The mainline of the parkway is designated as Route 445 in New Jersey and NY 987C in New York. The latter is one of New York's
reference routes. A spur connecting the parkway to
US 9W in
Fort Lee, New Jersey, is designated
Route 445S. All three designations are
unsigned and used only for inventory purposes. The parkway is owned and maintained by the
Palisades Interstate Park Commission but occasional maintenance is performed by the
New Jersey and
New York state departments of transportation. Commercial vehicles are prohibited on the entire length of the Palisades Interstate Parkway.
New Jersey The Palisades Interstate Parkway begins at the
George Washington Bridge (GWB) in
Fort Lee, New Jersey. Passengers from the upper level of the GWB can directly access the PIP northbound, while passengers from the lower level of the bridge must travel through
GWB Plaza on
US 9W before getting on the parkway. Passengers traveling northbound on the
New Jersey Turnpike (
I-95) must be in local lanes to directly get on the PIP or be forced to get off the last exit in Fort Lee before the GWB. Once the PIP leaves the GWB, it proceeds north along the New Jersey Palisades, past the Englewood Cliffs Service Area. Unlike service areas further north along the parkway, there are two in Englewood, one for northbound drivers and one for southbound drivers. The others are in the center median shared by drivers going in both directions. There are also three different scenic lookout points over the Palisades near the northern tip of the island of
Manhattan at the
Harlem River. After this, the PIP parallels US 9W and the
Hudson River for its entire run in New Jersey. The PIP leaves New Jersey into New York in the borough of
Rockleigh. The entire New Jersey portion of the Palisades Interstate Parkway is within
Bergen County. It is designated as a
state scenic byway known as the Palisades Scenic Byway. The PIP, the
New Jersey Turnpike,
Interstate 278, and
Interstate 676 are the only highways that use
sequential exit numbering in New Jersey; all others in the state are based on mileage, except for the
Atlantic City–Brigantine Connector in
Atlantic City, which uses lettered exits (no numerals).
New York The parkway enters
Rockland County in the hamlet of
Palisades. At about the border the PIP changes direction from due north along the Hudson River to a north-west direction. Shortly after the Kings Ferry Service Area in the center median, the first two exits in New York are key exits for two colleges in Rockland County. Exit 5 provides a link to
St. Thomas Aquinas College, and exit 6 provides a link to
Dominican College. In
West Nyack, the PIP has a key interchange with the
New York State Thruway (
I-87 and
I-287). This intersection is about west of the
Tappan Zee Bridge. After the PIP's interchange with the NY Thruway, the PIP turns slightly north-east. At exit 13, the PIP intersects
US 202 as the route crosses south of
Harriman State Park in
Mount Ivy. This is the first of two meetings between the PIP and US 202. At exit 15, the PIP has its last busy intersection in Rockland County with
County Route 106 (CR 106, formerly part of
NY 210) in Stony Point. From here, the PIP enters Harriman State Park, and at exit 16, the PIP intersects
Lake Welch Parkway, which is one of several parkways commissioned within the park. The parkway enters
Orange County north of Lake Welch Parkway at exit 16 and south of the
Palisades Interstate Park Commission Visitor Center, located in the center median in what was originally a parkway service area. The first interchange in Orange County is exit 17 at Anthony Wayne Recreation Area. At exit 18, the PIP intersects
US 6 and
Seven Lakes Drive. US 6 west heads toward the Thruway and
NY 17 west in
Harriman. US 6 east forms the PIP's only
concurrency for the last of the PIP's run. Seven Lakes Drive joins the two routes for before departing at exit 19. The two routes then enter
Bear Mountain State Park in an eastern direction. Finally, the Palisades Interstate Parkway meets its end at US 9W and US 202 at a traffic circle near the Hudson River and the
Bear Mountain Bridge. US 6 and US 202 head east over the bridge, while US 9W heads north toward the
United States Military Academy in West Point. (Southbound US 9W, breaking off to the right, is the same road as westbound US 202.) ==History==