Contractors will start removing Pennsylvania Turnpike toll plazas and reconfiguring entrance and exit ramps on the highway in the eastern part of the state next month.
Removing 10 sets of closed toll booths on the turnpike’s Northeast Extension is the latest step in the agency’s conversion to open-road tolling, where motorists pay when they pass under gantries that read their E-ZPass transponder or photograph their license plate and send them a bill in the mail.
The agency switched to that system in January on the mainline from east of Reading to the New Jersey border (10 gantries) and on the Northeast Extension (nine). Ten more are nearing completion in the central part of the state, and 11 others started construction earlier this year between the Fort Littleton interchange in Fulton County and the Ohio border.
The agency changed to all-electronic tolling in spring 2020, when it laid off toll collectors during the pandemic to reduce contact between drivers and collectors. Initially, electronic and photographic equipment were added to the plazas to collect tolls, so drivers still had to slow down, but as the gantries are installed on the roadway, the plazas are no longer needed, and traffic will be free flowing.
The first area where plazas will be eliminated is on the northern end of the Northeast Extension, where six interchanges will be removed from the Route 903 interchange to Clarks Summit. New Enterprise Stone & Lime Co. Inc. has the $13.45 million contract that will include redesigning the ramps to narrow the roadway where the booths used to be and create smoother entry and exit ramps.
The commission awarded a $13.21 million contract last week to J.D. Eckman Inc. to remove toll plazas and revamp the ramp system on four interchanges from Lansdale to Mahoning Valley. The conversion of all the plazas in the east should be finished by the end of 2026.
Turnpike spokeswoman Marissa Orbanek said the redesign of each plaza will be unique because of their differing physical settings. In addition to providing a free-flowing entry and exit for the highway, the revised road system should improve safety because motorists will no longer have to weave into and out of traffic lanes to find their appropriate toll booth and traffic will not have to slow down to pay tolls, reducing rear-end collisions.
The revised ramps also should increase the line of sight for drivers and reduce the potential for drivers to go the wrong way.
Not needing toll plazas also will reduce the amount of land the agency needs for an interchange and allow it to create more entry and exit points along the toll road. The first plaza without toll booths to be designed in this area is scheduled to be a new interchange with Route 130 in Penn Township, Westmoreland County, but that project likely won’t be built until the mid 2030s.
Work to revise interchanges in the western part of the state should begin after the gantries are put into service in January 2027.
The agency expects the shift to open-road tolling to save about $25 million annually.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.