Parkway service area at the Shore to close for a complete rebuild

A Garden State Parkway service area in Ocean County will close shortly after Labor Day to make way for demolition and the construction of a new facility, state officials announced.

The Forked River Service Area, located in the highway’s median in Lacey Township, will close around Sept. 10.

New Jersey Turnpike officials say the facility will be rebuilt following demolition, adding that it will reopen just before next Memorial Day.

“All services will be suspended and this location will be off-limits to the public during construction. There will be no food, fuel, restrooms, or commuter parking,” according to a release from the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.

The closest facilities include the newly rebuilt Monmouth Service Area, 24 miles to the north, and Atlantic, 34.6 miles to the south.

Officials advise commuters utilizing the Forked River Service Area to park at the Academy lot at Interchange 91 on the northbound side of the Garden State Parkway.

In 2017, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority announced that that its service area contractors, HMS Host and Sunoco, are making $250 million in capital improvements at New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway service areas in exchange for contracts to continue operating the food and fuel concessions for the next 25 years.

“Because of that investment, nine service area facilities are being replaced and seven others remodeled without the use of toll-payer dollars,” a New Jersey Turnpike Authority release said.