http://itemlive.com/articles/2013/02/27/updates/updates18.txt
QuoteOpen-road tolling will be in place by 2015, with the Tobin Bridge opening up earlier this year, Secretary of Transportation Richard Davey told lawmakers on Wednesday.
QuoteDavey said the open-road tolling would be done either by an EZ-pass or by taking a photo of license plates and sending a bill to drivers. The age of the toll booths would necessitate spending on a rehab even without the open-road tolling plan, and Davey said the open tolling would "pay for itself in two and a half years."
Always good to see a road bring its tolls into the 21st century.
The fact that the toll plaza is part of the bridge structure will make for an interesting bit of vestigial infrastructure going forward. Usually when you remove a toll plaza the evidence it was ever there pretty much disappears. Here it will not - the bridge will always be wider at that point.
Quote from: Duke87 on February 27, 2013, 08:37:29 PM
The fact that the toll plaza is part of the bridge structure will make for an interesting bit of vestigial infrastructure going forward. Usually when you remove a toll plaza the evidence it was ever there pretty much disappears. Here it will not - the bridge will always be wider at that point.
This already is evident on the lower (northeastbound deck), where tolls were removed decades ago. Now it's just an empty pull-off used for staging maintenance work on the bridge and as an emergency pull-off. I presume the upper deck will likely end up the same.
Are there any pictures out there of the lower level toll plaza from when it still existed? I imagine it might have looked something like the lower level of the Henry Hudson Bridge.
According to a story on WBZ radio this morning, ORT is coming to all toll facilities in MA, with work expected to be completed by 2016.
Quote from: Duke87 on February 27, 2013, 10:22:39 PM
Are there any pictures out there of the lower level toll plaza from when it still existed? I imagine it might have looked something like the lower level of the Henry Hudson Bridge.
Not one that I can find anywhere, but I bet some of the city or BPL archives probably have a pic. I may do some digging and see what I can turn up.
According to CommPass (the Massachusetts bidding system), bids for the Tobin ORT project are scheduled to be opened on Tuesday, March 19th.
Quote from: deathtopumpkins on February 28, 2013, 11:45:47 AM
Quote from: Duke87 on February 27, 2013, 10:22:39 PM
Are there any pictures out there of the lower level toll plaza from when it still existed? I imagine it might have looked something like the lower level of the Henry Hudson Bridge.
Not one that I can find anywhere, but I bet some of the city or BPL archives probably have a pic. I may do some digging and see what I can turn up.
Look for any Tobin/Mystic Bridge photos dated
prior to 1983. That's when one-way tolling was first established in the Bay State.
Quote from: Duke87 on February 27, 2013, 08:37:29 PM
Always good to see a road bring its tolls into the 21st century.
The fact that the toll plaza is part of the bridge structure will make for an interesting bit of vestigial infrastructure going forward. Usually when you remove a toll plaza the evidence it was ever there pretty much disappears. Here it will not - the bridge will always be wider at that point.
Actually, there's quite a bit of evidence around where toll booths have been removed, if you know where to look. On the Connecticut Turnpike there's at least one toll administration building left behind. There's also a big clearing in Greenwich where the Merritt Parkway tolls were. And on the Mass Pike Boston Extension, there's the extra-wide on-ramp in West Newton where Bill Weld famously took down the toll booths all by himself.
If there's not more evidence it's more likely because not a lot of tolls get removed.
This would be a great opportunity for MassDOT to more equitably divide tolls between northbound and southbound customers.
Interestingly, I think the former MassPort facilities like the Tobin are the only place I get a discount in Massachusetts with an out-of-state transponder. The MassPike tolls that give discounts, last I checked, only give it to Massachusetts-issued transponders, which were not free when the whole thing was hashed out.
Quote from: Pete from Boston on March 24, 2013, 04:36:34 PM
Quote from: Duke87 on February 27, 2013, 08:37:29 PM
Always good to see a road bring its tolls into the 21st century.
The fact that the toll plaza is part of the bridge structure will make for an interesting bit of vestigial infrastructure going forward. Usually when you remove a toll plaza the evidence it was ever there pretty much disappears. Here it will not - the bridge will always be wider at that point.
Actually, there's quite a bit of evidence around where toll booths have been removed, if you know where to look. On the Connecticut Turnpike there's at least one toll administration building left behind. There's also a big clearing in Greenwich where the Merritt Parkway tolls were. And on the Mass Pike Boston Extension, there's the extra-wide on-ramp in West Newton where Bill Weld famously took down the toll booths all by himself.
If there's not more evidence it's more likely because not a lot of tolls get removed.
This would be a great opportunity for MassDOT to more equitably divide tolls between northbound and southbound customers.
Interestingly, I think the former MassPort facilities like the Tobin are the only place I get a discount in Massachusetts with an out-of-state transponder. The MassPike tolls that give discounts, last I checked, only give it to Massachusetts-issued transponders, which were not free when the whole thing was hashed out.
That is true. On a NY E-ZPass, Tobin Bridge is $2.50, Williams/Sumner Tunnels are $3.50. Very odd since they are maintained by the same agency, you'd think MassDOT would have picked MassPort or MassPike's toll policies and applied them statewide.