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PENN FOREST TWP. — Officials on Tuesday celebrated the opening of a new turnpike exchange that will significantly decrease travel time to destinations in the Poconos.
Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission Chief Executive Officer Mark Compton and other state, county and local officials gathered at the new EZPass Only Interchange connecting the Northeast Extension of the turnpike (I-476) with state Route 903 in Penn Forest Township, Carbon County.
“Today, we celebrate a milestone in the history of the PA Turnpike: The Route 903 Interchange is the first E-ZPass Only Interchange on the Northeastern Extension,” Compton said. “It’s exciting to finally make this new connection available to customers, since many have patiently watched this project evolve, anticipating opening day.”
The Route 903 E-ZPass Only Interchange (Exit 87) is located between the turnpike’s Mahoning Valley (Exit 74) and Pocono (Exit 95) interchanges.
Designated as the Jim Thorpe/Lake Harmony exit, it allows E-ZPass customers — commonly referred to as “tag holders” — to get on and off the Northeastern Extension in either direction. The $40 million facility was funded solely by turnpike toll revenues, Compton said.
Only vehicles with E-ZPass transponders and accounts in good standing are allowed to use the exchange. There are no toll booths or ticket takers there. A photograph of the license plate will be taken of any vehicle that uses the interchange without a transponder, and the vehicle owner will be fined $25 plus the highest toll amount from the Ohio border.
Compton said the new interchange is “all about safety, efficiency and convenience for our customers and all travelers in the beautiful Pocono Mountains area.” The 20-mile distance between the Mahoning Valley and Pocono exits was the longest on the Northeast Extension without an interchange, and among the longest on the entire 550-mile turnpike system.
Tim Scanlon, director of Traffic Engineering and Operations for the PTC, said use of the exchange should knock off about 15 to 20 minutes of travel time for drivers heading from the Wilkes-Barre area to many destinations in the Poconos, and even more time from the trip to the Pocono Raceway in Long Pond.
In addition to shortening trip times, Compton said, the exchange will reduce traffic volumes at neighboring interchanges and ease seasonal congestion on Routes 903, I-476 and other roadways.
Former state Rep. and Speaker of the House Keith McCall, who had advocated for the interchange since amending a bill in 1986 to lead to its construction, said he was “absolutely ecstatic” to celebrate the opening.
McCall said it was difficult to justify the construction previously because the population in the township was only 423 in 1970. But by 2010, more than 9,600 people lived there and it has become the largest municipality in Carbon County by population. The mission of advocates was to convince people that corridor is “one of the gateways to the Poconos.”
State Sen. John Yudichak, D-Plymouth Township, echoed many of McCall’s sentiments. “This really now is Pennsylvania’s commerce highway — the Pennsylvania Turnpike — intersecting with a tourism highway for Northeastern Pennsylvania.
“That’s what we have here, a $40 million investment creating jobs (and opening up all of our tourist amenities here in Northeastern Pennsylvania — Penn’s Peak, historic Jim Thorpe, rafting on the Lehigh (River) and, of course, the Pocono Raceway. All are going to be easier to access because of this great interchange,” Yudichak said.
Compton said E-ZPass Only interchanges could be the wave of the future. Any interchanges constructed in the future likely will be E-ZPass Only, and plans are in the works to convert some interchanges that currently have toll booths to E-Z Pass only or with license-plate photo-taking capabilities that will bill vehicle owners for use.