Plans are underway to replace the Maine Turnpike’s southernmost toll plaza in York with a new facility that will allow E-ZPass users to pay their tolls while traveling at highway speed, currently 65 mph. Turnpike Authority Executive Director Paul Violette said the new design will enhance customer convenience, improve traffic flow and potentially attract more vehicles to the Turnpike and away from congested local roadways.

“Knowing that major investments are necessary at the York toll plaza, we want to take full advantage of the latest technology to improve service to our customers,” said Turnpike Executive Director Paul Violette. “Highway speed toll collection will significantly enhance convenience to our customers and improve the efficiency of our operation,” he said.

The Trend

Highway speed toll collection systems are already in operation at 18 facilities throughout the country, including the Pennsylvania Turnpike and three toll highways in New Jersey. In 1997, the Maine Turnpike became the first highway in New England to introduce electronic toll collection. If approved, the Maine Turnpike will likely be the first highway in New England to introduce highway speed toll collection. Turnpike officials hope to complete construction of the new plaza by 2010.

Today, about 40 percent of the toll transactions at the York toll plaza are E-ZPass transactions and the percentage is expected to increase steadily. To date, the Maine Turnpike has issued about 120,000 E-ZPass tags adding to the more than 15 million tags that are in use in mid-Atlantic and New England states, all of which can be used to pay tolls on the Maine Turnpike.

“The convenience of paying tolls at highway speed should bring more people into the E-ZPass program and onto the Turnpike,” said Violette. “That’s a good thing for the local roads, which are getting more congested all the time,” he said.

Most highway speed toll collection systems have been designed to allow E-ZPass users to stay on the mainline of the highway and have their tolls collected electronically as they pass under a canopy at highway speed. Cash paying customers are directed onto lanes on the right side of the highway that lead to a more traditional toll plaza. After paying the toll, they continue on the lanes until merging again with mainline traffic at highway speeds, similar to the merging of two highways.

“Every highway is different. We will select the design that works best for Maine’s traffic mix,” Violette said.

In addition to customer convenience and improved traffic flow, highway speed toll collection will also provide safety and environmental benefits, as well as congestion relief for local roadways. Turnpike traffic engineers believe the separation of moving E-ZPass customers and stopping cash paying customers will provide safety benefits at the plaza. They also believe that highway speed toll collection will improve air quality and reduce fuel consumption by sharply reducing the number of vehicles required to stop and idle while waiting to pay a toll. And while difficult to project, Turnpike traffic engineers believe that the opportunity to travel nonstop through the plaza will encourage more motorists to join the E-ZPass program and use the Turnpike for travel within the region, providing traffic relief to local roadways in southern Maine.

Turnpike engineers and planners are also evaluating locations between York and Wells for a new plaza location. They have held several meetings with local officials and will continue to keep them informed and seek their input. There will also be ample opportunity for the public to comment as potential sites and designs are identified.

On the Reagan Memorial Highway in Illinois E-ZPass vehicles have tolls collected at