ALBANY, NY — Stantec, along with project partners Cashless Tolling Constructors, LLC and KC Engineering and Land Surveying, P.C. celebrate a significant milestone as the New York State Thruway Authority’s (NYSTA) $355-million project to implement cashless tolling along 450 miles of roadway is now operational. As part of the design-build project, 70 steel gantries were installed along the roadway to capture E-ZPass tag or license plate data from passing vehicles. Next year, existing toll booths will be removed at 52 Thruway interchanges and barriers to complete the project.Cashless tolling has gained a stronghold in recent years, with more than half the nation’s tolled roadways now operating solely on a cashless basis, according to the International Bridge, Tunnel, and Turnpike Association. Cashless tolling was already in place at several downstate locations of the New York State Thruway, including the Lower Hudson Valley Fixed Toll Barriers and the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge. This project extends the system’s benefits to the remaining sections of the Thruway, from the Hudson Valley to Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, and beyond.

“The implementation of cashless tolling on the New York State Thruway is a tremendous benefit to the more than 267 million motorists that travel the roadway each year who will no longer need to wait in line at the toll booth or slow down for the E-ZPass lane,” said Rob Cartwright, Senior Principal at Stantec. “As part of the design-build team helping to deliver this complex project, we’re proud to play a role in designing enhancements that will improve traffic, boost safety, and modernize the state’s roadways for the future of mobility.”

Stantec and KC Engineering served as the lead designers for the design-build team, supporting Cashless Tolling Constructors, LLC — a consortium of heavy civil contractors including A. Servidone, Inc./B. Anthony Construction Corp., JV, Rifenburg Construction, Inc., and Economy Paving Co., Inc.

“KC Engineering is thrilled to work with longtime partners Stantec, Cashless Tolling Constructors, LLC, and NYSTA on this critical, complex, and unique infrastructure design-build project,” said Raj Ravilla, President at KC Engineering. “As Quality Manager for the project, I am so pleased with the project’s execution by our dedicated team and look forward to the full completion of this exceptional project.”

“Cashless tolling across the New York State Thruway has been discussed for years,” said Mark Servidone on behalf of Cashless Tolling Constructors, LLC. “We are thrilled to see this project reach operational status, on schedule amid COVID-19, nonetheless. Keeping New York moving will be critical to the economic recovery, and we are proud to be part of this.”

When fully implemented, the more than 267 million motorists that use the Thruway each year will enjoy hassle-free travel. In addition to the strategic placement of sensor-mounted gantries, the project involves the removal of toll plazas and reduction of the paved areas leading into and out of the plazas, including pavement repairs, positive separation of traffic flow, and elimination of conflicting traffic moves. While the new system is now operational, this removal and modification work will continue into 2021.

Stantec has been a decades-long partner in the modernization of New York’s tolling system and the evolution of the Thruway. The firm’s experts were an important part of the implementation of E-ZPass on the Thruway in the early 1990s, and have led traffic and revenue reports, surveys, and mobility and modernization studies that have contributed to the highway tolling program’s success.

Stantec has also been involved in numerous design projects for the New York State Thruway Authority, including the “Last Mile” of the I-95 Reconstruction Project that improved safety along a critical section of the New York to Connecticut roadway, as well as several bridge and highway surface rehabilitations and replacements.