DelDOT requests bids for highway speed electronic toll lanes & rebuild of Newark I-95 plaza

Delaware DOT have advertised for bids to build two pairs of highway speed electronic toll lanes through the middle of their big toll plaza on I-95 near Newark, presently the bane of travelers in the Washington-Baltimore-Philadelphia-New York corridor. The toll plaza not far from the Maryland line had been planned in the 1990s for complete rebuild and modernization as a conventional straight-across plaza at a cost of over $100m, but was stalled by funding.

Now with some federal 'stimulus' grant money Delaware DOT are moving on an open road part of the project, plus upgrades of the existing cash lanes within the existing footprint of staggered plazas at about half the cost of complete reconstruction of a new single across-the-road plaza.

There's a pre-bid meeting for the project Jan 12 at DelDOT HQ in Dover and proposals are due Feb 9. Completion must be within 500 days.

The toll plaza presently handles an average 78k vehicles/day but weekends and holidays it can be as high as 110k/day. The present main plaza has ten southbound lanes and five northbound, and further north (strictly east) there is a satellite toll plaza with five northbound toll lanes.

These 20 stop-to-pay/roll-through lanes will be replaced by two high-speed electronic toll lanes and seven cash lanes each direction for a total of 18 lanes  a rejigged staggered arrangment.  see plan nearby

Only 3.4% of vehicles passing through the Newark toll plaza are Delaware motorists.

Just under 22% are from the Washington DC metro area/MD/VA, 18% from Pennsylvania and New Jersey and 57% from other states - making it difficult to generate a political constituency for improvement within Delaware.

50% rate of return on investment

The staggered rebuild project is estimated to cost about $50m. Annual savings to road users are estimated to be $24.8m in the opening year - or an annual rate of return  on investment of 50%!

Delaware DOT say: "This toll plaza experiences high levels of congestion due to the current plaza configuration. As approximately 55 percent of travelers through the plaza utilize E-ZPass, congestion would be drastically reduced with high-speed lanes.

"This plaza is a regular complaint of motorists traveling through this state, and leaves travelers with a negative impression - in many cases their only impression - of Delaware, impacting reputation, business, tourism and economic development. This project was scheduled to begin construction in 2011 or 2012."

Problems of the present plaza are described as:

- driver confusion approaching plazas

- high crash rate, mostly rear-enders on the northbound approach

- under-utilization of northbound satellite plaza and outside toll lanes (both directions)

- uneven distribution of traffic among lanes

- E-ZPass trucks and buses in CASH lanes reduce processing capacity

- northbound CASH customers often block access to the E-ZPass lanes

- southbound CASH customers often use the dedicated E-ZPass lane to a point where they block access to the E-ZPass lanes (some inadvertently, some intentionally)

- alignment of southbound E-ZPass lanes through plaza is abrupt and E-ZPass vehicles do not have an assigned lane beyond the plaza

DelDOT reports: "Details from lane-by-lane Newark Toll Plaza transaction records verify that the existing CASH lanes are not utilized evenly, with the percentage of traffic handled by each lane varying from 5 to 20 percent per northbound lane and 5 to 12 percent per southbound lane.

"This uneven processing of traffic creates longer queues and less than 'ideal' overall capacity. Existing northbound E-ZPass lanes can be choked off whenever queues approaching the main plaza exceed approximately 800 feet, causing a rapid increase in queuing."

The project is described as:

- addition of two barrier-separated, highway-speed E-ZPass lanes in each direction

- removal of eight CASH/E-ZPass lanes at the main plaza, leaving seven (7) southbound CASH/E-ZPass lanes

- retrofitting the existing northbound satellite plaza to provide seven (7) CASH/E-ZPass lanes

- a toll equipment gantry over the highway-speed E-ZPass lanes, with safe overhead access for equipment maintenance personnel

- overhead access for toll collectors to the outer lanes of the widened northbound plaza via the overhead walkway connected to the gantry

- replacement of the CASH collection booths that remain in service

- new stormwater management

- new approach signing and pavement markings

- upgrade of the existing lighting systems

- installation of impact attenuators in advance of the toll booths

Gantry design for safe overhead maintenance work

The ORT gantry system is two parallel enclosed structures, spanning the four highway-speed lanes and adjoining shoulders - providing access for maintenance workers to the highway-speed tolling equipment and sensors located inside and along the inner perimeter of the gantries.

The two parallel gantry rooms will be connected via two passageways, creating a continuous enclosed space for technicians to work overhead.

The design uses an adjustable toll equipment bracket slide and a vertical sliding door system.

The sliding doors can be opened so equipment can be drawn inside for technicians to work on it within the enclosed space, avoiding the danger of aerial work, including dropping tools on vehicles passing underneath.

see http://www.deldot.gov/public.ejs?command=PublicBusinessAdvertisementDisplay&id=29-090-02

TOLLROADSnews 2009-12-22