When my family moved to the Somerset County area of NJ in the mid 70s, Rt 78 East extended only as far as the Watchung/Berkeley Heights/Gillette exit. You weren't going to get to NY via Rt. 78. My family went to NY a lot (always had), and in order to do it, my father had to drive up Rt. 287 North (which in those days only extended as far as Montville), turn off onto Rt. 80 East, and then continue on that, or get off at the Rt. 46 exit (Rt. 46 became Rt. 3). Growing up in Wayne, a drive into NYC took 20 minutes. In Somerset County, it took approximately an hour (more, if one hit traffic). When I started to drive, and didn't feel like taking the Lackawanna train in with friends, I followed the same route as my father.
I believe it was in the mid to late 80s that construction was performed that enabled Rt. 78 East to take you directly into NYC. Instead of ending at the Watching/Berkeley Heights/Gillette exit, the highway now took you through the outskirts of Springfield, Union, Maplewood, Newark, Hoboken (or Weehawken, if you continued up to the Lincoln Tunnel instead of the Holland), in a direct line to NYC. I remember the 1st trip I made in via that route with 2 friends (I wasn't driving). It seemed very quick, certainly in comparison with the long, arduous journey I was used to taking. We were in the city in approximately 40 minutes. I remember being thrilled that driving into NYC wasn't going to be such a major operation anymore. Quick, efficient, relatively painless...and if we wanted to drink (or...uhh...partake of "other incidentals"...to coin a phrase), there was still the Lackawanna train (as teenagers, we used to take the train to concerts, and would bring a ton of booze...and "other incidentals"... on the train with us, and we never got hassled. Not ever. I guess it was a different time).
Fast forward several decades...
The Lackawanna doesn't exist anymore, I haven't been to NYC in years (its degeneration into Disneyland I find too depressing and uninteresting, considering what it once was), or gone to a concert (the last one was the Ramones at the Ritz), or taken a drink (in my old age, I can't handle the hangovers), or engaged in "other incidentals" (long story short-- I snorted what I thought was cocaine in NYC, realized it was actually heroin in the Holland Tunnel, threw up on myself in Hoboken, and was driven in a stupor on Rt. 78 West by friends who dropped me off at home--- it's an ugly memory, and let's just say that that was my epiphany, or "wake up call"), Now, I drive Rt. 78 East every day (and Rt. 78 West every night) as an average working schlub, like a million other average working schlubs. Day in, day out. Obviously, it's become a much more pedestrian, routine (and safer) endeavor.
Beyond that, what else is there to say, or rate? It moves from dull, leafy suburbia, to urban Newark, to the swamps surrounding the NJ Turnpike. The hills and valleys become flat and industrial. The roadway can be a problem in inclement weather, especially when you're still in suburbia and the road dips precipitously from a hilltop down into a valley. When the road is icy, you might as well be on a ski slope. I definitely have a problem driving in snow (the result of a near fatal accident in snow way back when), and even heavy rain can make for a nerve-wracking driving experience. One particular problem I have is that a lot...and I mean a lot...of long-term construction is being done on Rt. 78 (east and west), as well as on the NJ Turnpike. Three lanes narrow down to one, and a 40 minute commute can become an hour and a half, or more. I understand that what needs to be done needs to be done, but this aspect of the commute can be infuriating, and mega-stressful.
Other than, it's a fast, efficient method of moving from north/central NJ to NYC. Probably could have said that in one or 2 sentences, but I'm nothing if not verbose. read more
