TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - Simon and Garfunkel counted cars on it. Tony Soprano drove on it. Bruce Springsteen compared it to an opera. Chuck Berry made certain no one could catch him on it.
Dubbed 'America's Road' when it opened 57 years ago, the New Jersey Turnpike has become an iconic Garden State symbol. It is used by 254 million vehicles annually and is lined by those belching, smelly refineries that have sparked a thousand Jersey jokes.
Even the turnpike's off-ramps, like those of the Garden State Parkway, have become an endearing part of New Jersey's culture.
You from Jersey? Which exit?
Jokes aside, New Jersey is looking to count big dollars that could be made off selling or leasing its famous 148-mile highway.
Gov. Jon S. Corzine is considering leasing the nation's fifth-busiest toll road to a private company to pump new money into a state that is $30 billion in debt and has the nation's highest property taxes.
The turnpike is one of New Jersey's best-known landmarks. Tony Soprano, the main character on HBO's hit mob drama, 'The Sopranos,' drives on the turnpike in the show's opening. The show's Web site sells turnpike T-shirts. And the road has found its way into numerous songs, including Bruce Springsteen's 'Jungleland' ('there's an opera out on the turnpike'), Simon and Garfunkel's 'America' ('counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike') and Chuck Berry's 'You Can't Catch Me' ('New Jersey Turnpike in the wee wee hours.')
While their governor is willing to entertain the idea, it appears many Garden State residents don't want to see their beloved road turned over to the private sector.
'I think it's dumb,' said John Magee of Cherry Hill (Exit 4). 'They only want to do it to get more money to spend, and lets face it, they can only sell it if the company who is going to buy it can raise the tolls every year.'
A recent Qunnipiac University poll found 53 percent oppose and 34 percent support selling or leasing the turnpike.
'Garden State motorists have little love for the turnpike or the parkway, but they want to keep these famous -- or infamous -- toll roads in public hands,' said Clay Richards, the poll director.
Discussion about leasing toll roads is becoming more common in the United States. The roads are attractive to investors because they offer stable revenue from tolls, while governments like the quick infusion of cash from the companies that lease them.
Joseph Giglio, a national transportation expert and a Northeastern University professor, said 20 states are discussing leasing highways, while Chicago and Indiana have leased toll roads to a Spanish-Australian consortium.
With 29 interchanges, the New Jersey Turnpike starts just across from Delaware and meanders through pastoral South Jersey near Philadelphia, into the state's industrial northern stretch and to within view of New York City's skyline. It gets as wide as 14 lanes from South Brunswick to Newark.
Democratic state Sen. Raymond Lesniak estimates the state could make up to $15 billion by leasing the turnpike and the parkway, which may lack the turnpike's lore but is actually the nation's busiest toll road (and it has more exits).
Overall, the turnpike is considered the world's ninth busiest toll highway, according to the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association.
Giglio said a turnpike lease would attract much interest, and the group that leased the Indiana and Chicago roads, Macquarie Infrastructure Group, has said it would be interested if the New Jersey Turnpike goes on the market.
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© 2007 AFX News
