Truck-only toll lanes set for Florida

Next month, workers will begin building a series of ramps linking Florida’s Interstate 4 and Selmon Crosstown Expressway, which will include dedicated ramps for trucks working the Port of Tampa.

John McShaffrey, a spokesman with the Florida Department of Transportation, described the project as a one-mile elevated interchange between the two highways. “I am not sure if this will be the first truck-only toll lanes in the U.S.,” McShaffrey said.

The $3.89 million project is funded through federal and state fuel tax revenues, future toll revenues and federal stimulus funds. Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise will handle the tolling, which will be electronic open road tolling through SunPass and Toll-by-Plate tolling, the process in which a vehicle’s license plate is photographed to identify the driver responsible for payment. Truckers using dedicated truck lanes will pay $1.

The project is collaboration among the state transportation department, Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise and the Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority. The FDOT is managing the construction of the project, which is expected to be built by summer 2013.

More information is available on electronic tolling here and on Toll-by-Plate here.

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