A wide view of the large asphalt pad along the west side of the Ohio Turnpike where a new toll plaza is being built...Staff photo by R. Michael Semple

Upgrades are coming to the portion of the Ohio Turnpike that runs through the Mahoning Valley, including a new, nearly $20 million toll plaza in Newton Township and eventual reconfiguration of plazas west to the end of the road.

Work is happening now on the new plaza in a large, wooded area off the turnpike between Warren Ravenna and Newton Falls Bailey roads.

“It won’t be an interchange where one gets on or off, it’s simply the point at which tolls will begin to be charged,” said Brian Newbacher, public information officer for the Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission.

The project also includes construction of highway speed E-Z Pass lanes, often referred to as “Open Road Tolling,” an advance that lets E-Z Pass users who are traveling the full length of the turnpike to travel nonstop at the highway speed of 70 mph.

The work is part of a more than $200 million plan to modernize the turnpike adopted by the commission in 2017.

THE PLAN

Another new plaza is planned for Lucas County on Lake Erie in northwest Ohio that, combined with the Newton Township plaza, will reduce the traditional ticketed system and number of toll plazas from 31 to 24.

The design, according to the commission, will allow for local travelers to enter or exit plaza 216 in Lordstown through plaza 232 in Youngstown without traveling through a toll plaza. That means nontolled trips for local travelers.

It’s anticipated the existing five toll plazas — from 215 in Lordstown to the Eastgate plaza 239 in Springfield at the eastern end of Mahoning County — will be reconfigured during a future demolition but will remain open for motorists to get on or off the turnpike.

Newbacher said for motorists traveling east, the last toll they would pay would be at the plaza that’s under construction because there is no planned toll at Eastgate. Westbound motorists, he said, would pay at a toll at Eastgate.

“If you get off before 211 (the Newton Township plaza) then you will not be stopped or charged at 234, 232, 218, 216 or 215, but if you go through 211, the charge starts anew or adds to what you paid to come through 239 and then you will pay wherever you get off,” Newbacher said.

Construction of the plaza has started and will be going full bore in 2022 with an anticipated “go live” date in spring 2023, Newbacher said.

The Shelley Company was awarded the contract to complete the project.

Toll-lane gates will be maintained at the new plazas for cash or credit. They will be separated with a barrier from the E-Z Pass lanes, Newbacher said.

According to information from the commission, it estimates savings of more than $250 million in operating costs over 30 years due to the reduction in toll plazas, the elimination of toll gates on entry and projected usage of E-Z Pass.

Layoffs are not planned, Newbacher said. Rather, the number of employees at the toll plazas will be reduced through attrition and relocation.

The improvements are being funded through a combination of toll revenue and toll revenue bonds of $170 million. The bonds, Newbacher said, will be repaid with future toll revenues.

WORK ELSEWHERE IN THE VALLEY

The bridge decks in the eastbound and westbound lanes over Turner and Kirk roads will be replaced and widened. The $9.3 million project — being done by the Ruhlin Company — is expected to be completed in July 2022.

At the Eastgate plaza in Mahoning County, a $39.9 million project is planned to replace pavement along a 5-mile stretch on the eastbound side. Construction on the westbound side will happen in 2022, according to the commission.

The project also includes a new open tolling lane and new ramps to connect to the toll plaza, which will process tolls on the westbound side only when the new toll collection system goes live in 2023.

rselak@tribtoday.com