4 p.m to 7 p.m. hours on the Northeast Corridor, North Jersey Coast, Raritan Valley, Morris & Essex, Pascack Valley and Port Jervis lines. Visit njtransit.com or see rail timetables for details. Extra buses will run starting at noon from the Port Authority Bus Terminal on Friday.
There will also be increased Bay Head-Long Branch shuttle service running hourly from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. from Saturday, May 27 through Monday, May 29.
On Monday, May 29, Hudson-Bergen Light Rail will run on a weekend schedule, Newark Light Rail will operate on a Saturday schedule and the River Line will operate on a Sunday schedule.
Starting this weekend, those who use NJ Transit to go to Six Flags or Hurricane Harbor, the Jersey Shore, Philadelphia, Monmouth Park Racetrack or the three-city North-to-Shore music events festival may be eligible for certain promotions and discounts. More information about those is available on njtransit.com.
Roads
The New Jersey Department of Transportation is advising that traffic will likely be heaviest for those traveling down the Shore. The good news is most construction and lane closures will be suspended during the holiday weekend — from 6 a.m. on Friday, May 26 through noon, Tuesday, May 30 — barring an emergency.
Keep in mind several rest stops on the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway will be closed for renovations. They are the James Fenimore Cooper, Joyce Kilmer and Walt Whitman service areas on the Turnpike and Vauxhall and Brookdale South service areas on the Parkway.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Memorial Day 2023: How to plan travel in NJ this weekend
