Latest news with #CrispinHavener
Yahoo
22-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Toll booths on the way out along Pennsylvania Turnpike as new system moves in
Pennsylvania is on its way to removing all of the toll booths along the Turnpike. The toll road is moving toward what's known as an 'open-road tolling system.' That means instead of stopping at a toll booth, you'll continue at your normal speed, and equipment will read your E-ZPass or license plate. Officials say this will avoid some of the safety and traffic issues at toll booths. 'This will make it easier, traveling just as you would normally,' said Crispin Havener, PA Turnpike assistant press secretary. 'We're able to track your E-ZPass transponder or your toll-by-plate if you don't have an E-ZPass, and be able to collect our toll that way.' Officials say the system has already rolled out smoothly on the eastern half of the state. It's expected to be ready here in Western Pennsylvania by the beginning of 2027. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
CBS News
21-07-2025
- Automotive
- CBS News
Pennsylvania Turnpike to introduce gantries at toll stations
Drivers on the Pennsylvania Turnpike have probably seen some changes on the side of the road recently, and those changes are just the first of many over the next few years. "I think a lot of folks are questioning, 'What the heck are you guys building?'" said Crispin Havener, assistant press secretary for the Pennsylvania Turnpike. "'What are these things that are over the turnpike now?'" Those things, resembling large stanchions that extend over the road from a small hut on the side of the road, are called gantries, and they will essentially become the replacement for the toll booths that have occupied the interchanges on and off the turnpike for the last eight-plus decades. "All the E-Z Pass equipment, all the Toll By Plate equipment will be moved over on these gantries, essentially allowing you to travel at highway speeds," said Havener. The addition of the gantries will take place over the next couple of years. This new technology allows the turnpike to operate on Open Road Tolling, which means no more toll booths or bottlenecks at lanes entering or exiting the highway. The toll booths on this side of the state are expected to be completely removed by the end of 2028, and the interchanges will be reconfigured for better traffic flow. "We're able to collect the tolls as you're travelling that highway speed, rather than through the traditional toll booth method we've had, for now almost 85 years," said Havener. "This would make it easier for traveling as you would normally. "We'll be able to track whether your E-Z Pass transponder or your Toll By Plate, if you don't have an E-Z Pass, and be able to collect our toll that way." Essentially, the equipment from the gantries will read the E-Z Pass transponder, or license plates for Toll By Plate drivers, and transmit that information to the adjacent hut. Then, through a new fiber network that's being built subsequently with the gantries, that information will be sent back to their operations hub in Harrisburg. This system was implemented earlier this year on the eastern side of the Commonwealth, outside Reading, and along the Northeast Extension. The goal is to fully launch the program in western Pennsylvania by January 2027. Havener said, so far, the results have gone as smoothly as expected. "This is kind of a two-decade-long journey that began with the original launch of E-Z Pass," he said. "Now, it has brought us to the modern day, where we are very excited to see how this goes in the west."
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Orange Squeeze targets work zone speeding
(WKBN) – For those who use the Pennsylvania Turnpike, be sure to watch your speed, especially while driving through construction zones. The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, along with Pennsylvania State Police, is bringing back the Operation: Orange Squeeze campaign for April. Troopers will be using construction vehicles to catch people speeding through work zones. Those involved in crashes or caught driving faster than 10 miles an hour over the posted limit can face automatic license suspensions. 'This is something that is a problem that we've seen progressively getting worse for years, where people are driving unsafe in work zones. And you know, more than half of our staff, this is an office space for them,' said Crispin Havener, a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. Last year, there were 176 work zone crashes along the turnpike, with nearly 50 people being hurt and two fatalities. Operation Orange Squeeze has been in use for the last decade, and drivers are getting the message. Officials say that injuries are down from previous years. The operation will focus on the mainline portions of the turnpike as well as the toll sections of Interstate 376, which passes through Lawrence County. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBS News
22-02-2025
- Automotive
- CBS News
Plans to address Pennsylvania Turnpike's Breezewood interchange move forward
For years, drivers have been asking for a project to address the current Pennsylvania Turnpike interchange in Breezewood. They may finally get their way. The idea is to make the interchange like any interchange you use. It would get you from the turnpike to 70 without having to go through Breezewood. For decades, the Breezewood interchange has nauseated drivers. You get off the turnpike and drive through the town, just to get on I-70 a short distance later. "I've been in situations where on Thanksgiving weekend we were backed up 20 miles on I-70," Steve Shuhart of Erie said. The whole reason for the turnpike not directly connecting to I-70 goes back to an old rule of not forcing drivers to get off a highway and onto a toll road. As the Pennsylvania Turnpike moves to open road tolling, they felt it was time to make a change and hired a company to work on a newly designed interchange. "That little stretch is a byproduct of its time and what we could do and what could be done," Pennsylvania Turnpike assistant press secretary Crispin Havener said. According to the Turnpike, some of their recent data from 2022 says more than 2.6 million drivers exited and 2.8 million got on at Breezewood. Almost 40% of that traffic is trucks. There has been pushback because of the businesses there but times are changing. "In more recent years there has been a shift in the direction of what to do there and how best to handle it," Havener said. Bypassing Breezewood and getting on with their journeys is a welcomed idea for drivers. Early estimates put the project at $200 million. "Give you the option to pull off or not would be the best scenario I think," Shuhart said. Don't expect to see any shovels in the ground anytime soon. The earliest we could see some work on the interchange begin would be in the 2030s.
