Construction for a new toll plaza in York could begin next month. The Maine Turnpike Authority has given the $39.5 million contract to build it to the Woolwich construction company Reed and Reed. It's expected to take about three years. MTA spokeswoman Erin Courtney says the project - which has met with serious local opposition - is urgently needed. She says the plaza was built as a temporary structure, 60 years ago.
"It's surrounded by wetlands, it's got outdated toll equipment, and on top of that it's located on a curve at the bottom of a hill and it's next to an interchange and an overpass," Courtney says.
Courtney says over the three years of the project, the MTA expects to close only one lane of traffic on about 24 days.
The new plaza will have both high-speed EZ Pass lanes, and manned cash lanes. The MTA says staffed lanes are necessary, in part because two-thirds of the revenue at the toll booth is paid by out-of-state drivers, many of whom don't have EZ Pass.
