Toll plaza work to be done before Thanksgiving
The first phase of building new roadway through old toll plazas will be complete ahead of Thanksgiving and the speed limits there will soon be increased, Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack said Wednesday.
"Our goal was to make sure that the work on the Turnpike did not bleed into the busy highway driving season that usually begins the week before Thanksgiving and we will achieve that goal," Pollack told reporters at a Massachusetts Department of Transportation facility in the South Boston Seaport. She said, "We're going to raise the speed limit from the current fifteen miles-an-hour soon, but you're still going to have to go slower than highway speeds."
After switching on all-electronic tolling on Oct. 28, the state immediately began dismantling the obsolete toll booths where drivers once collected Massachusetts Turnpike tickets and paid their tolls. Thanking drivers, Pollack said everyone on the road has been safe as roughly 300 to 350 workers undertake a project that requires working generally around-the-clock.
The initial phase set to end later this month will place roadway through the middle of the old toll plazas. The full removal of all toll booths and roadway reconstruction will be complete in about a year.
"By the end of next year when all of the roadway reconstruction work is done it will literally look as though there were never ever toll booths on the MassPike," Pollack said. She said nearly all of the 155 toll booths have been removed and workers have used enough pavement for 116 miles of roadway.
Highway Administrator Tom Tinlin said Gov. Charlie Baker urged MassDOT to accelerate the demolition and reconstruction process and "insisted" on an around-the-clock work schedule, which shortened the construction period.
Baker attended the press conference at the MassDOT Highway Operations Center where reporters asked him questions about the results of Tuesday's election.
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