What’s Being Built Along The PA Turnpike? Open Road Tolling Explained

If you've driven the PA Turnpike west of Reading recently, you might wonder, "What's going on with those buildings and columns being built along the roadway?"

It's all part of the Open Road Tolling (ORT) expansion, marking the Pennsylvania Turnpike's decade-long journey to modernize operations and meet customer expectations.

ORT Relocates Tolling Points From Interchanges To The Main Roadway

In this system, tolls are charged electronically as customers drive at highway speeds without slowing down or stopping beneath overhead structures — called gantries — located between interchanges. Equipment on the gantry and on the roadway classifies and identifies the vehicle and electronically processes tolls.

This change is driven by safety and customer preference – more than 86% of our users have E-ZPass accounts. Plus, over 226 toll facilities (roads, bridges and tunnels) across 23 states adopted all-electronic toll collection methods, according to the International Bridge, Tunnel and Tolling Association.

In January, ORT went live on the Turnpike’s eastern section, from Reading to the New Jersey line and on the entire Northeast Extension.

Tollbooth Removal And Interchange Reconfiguration Is Underway

This phase of the ORT expansion is expected to last through 2026. Drivers traveling east of Reading to the Ohio line can see ORT expansion in action as we are actively building its signature components along the roadway – the gantry buildings and gantries.

Once the gantries and adjacent structures are built, we will mount the tolling equipment and perform testing until the equipment goes live in January 2027.

Here’s how the pieces fit together:

Stamped concrete pillars on either side of the road support the overhead frame, or gantry, which spans it.
The gantry holds equipment to classify vehicles by height and axle number, detect E-ZPass transponders or capture license plate images.
Additional sensors are embedded in the pavement beneath to support data collection.
The building houses computer equipment and generators to run each gantry.
Fiber optic lines, buried alongside the road, feed data from the gantries back to the Turnpike’s Customer Service Center, located in Harrisburg, for verification, processing, and payment. All data is secured and not shared.

Learn more about the technology behind ORT here.

ORT Benefits Travelers, Communities And The Commonwealth At Large

First, tollbooth removal improves sightlines, while also easing congestion, stop-and-go traffic and last-minute lane-switching by less experienced drivers.

With ORT, access points can be constructed for a fraction of the cost of traditional plazas, and in considerably less time than traditional brick-and-mortar interchanges. New ORT interchanges are being designed in Montgomery, Lackawanna and Westmoreland counties.

These new, free-flowing connections ease traffic at nearby interchanges, increase safety and mobility throughout the region, and help boost the economic opportunities in the communities they serve. It also brings environmental benefits, including lower emissions, less fuel use and a cleaner environment.

When we opened in 1940, the PA Turnpike was the first of its kind, receiving nationwide acclaim as an engineering marvel. We set the national standard for superhighway design and engineering, and we are proud to continue that legacy through ORT and our ongoing commitment to meeting customers’ expectations for seamless, non-stop travel.

Learn More About - Open Road Tolling