ALBANY, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — The removal of toll plazas from the New York State Thruway’s former ticketed system will resume this week and all booths are expected to be removed by the end of summer.

This is the next and final phase of construction for the New York State Thruway’s transition to cashless tolling. The state switched cashless tolls back in November 2020.

“New York remains committed to continuing our infrastructure investments throughout the COVID-19 crisis,” Governor Andrew Cuomo said. “The completion of this project saves drivers time, cuts greenhouse gas emissions, and improves air quality along our thruway system. Even in these trying times, New York State will never put the brakes on building a stronger and better future.”

Thruway Authority Executive Director Matthew J. Driscoll said, “This monumental project is one of the largest projects in the Authority’s nearly 70-year history and is transforming our transportation infrastructure by modernizing and enhancing services for the hundreds of millions of travelers that rely on our system each year. Under Governor Cuomo’s leadership, the Thruway is ushering in a new chapter as all of the former toll plazas are removed, creating a truly free-flowing, open-road system that is safe, more modern, and more suitable for the growing 21st-century economy.”

Beginning this week, the design-build contractor, Cashless Tolling Constructors, LLC, will begin removing toll plazas at six interchanges along the Thruway’s former ticketed system statewide. When completed, 52 toll plazas, approximately 230 individual toll booths, will be removed creating highway speed, true open-road tolling by the end of summer 2021, weather permitting.

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