The route is mostly a four-lane highway that mainly runs through agrarian and wooded areas in Central Jersey.

[3] I-195's western terminus is at a modified cloverleaf interchange with I-295 in Hamilton, Mercer County, located southeast of Trenton.

[2][4] Upon passing under CR 524/CR 539, I-195 fully enters Upper Freehold in Monmouth County and continues east through a mix of woodland and farmland.

[4] Due to the presence of Six Flags, this exit off I-195 can become busy during the summer months since it provides access to the park from both the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway, which lies just east of I-195's eastern terminus.

[5][6] Upon crossing CR 537, the highway enters Jackson in Ocean County and continues east through heavy woods.

[4] After crossing the North Branch of the Metedeconk River, I-195 continues into Howell, Monmouth County, and turns northeast, reaching a cloverleaf interchange with US 9.

[2][4] The eastern end of I-195 is located at exit 35, its junction with Route 34 that has access to the southbound Garden State Parkway from the eastbound direction.

[4] What would become I-195 was first proposed in the late 1950s as a toll road called the Trenton–Asbury Park Expressway that was to be operated by the New Jersey Highway Authority, the owner of the Garden State Parkway at the time.

The routing of this freeway, which was to be called the Central Jersey Expressway, was changed to run from the Trenton area east to Wall Township[9] In addition, officials pushed for Interstate Highway funding for the freeway, with funds to be diverted from the canceled I-278 in Union County.

[16] Previously, I-95 abruptly ended at I-295 and US 1 in Lawrence and motorists had to take I-295 southbound to I-195 east in order to access the New Jersey Turnpike (I-95).

[17] This is no longer necessary as a result of the Pennsylvania Turnpike/Interstate 95 Interchange Project which opened to traffic on September 22, 2018, completing the full length of I-95 from Miami, Florida, to Houlton, Maine.

To save on maintenance costs, the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) removed the callboxes in 2005.

[28] However, on May 20, 2015, the original plan of extending I-295 west and south into Pennsylvania to the new interchange was approved instead, leaving the western terminus of I-195 at its current location.

[30] In the late 1990s, NJDOT considered the possibility of widening I-195 to six lanes between the New Jersey Turnpike and CR 537 in order to accommodate traffic going to Six Flags.

[31] NJDOT has revived the possibility, and has studied proposals to widen I-195 between CR 537 and the New Jersey Turnpike from four to six total lanes, eliminating the grass median in the process.