Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Dr. Detour
We steer you clear on S. Florida roads.
Doctor Detour answers your transportation questions.
Q: I travel round trip between Ft Lauderdale and New Jersey twice a year. I understand plans are in place to make our SunPass compatible with the E-ZPass in the
northeastern states. Can you tell me the latest estimated time frame for this to happen? Anne Kanaly, Fort Lauderdale.
A: The goal is to have SunPass and E-ZPass compatible sometime in 2019, according to the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association.
But E-ZPass executive director P.J. Wilkins says only the E-Pass on toll roads in the Orlando area will be compatible beginning in the spring. There are no plans for SunPass compatibility but he is open to talks, he said.
Florida’s SunPass and EPass, Georgia’s Peach Pass, and North Carolina’s Quick Pass all recognize each other’s transponders at toll booths and gantries, for example.
Officials say the goal is to make state tolling systems compatible within hubs and then connect the hubs, instead of individual states negotiating with the larger E-ZPass consortium.
E-ZPass encompasses 37
tolling systems in 16 mostly northeastern and mid-western states at present.
The federal deadline for making toll transponders compatible nationwide passed a year ago.
Q: I’ve noticed solid white lane divider stripes painted on newly paved portions of Interstate 95 in Broward and Palm Beach counties. The stripes have very closely spaced reflectors too, but
they seem to be placed on random stretches of the highway. Can I change lanes without getting a ticket? Tim Litsch, Boynton Beach.
A: No. Florida law states you should not change lanes by crossing a single or double solid white or yellow line unless you need to avoid a road hazard.
The striping with reflectors on fresh pavement that you refer to are located in or near highway construction zones, mostly.
When lanes are shifted to make room for crews and equipment on the shoulders and medians of a highway, solid white lines with reflectors are installed to guide the traffic flow.