Start your engines: U.S. 301 toll road to open Thursday after morning rush hour

After three years of construction, the new U.S. 301 Mainline toll road will open for traffic Thursday, the state announced Wednesday.

The nearly 14-mile road will open in stages beginning after the morning rush hour with the new south lanes opening first from Del. 1.

The road was originally set to open Jan. 1, but bad weather delayed its opening, the state Department of Transportation said.

The $636 million road, which runs from Del. 1 to the Delaware/Maryland border, will usher in the future of electronic tolling with a new All Electronic Tolling system.

'Toll-by-plate' means no cash option for commuters when U.S. 301 Mainline opens

Drivers 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. 

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.

E-ZPass will be the most convenient and least expensive option for toll payments, DelDOT says. With that option, savings will range from 20 cents to $2.40 per trip, depending on where the motorist accesses the route. 

Initially, two-axle cars using E-ZPass will be charged $4 while six-axle trucks will be charged $12 for a full-distance trip. 

Using the toll-by-plate method, a two-axle car would be charged $5.60, while a six-axle truck would pay $14.40 for a full-distance trip. Truck tolls are expected to account for an estimated 56 percent of revenues.

When a vehicle without E-Z pass drives beneath 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, which must be paid within 30 days. If not, they will incur additional fees. The first is $50. The second is $37.50.

DelDOT officials said the existing U.S. 301 will remain in operation as a local road.

The new toll road was created after population boomed in the Middletown area in the last two decades, and the existing route could no longer handle the traffic.

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 regional population in the state with nearly 113,000 people. 

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. 

Reach Jerry Smith at jsmith17@delawareonline.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JerrySmithTNJ.

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