Excerpts
Soon the machines will just be a
memory. All automatic coin machines will be removed from mainline
barrier toll plazas on the Garden State Parkway this month, the New
Jersey Turnpike Authority said.
The
work is scheduled to begin on Sept. 24. The plazas that will be
affected in Ocean, Atlantic and Cape May counties include: Barnegat at
milepost 68.9 southbound; New Gretna at milepost 53.5 northbound; Great
Egg at milepost 28.8 southbound; and Cape May at milepost 19.4
northbound.
The coin
machines that are being removed will be converted to full-service toll
lanes or those for “E-ZPass Only,” the NJTA said.
The 37 coin machines at the 11 mainline barrier toll plazas will be
removed, but the entrance and exit ramp coin machines will remain,
according to the authority.
The coin machines have been in
place for more than 25 years, according to a NJTA spokesman. However, in
2017, the coin machines at these plazas accounted for fewer than 5
percent of toll transactions.
The
coin machines are “nearing the end of their useful lives,” and are
becoming expensive and difficult to keep up, according the the NJTA. The
NJTA said original manufacturer’s parts are becoming no longer
available, and parts from third-party vendors are scarce.
The
work will start with Pascack Valley and Cape May. Crews will then work
on two plazas per week in the following order: Bergen and Great Egg in
the second week; Essex and New Gretna; Union and Barnegat; Raritan and
Toms River; and the Asbury Park toll plaza during the final week.
The
parts from the coin machines that are being removed will be used for
coins machines on the entrance and exit ramps, the NJTA said.
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