Florida Tpk plans slow ET

Florida’s turnpike is bucking the trend. Toll plazas on the new Suncoast Parkway won’t be providing for highway speed electronic tolling. A Turnpike official says their general engineering consultants URSG recommended against electronic toll express (ETX) on the grounds that this would be inconsistent with the Turnpike’s practice elsewhere, especially on the contiguous Veterans Expressway. The Suncoast is a major toll road – 67km (42mi) in length. It is an extension of the Veterans Exwy toll road coming out of the center of the Tampa area and heading north, parallel with the west coast.

OOCEA has just opened 2x2 ETX lanes (with space for widening to 2x3-lanes) in the middle of its mainline toll plaza on the Western Expressway (FL-429) in Orlando and MDX is forging ahead with ETX on the reconstruction of its main toll plaza on the FL-836 at NW 17th Av in Miami.