The Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission will invest up to $233 million on toll road modernization, mainline pavement replacement, resurfacing, bridge and other projects this year, including work on the I-75 toll plaza in Perrysburg.
Toll collection system modernization projects totaling $76.2 million include:
•Expansion of the Wood County toll plaza 64 and Lorain County toll plaza 152;
•Infrastructure upgrades to install new tolling equipment at 20 interchanges between toll plazas 52 and 209 encompassing the counties of Lucas, Wood, Sandusky, Erie, Lorain, Cuyahoga, Summit, Portage and Trumbull;
•Construction of a new mainline Westgate toll plaza 4 in Edon, Williams County;
•Development of a new mainline toll plaza 211 in Newton Falls, Trumbull County;
•Renovation of the mainline Eastgate toll plaza 239 in New Springfield, Mahoning County;
•Automatic traffic recorders at nine plazas in Williams, Fulton, Trumbull and Mahoning counties;
•Weigh-in motion systems at three milepost locations in Ottawa, Lorain and Portage counties;
•New toll collection hardware/equipment installation at 21 existing toll plazas and three new toll plazas.
Construction of the new mainline Westgate toll plaza at milepost 3.6 and the new mainline paza at milepost 211 in Newton Falls are part of the Ohio Turnpike’s new toll collection system (TCS), which will modernize and improve the turnpike experience for passenger car and commercial truck customers.
“We are about one year away from open road tolling on the Ohio Turnpike, which is scheduled to debut in spring 2023. Once complete, our E-ZPass customers will be able to travel the full length of the 241-mile turnpike at highway speeds without stopping,” explained Ferzan Ahmed, executive director of the turnpike commission.
“Customers, who save an average of 33 percent on tolls with E-ZPass, will continue to receive discounted toll rates when traveling through gateless E-ZPass entry and exit lanes. Motorists without the device will still have the option to exit the turnpike and pay tolls using cash or credit card at gated lanes.”
Toll plaza at milepost 49 in Swanton, completed in 2021, is currently being used to test components of the new system.
Additionally, both the Wood County and Lorain County plazas will be expanded by the construction of concrete toll islands, toll booths and canopies and other structural work to relieve congestion during periods of high traffic volume.
Mosser Construction, Inc. of Fremont, will perform the work at exit 64 at a cost of $3.8 million. Action Contractors, LLC of Bedford, will handle construction at Toll Plaza 152 at a cost of $2.8 million.
Work includes electrical, communications and HVAC/ mechanical improvements, and related work for the new and existing toll booths, dynamic message signs and TCS integration work.
The 20 interchanges, from exits 52 to 209, which includes Lucas and Wood counties, will be upgraded with new tolling equipment, including the installation of all new electronic hardware, such as automated toll payment machines, cameras and cabinets to encase computers, as well as additional electrical and structural work for TCS integration.
Regent Electric, Inc. of Toledo, and Yates Electric, Inc. of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania will perform the work from April 25, 2022, through February 2023, which also includes minor pavement repairs in the toll lanes following removal of underground electronic devices and sensors that were used to classify and weigh vehicles.
The project will cost more than $10 million.
Automatic traffic recorders (ATR)–a camera system that can count and classify traffic along the mainline of the turnpike–are being installed at toll plazas 13, 25, 34, 39 215, 216, 218, 232 and 234.
Weigh-in motion (WIM) systems, were being installed along the turnpike mainline in both eastbound and westbound directions at mileposts 79.8 and westbound at milepost 198.6.
Work Zone Safety
With the nine-month construction season set to begin, turnpike officials remind motorists to drive with caution in and around work zones along the 241-mile turnpike or any other roadway under construction.
“Raising awareness of work zone safety on behalf of our roadway crews, contractors and motorists during the construction season is a top priority,” said Mr. Ahmed. “When driving through work zones, it’s important for motorists to establish a safe following distance, maintain the work zone speed limit, pay attention to the signs, avoid distractions and be prepared to slow down or stop.”
There were 1,443 vehicle crashes in work zones on the Ohio Turnpike from 2016-20, averaging 289 crashes per year over the same five-year period, according to statistics provided by the Ohio Department of Public Safety.
“Speeding in work zones is a primary cause of crashes,” Mr. Ahmed added.
“The Ohio Highway Patrol will be conducting speed enforcement, including aerial enforcement, in work zones on the Ohio Turnpike during the construction season.”
