Interstate 195 (New Jersey)

Interstate 195
Interstate 195
James J. Howard Interstate Highway; Central Jersey Expressway
	I-195 highlighted in red
Route information
	Auxiliary route of I-95
	Maintained by NJDOT
Length	34.1 mi (54.9 km)
Existed	1968–present
NHS	Entire route
Major junctions
West end	I-295 / Route 29 in Hamilton
	US 206 in Hamilton; US 130 in Hamilton; I-95 / N.J. Turnpike in Robbinsville; CR 539 in Robbinsville/Upper Freehold; CR 537 in Millstone Township/Jackson; US 9 in Howell;
East end	G.S. Parkway / Route 138 / Route 34 in Wall Township
Location
Country	United States
State	New Jersey
Counties	Mercer, Monmouth, Ocean
Highway system
	Interstate Highway System; Main; Auxiliary; Suffixed; Business; Future; New Jersey State Highway Routes; Interstate; US; State; Scenic Byways;

Interstate 195 (I-195), known also as the Central Jersey Expressway, is an auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System located in the US state of New Jersey. Its western end is at I-295 and Route 29 just south of Trenton in Hamilton, Mercer County, while its eastern end is at the Garden State Parkway, Route 138, and Route 34 in Wall Township, Monmouth County. I-195 is 34.1 miles (54.9 km) in length. The route is mostly a four-lane highway that mainly runs through agrarian and wooded areas in Central Jersey. It has an interchange with the New Jersey Turnpike (I-95) in Robbinsville and serves as a main access road to New Jersey's state capital of Trenton, the Horse Park of New Jersey, the Six Flags amusement park, and the Jersey Shore. On April 6, 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed H.R. 4263 naming I-195 in New Jersey the James J. Howard Interstate Highway, in honor of the late James J. Howard.

The current I-195 was initially planned as a toll road called the Trenton–Asbury Park Expressway in the 1950s. In the 1960s, it became two proposed freeways Route 37 and Route 38 that were to cross the central part of the state. A compromise was reached for a single freeway between Trenton and Belmar which would get Interstate Highway funding as I-195. It was built in several stages during the 1970s and 1980s. There once existed a plan to extend the I-195 designation west to the interchange between the Pennsylvania Turnpike (I-276) and I-95 in Bristol Township, Pennsylvania, but it was decided to extend the I-295 designation west and south, along existing I-95 instead.

The highway, along with the Route 138 extension, was built to also be an evacuation route in times of emergency, such as before Hurricane Sandy, when the eastbound lanes were reversed all the way from the coast to the New Jersey Turnpike (I-95) to accommodate for mass evacuations.^[3]

^ Starks, Edward (January 27, 2022). "Table 2: Auxiliary Routes of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways". FHWA Route Log and Finder List. Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
^ "Interstate 195 straight line diagram" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Transportation. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
^ DeNicola, Linda. "Red Cross urges residents to heed hurricane warnings". Archived from the original on January 25, 2013. Retrieved November 11, 2009.

[1] Starks, Edward (January 27, 2022). "Table 2: Auxiliary Routes of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways". FHWA Route Log and Finder List. Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved January 2, 2023.

[SLD-2] "Interstate 195 straight line diagram" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Transportation. Retrieved March 17, 2020.

[3] DeNicola, Linda. "Red Cross urges residents to heed hurricane warnings". Archived from the original on January 25, 2013. Retrieved November 11, 2009.

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