21-07-2025
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."
