- North Carolina Updates Two Express Lanes Projects, One In-Progress And One Planned
- Oklahoma's Indian Nation Turnpike Will Soon Go Completely Cashless
- Drivers Can Avoid Rental Car Company Toll Payment Fees, But It's Not Always Easy
- These are just some of the toll industry developments TRN is following.
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North Carolina Updates Two Express Lanes Projects, One In-Progress And One Planned
North Carolina DOT expects to open a new express lanes facility by late summer of next year, The Charlotte Observer reports. That’s the current target date for completion of the delay-plagued I-485 express lanes project in metro Charlotte, which is included in the newspaper’s roundup of regional highway construction updates. Begun in 2019, the $346 million venture is adding one express lane in each direction to the highway segment between I-77 and US 74 (Independence Boulevard) and a general purpose lane in each direction between Rea and Providence Roads. The scope of work includes several interchange and bridge improvements.
The article notes that a nearby US 74 express lanes project with a preliminary estimated cost of $905 million to $958 million is set to begin construction in 2027. It will “add one express and one general purpose lane each way” between Idlewild Road in Charlotte and I-485. “A 100-foot wide median on I-485 at the U.S. 74 interchange was built to accept a direct connect flyover into the toll lanes from U.S. 74. . . . The project . . . also includes improvements on roads parallel to U.S. 74 to reduce congestion.” NCDOT held a meeting to update the public and gather feedback on its plans on July 23.
Charlotte NC Metro Region Express Lanes North Carolina North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) North Carolina Turnpike AuthorityOklahoma's Indian Nation Turnpike Will Soon Go Completely Cashless
McAlester News-Capital reports, during last week’s Oklahoma Turnpike Authority (OTA) board meeting, executive director Joe Echelle announced that “portions of the Indian Nation Turnpike will go fully cashless by the end of [this month] as part of the agency’s plan to convert the entire roadway to PlatePay.” Both the SH 3 interchange (near Antlers) and the “main toll booth” at SH 9 will convert to all-electronic tolling on August 28. According to Echelle, the US 69 interchange near McAlester hasn’t been converted yet “because there are still accidents occurring in the toll zone. He said the agency made the decision to green light the partial conversion of the Indian Nation Turnpike to avoid further confusion by drivers. ‘People are already confused whether they need to stop and pay cash or just drive through,’ Echelle said. ‘We’re seeing that routinely. So we’re just going ahead and making that conversion.’” All of the facility’s interchanges will be converted by “sometime in September.” OTA is approaching the end of its multiyear, network-wide transition to a cashless collection system. The Indian Nation and Will Rogers Turnpikes are the only two where cash payments are still accepted. [TRN inserted a link in quoted text.]
AET (All-Electronic Tolling) ETC Systems Highway-Tunnel-Bridge Safety (Includes COVID-19 Impacts) Oklahoma Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) Oklahoma Turnpike Authority (OTA) PIKEPASSDrivers Can Avoid Rental Car Company Toll Payment Fees, But It's Not Always Easy
Rental car customers now have several ways to pay tolls without incurring expensive service fees for using a rental company transponder, according to The New York Times. The article spotlights the Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX) Visitor Toll Pass™ program that’s available to travelers arriving at Orlando International Airport. It’s the first of its kind in the US and “could be a model for other destinations,” according to the report. There are other widely available workarounds for passenger car renters, such as the mobile payment apps GoToll and Ecotoll, or using a home state E-ZPass. However, see the reader comments about exceptions and occasional glitches that continue to make toll payment complicated for motorists traveling away from home.
AET (All-Electronic Tolling) Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX) E-ZPass Ecotoll ETC Systems GoToll (Transurban Toll Payment App) Rental Car TollingThese are just some of the toll industry developments TRN is following.
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