Following World War II, traffic increased substantially on highways along the New Jersey coast. Due to the high traffic volume and presence of numerous traffic lights, it took motorists over three hours to travel between Paterson and Atlantic City. In 1946, plans were made to construct a high-speed parkway to provide a bypass of Route 4, which, prior to 1953, ran from Cape May to the George Washington Bridge by way of Paterson, largely following present-day US 1, US 9, and Route 35. This parkway would be constructed using state funds and be known as the "Route 4 Parkway". Construction began in 1947 in Union County. However, due to a lack of funds, only of it were completed by 1950. This segment, between exits 129 and 140, can be distinguished by the stone facing on the overpasses. The solution was for the state to establish the New Jersey Highway Authority (NJHA) in 1952 to oversee construction and operation as a self-liquidating toll road from Cape May to the New York state line.