'Toll-by-plate' means no cash option for commuters when U.S. 301 Mainline opens
Jerry SmithDrivers using the new U.S. 301 Mainline toll road won't see tollbooths and won't have an option to pay cash on the roads.
Instead, if they don't have E-ZPass, they'll get a bill in the mail after their license plate is scanned by a machine.
The new $636 million road, which runs for 15 miles from Del. 1 to the Delaware/Maryland border, will usher in the future of electronic tolling with a new All Electronic Tolling system.
There will be no tollbooths or plazas along the road at either end, or at the interchanges at Levels Road, Summit Bridge Road and Jamison Corner Road.
Motorists will drive under a toll gantry – a bridgelike overhead structure – to use E-ZPass or the new toll-by-plate system.
DelDOT Area Engineer Joe Spadaro said that the project is on pace to be finished by the end of the year. Designed to help improve traffic in and around Middletown, work is winding up on the last of the ramps and the toll gantries.
What will using the road cost?
E-ZPass will be the most convenient and least expensive option for toll payments, the Delaware Department of Transportation says.
Savings will range from 20 cents to $2.40, depending on where the motorist accesses the route and whether they are driving a car or a commercial truck.
Initially, 2-axle cars using E-ZPass will be charged $4 while 6-axle trucks will be charged $12 for a full-distance trip.
Using the toll-by-plate method, a 2-axle car would be charged $5.60, while a 6-axle truck would pay $14.40 for a full-distance trip. Truck tolls will account for an estimated 56 percent of revenues.
When a vehicle without E-Z pass passes through a toll-collection gantry, a photo of the vehicle's license plate will be taken.
The registered owner of the vehicle will receive an invoice. They must be paid within 30 days. If not, they will incur additional fees. The first is $50. The second is $37.50.
Delaware's biggest toll violator owes $175,000
Drive times from the Delaware/Maryland border to points north will be drastically reduced, Spadaro said.
"If you are going straight through, you are going to get to Route 1 a lot quicker than you would before," he said.
Why did we need a 301 toll road?
The existing U.S. 301 will remain in operation as a local roadway.
As the population boomed in the area in the last two decades, the existing route can no longer handle the traffic DelDOT officials said.
Growth in the Middletown-Odessa-Townsend area is predicted to double to about 41,700 households over the next 23 years.
By 2030, the MOT area is expected to have the largest population in the state with nearly 113,000 people.
With increasing traffic on the existing U.S. 301, between 2000 and 2013, there were 1,597 crashes resulting in 502 injuries and 23 fatalities. That's 64 percent higher than the state average and 67 percent higher than the national average.
Are we paying for that road?
According to DelDOT officials, the toll road has been designed to be fully self-supporting, with tolls paying for its construction, operation and maintenance.
If projections for traffic and revenue are fulfilled, no tax dollars will be needed to fund the project.
By the year 2027, state officials hope there will be excess toll revenues. In that case, 50 percent would be transferred to the State Transportation Trust Fund and 50 percent to help pay off the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act Loan earlier than anticipated.
DelDOT officials say all new toll roads in the U.S. are using the All Electronic Tolling system, and many current toll roads are converting to the system.
U.S. 301 Mainline by the numbers
• Cost: $636 million
• Length: 15 miles from the Maryland border west of Middletown to Del. 1 at the Roth Bridge
• Lanes: 4
• Speed limit: 65 mph
• Trafficcounts: More than 14,000 vehicles are expected each day when initially opened, increasing to about 16,000 vehicles each day in the next three years.
• Increased revenue: The projected traffic counts and an anticipated 3.5 percent toll rate increase every five years means revenues totaling $17.2 million would be added to the coffers starting in 2020, with the number increasing to $22.7 million by 2022.
• Anticipated traffic reduction on local roads: 20 percent
Funding sources: State Transportation Trust fund ($11.8 million), Federal Highway Administration Aid Funds ($53.5 million), Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicle Bonds ($125 million), U.S. Route 301Toll Revenue Bonds ($234.3 million), Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act Loan ($211.2 million)
Safety benefits
• Transportation officials say there will be less congestion and fewer bottlenecks on the new U.S. 301 toll road because vehicles will maintain speeds and not have to stop at toll plazas.
• The new route will not only reduce traffic by at least 20 percent on half of the local roads in the region but it also should significantly reduce truck traffic.
• The reduced traffic on the existing route will cut down on the possibility of accidents occurring at the 29 intersections and the significant number of driveway access points.
Key project dates
• The late 1950s: DelDOT and legislators start discussing improving U.S. 301. That lead to planning and initial design of the corridor.
• 2004: Process begins for determining an alternate route.
• June 2012: The General Assembly authorizes the sale of toll revenue bonds to fund construction.
• August-September 2015: Advertising for bids takes place. Bids for the two largest contracts received.
• January 2016: Construction begins.
• Jan. 1, 2019: Projected opening date for U.S. 301.
(Source: Delaware Department of Transportation)
Reach Jerry Smith at jsmith17@delawareonline.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JerrySmithTNJ.
M-O-T NEWS
Millions in transportation projects converge in Middletown
Middletown will be the site of newest New Castle County Southern Library
Firefighters across region assist as blaze rips through Willey Farms in Townsend
Outpouring of support for Willey Farms offers insight into its role in community