The future is here … at least when it comes to the Veterans Expressway.
One of the primary roads that helps take many Pasco County residents to jobs south will phase out its final cash booths beginning Sept. 5.
The conversion process requires construction crews to work overnight as they remove and demolish all cash tollbooths and coin baskets at the Sugarwood mainline toll plaza, as well as ramp toll plazas at Gunn Highway and Hutchison Road, according to a release.
By Friday, the conversion to all-electronic tolling will be complete, with motorists able to pay tolls using either SunPass or the state’s Toll-By-Plate system. Both will allow tolls to be collected without having to stop or wait in line.
As the conversion continues, drivers going both north and south on Thursday night should be on the lookout for overnight detours, beginning at 8 p.m., between Ehrlich and Hutchison roads. Northbound traffic will be diverted off the roadway at Ehrlich, and should use the posted detour to rejoin the Veterans at Hutchison.
Southbound traffic will be diverted at Hutchison, and should follow the posted detour to rejoin the Veterans at Ehrlich.
There will be some delays at the ramps, officials said, and all tolled ramps at Gunn and Hutchison rill remain open during the process. However, anyone using those ramps should be set to pay with either SunPass or Toll-By-Plate, as cash options will not be available.
The detours will end by 5 a.m. on Friday, officials said. This will create a new traffic pattern for motorists as they travel through the Sugarwood toll plaza. The removal of the toll plaza is expected to take several months.
Following the conversion to all-electronic tolling, all traffic will continue to flow through the deactivated tollbooths for some time. Motorists are asked not to stop, but they also should not exceed the 25 mph speed limit through the booths.
By 5 a.m., Friday, September 5, the detours will be lifted. Motorists should be alert for a new traffic pattern as they travel through the Sugarwood toll plaza. Complete removal of the toll plaza structure at Sugarwood is anticipated to take several months.
The Toll-By-Plate program photograph’s a vehicle’s license plate as it travels under the overhead toll gantry, and mails a bill for the tolls incurred. A $2.50 administrative charge per invoice is assessed, and those invoices will be mailed to the registered owner of the vehicle.
Multiple transactions are bundled in a monthly invoice, so customers should only receive one invoice and one service charge per month.
Florida’s Turnpike officials estimate that up to 84 percent of drivers on the Veterans and Suncoast Parkway already use SunPass. More than 150,000 motorists use the Veterans each day.
The conversion is part of the $380 million widening of the Veterans. It’s the first major construction project on the Veterans since it opened in October 1994.
