Four Parkway exits, one calm driver: Bloomfield lessons

A Parkway town

The Parkway (GSP) has four interchanges in Bloomfield — 148, 149, 150 and 151 — and they are not all alike. Interchanges 148 and 151 are complete, but 149 and 150 are partial, which means some movements simply are not possible there. For a new driver that is a lesson in planning: know where you are going before you get on, because the exit you expect may not exist in your direction. A Bloomfield driving instructor from our team spends time on route planning as well as car control, in private lessons of 1 or 2 hours in a dual-control car, any day of the week.

Where we practice in Bloomfield

• Bloomfield Avenue (CR 506 and the 506 Spur) — downtown driving near the Bloomfield Green Historic District and Bloomfield College, with signals, turning traffic and parking.
• County Route 509 and Watsessing Avenue — local through routes for steady mid-speed driving and lane position.
• Residential streets near Brookdale Park and Watsessing Park — early lessons, parallel parking and three-point turns. Brookdale Park is an Essex County park that Bloomfield shares with Montclair.
• The Parkway (GSP) — once you are ready: merging at the complete interchanges first, then learning which movements the partial ones allow. Southbound, the Essex Toll Plaza sits just south of interchange 150, so we practice choosing a lane for the plaza early.
• The service areas — Bloomfield has a Parkway service area in each direction, named for Larry Doby northbound and Connie Chung southbound, plus a police station near northbound milepost 153. Expect merging traffic and patrol cars.

Licensing and the road test

Bloomfield sits between three options, all within a few minutes of each other. Closest by a nose is Wayne, in Passaic County — licensing and road tests at 481 Route 46 West, about 14 minutes away without traffic. Paterson's licensing center (125 Broadway, Suite 201) is about 15 minutes, and the Newark road test site at 228 Frelinghuysen Ave about 16. Newark and Rahway are other options; wherever you book, slots fall on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Bring a suitable car or rent ours for the test. It runs about 10–15 minutes and always includes parallel parking and a three-point (K) turn, and only the examiner rides with you.

Pickup in Bloomfield

Choosing a driving school in Bloomfield that comes to you saves a lot of juggling. We pick up students at Bloomfield High School and Bridges Academy, at Bloomfield Tech High School, at Bloomfield College or at home. Commuters can meet us at Bloomfield station off Bloomfield Avenue, at Watsessing Avenue station or at the Grove Street light rail stop — or at work — and we drop you back afterward.

Plan your lessons

For drivers who want to feel at home on the Parkway, our in-car defensive driving lessons are a natural fit, and test-takers can work through the road test checklist. We also teach in Montclair and East Orange.

This school is licensed by the State of New Jersey. License #000184. Fully insured.