Ohio Turnpike begins open-road tolling

Truckers traveling along the Ohio Turnpike may have noticed some recent changes to the state’s toll roads.

On April 10, the Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission launched its new “modernized” toll collection system. The new system will feature “a combination of open-road tolling lanes for E-ZPass customers and a gated exit system for non-E-ZPass customers,” according to the commission.

“The new toll collection system – featuring open-road tolling – will continue to stimulate economic activity and growth across our 241-mile Ohio Turnpike, which is designated as Interstate 80, I-90 and I-76,” Ferzan Ahmed, executive director of the turnpike commission, said in a statement. “The local, regional and national economic benefits of our top-performing facility will be immense for our commuters, travelers as well as the commercial freight industry.”

According to the Turnpike Commission, entry and exit gates have been removed at 20 toll plazas across the state. At those interchanges, 127 lanes have been upgraded with “new electronic tolling components, including sensors and other equipment to read E-ZPass transponders and to classify vehicles by the number of axles and vehicle height.”

The overhaul of the system – which began in 2019 – carried a cost of nearly $250 million and was funded exclusively through revenue generated by tolls. Officials said the nearly five-year project was completed within the planned budget.

Features of the new modernized system include:

• Video cameras to capture license plate images
• Traffic monitoring equipment installed along toll road
• New Westgate toll plaza at milepost 4
• No tolls for eastbound travelers at Eastgate toll plaza
• Two new mainline toll plazas at mileposts 49 and 211

To accommodate the number of toll plazas being reduced from 31 to 24, as well as the addition of new toll gates, the commission announced a new toll schedule. Despite the changes, the Turnpike Commission said that “the overall toll rate per mile traveled will not change at this time.”

The new toll schedule includes the addition of Class 8 vehicles, which is designated for long combination vehicles more than 90 feet in length.

On top of the new open-road tolling structure, nine toll plazas along the turnpike will no longer charge tolls. The commission said that cash customers will no longer be required to stop to take a ticket or pay a toll, and E-ZPass responders will no longer be read. Overhead signs on the gantries now will read, “NO TOLL, KEEP MOVING.”

The gantries that have been converted to toll-free plazas include:

• Toll Plaza 13 (Bryan-Montpelier) in Williams County
• Toll Plaza 25 (Archbold-Fayette) in Fulton County
• Toll Plaza 34 (Wauseon) in Fulton County
• Toll Plaza 39 (Delta-Lyons) in Fulton County
• Toll Plaza 215 (Lordstown-West) Trumbull County
• Toll Plaza 216 (Lordstown-East) in Trumbull County
• Toll Plaza 218 (Niles-Youngstown) in Mahoning County
• Toll Plaza 232 (Youngstown) in Mahoning County
• Toll Plaza 234 (Youngstown-Poland) in Mahoning County

The commission said the modernization of the toll collection system was the largest construction project in Turnpike history since its completion in 1955.

“The new toll collection system and the technology behind it are a big step forward in safety, efficiency and convenience for the Ohio Turnpike’s passenger car and commercial truck customers to reach east and west destinations along the northern corridor of Ohio and beyond,” the commission said.

A complete list of the new toll schedules can be found here. LL