southern toll plaza

Maine Turnpike Authority's proposal for an open road toll (ORT) plus cash toll plaza gets editorial support this morning from the Portland Press-Herald, the major newspaper of the state.  The editorial writer picks up on the great reception ORT+cash got in the introductory test over the Memorial Day weekend at the Hampton toll plaza in New Hampshire. It's just 20 minutes south of the contentious toll plaza sites near York Maine.

We posed the following question Jan 23 to Dan Paradee, spokesman for the Maine Turnpike Authority on the controversy over the form that their southern toll plaza should take - (1) cash and roll-through electronic as now (2) open road tolling (ORT) through the middle and cash on the sides, the HNTB recommendation (3) all-electronic.

All-electronic tolling (AET) is being vigorously argued over in Maine as an alternative to an approx-$50 million plaza with open road tolling in the center and cash lanes to the sides (ORT + cash).