Thruway installs two cashless toll gantries
NEWYORK » The New York State Thruway Authority announced Wednesday the first two of 70 cashless tolling gantries have been successfully installed, marking a milestone ahead of the Thruway’s conversion to cashless tolling on the Thruway system-wide by the end of 2020.
Thruway Authority Executive Director Matthew J. Driscoll made the announcement at the newly installed gantry located on the I-87 ramp at Exit 22 (Selkirk), which serves approximately 1.8 million vehicles per year and where, over the last decade, traffic volume has increased by approximately 17 percent.
“Non-stop, streamlined travel is no longer a dream – New York state is delivering on this promise and the installation of the first gantries is a momentous step in building a modern Thruway of the future,” Driscoll said.
“When completed, the hundreds of millions of people who travel the Thruway each year will enjoy non-stop travel which will ease congestion, enhance safety, and lower idling emissions,” Driscoll added.
As Gov. Andrew Cuomo first announced in his 2018 State of the State address, the $355.3 million investment will transform the Thruway system for the approximately 267 million motorists that travel the superhighway each year. Photos from the cashless tolling construction and gantry installation can be found at thruway.ny.gov/cashless. Gantry information:
In total, 70 gantries will be installed on the Thruway’s 570mile ticketed system by the end of 2020. Gantries will be built with approximately 3.5 million pounds of 100 percent American-made steel and hundreds of New York workers in accordance to the “New York Buy American” Act. Gantries are being fabricated at LMCIndustrial Contractors Inc. in Livingston County.
The first two gantries installed on I-87 at Exit 21B (Coxsackie) and Exit 22 (Selkirk) are approximately 23 ft tall, 60 ft wide, 64 ft long and weigh approximately 48,000 pounds. The two gantries are located on the entrance/exit ramps. Depending on location, some gantries may be installed on entrance/exit ramps or over the mainline highway
As Cuomo previously announced, cashless tolling is already operational at the Thruway’s fixed- price barriers in the lower Hudson Valley region and the Grand Island Bridges in Western New York.
In June 2019, Cuomo announced Cashless Tolling Constructors, LLC (CTC) was awarded the $355 million contract to install cashless tolling across the entire Thruway ticketed system by the end of 2020. CTC is a consortium of contractors who will perform work in each of the four Thruway Maintenance Divisions; New York, Albany, Syracuse, and Buffalo. During the peak activity of the project, there will be a workforce of more than 800 engaged staff spread along the I-87 and I- 90 corridors, spanning 18 counties.
Currently, in the first phase of construction of the cashless tolling conversion, crews are actively working to prepare sites to install gantries and cashless tolling equipment on the highway and designated ramps. As part of the Design-Build project requirements, the switchover to cashless tolling will take place simultaneously system-wide by the end