PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — More changes are coming for drivers on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, including tool plaza demolition and a new text-based traffic tool.
The Turnpike launched open-road tolling in January, with tolls now paid at overhead gantries east of Reading and along the Northeast Extension. That made toll plazas there obsolete, and they're being demolished. First this spring on the upper end of the Northeast Extension — then in our area, says Craig Shuey, the Turnpike’s chief operating officer.
"In June, the Philadelphia area will begin seeing demolition — Norristown to Mid-County and Street Road, with Bensalem being the last of the interchanges to get reconstructed. And that's going to occur in 2026."
Also coming later this month, the Turnpike is launching a text service that will let drivers stuck in backups know why traffic isn't moving.
"It's always frustrating when you're sitting in a traffic queue just wondering, 'Why is it that I'm stopped? I see nothing up ahead," Shuey said.
"We will tie them to our incident management system and provide real-time information about what's happening at that particular location."
Shuey says, when the service is set up, drivers who text the word "backlog" will get an explanation as to why they see all the brake lights in front of them.