backups

Delaware has issued a strong warning to holiday season motorists telling them use of the Turnpike (I-95) could be a mistake. The Turnpike's Newark toll plaza could be a worse than usual source of delays, they warn.

After a week in the crosshairs of hostile media for Easter backups at toll plazas, the Massachusetts Turnpike has changed course. Executive director Alan LeBovidge is now saying he'll call off the planned June layoff of 50 collectors (called 'takers' in local Mass lingo) and begin hiring part-time seasonal collectors for summer and holiday peaks of traffic.

Massachusetts Turnpike Authority are still attracting a firestorm of criticism over backups at their toll plazas over the Easter holiday. By local media accounts backups at some toll points were "five to seven miles" long (8km to 11km) and travel times through the plazas were as much as 45 minutes. Worst affected were Allston plaza complexes 18, 19, 20 near Cambridge, and the Weston/Newton plazas 14, 15, 55 complex at MA128/I-95.