In 2023, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission spent more than $690 million in roadway maintenance and improvements to modernize the turnpike and improve the road.

The commission will continue construction this year, moving to open road tolling on the Northeast Extension.

The commission said these new highway-speed collection points are being built along the system to allow for a cashless, free-flowing mode of collecting tolls without traditional toll plazas or tollbooths.

Open road tolling is expected to go live east of the Reading Interchange (Exit 286) to the New Jersey line and along the entire Northeastern Extension (I-476) in the beginning of 2025, with points west of Reading expected to become operational in 2027.

The turnpike continues installation of a fiber optic network across the entire system, with projects east of Harrisburg complete and that west of Harrisburg underway. The fiber optic network meets future needs of ORT, supports connected and automated vehicle technology, and will be built to include extra lines for commercialization and potential extension to underserved communities.

The commission said it is one of the biggest changes in its 83-year history

“The PTC has been the leader in transportation from the day our highway opened, and we continue to be an organization that isn’t afraid to reinvent how we do business, transform who we are to our customers and re-imagine our place in the communities we connect,” said PTC Chairman and PennDOT Secretary Michael Carroll.

“Modernization and innovation are not the exceptions here; they are the norm and the foundation for our decision-making.

“Our 1,300 talented and committed employees care deeply about safety and customer service.”

2023 report

From Jan. 1 through Nov. 30, the Turnpike’s Maintenance Utility Workers and the GEICO Safety Patrol team assisted in 39,711 incidents.

According to the 2023 Automated Work Zone Speed Enforcement Annual Report, there has been a 47% reduction in excessive speeding (11-plus mph over the speed limit) in work zones and 38% in overall speeding (1-plus mph over the speed limit) since the program began in March 2020.

The turnpike also worked with PSP to resume Operation Orange Squeeze where PSP troopers trade in their cruisers for construction vehicles to help monitor unsafe behaviors like speeding and distracted driving specifically within work zones across the system.

On the road

From Jan. 1 through Dec. 1, the Turnpike has seen more than 192 million customers use more than 560-miles of roadway, a 3.3% increase in volume compared to the same period in 2022.

In research conducted by the PTC, 80% of users indicate the PA Turnpike is a convenient way to travel within our state.

The turnpike said 86% of its customers have now embraced EZPass - paying a rate that is below the national toll road average and up to 60% less than the Toll by Plate rate.