Tappan Zee Cashless Toll System Delayed

Bad weather overnight forced the Thruway Authority to postpone the implementation of the new cashless toll system on the Tappan Zee Bridge.

According to the Authority, the actual activitation is now scheduled for 12:01 a.m. Sunday, April 24.

As had been planned before, there will be shifting traffic patterns when the cashless system goes live in South Nyack, and precise lane closures will depend on the volume of traffic.

Details on the exact procedure for lane closures at the Tarrytown Toll Plaza are as follows:

• 11 p.m. Saturday to Midnight Sunday: The toll plaza will be reduced to one E-ZPass lane and two cash lanes just before the transition.
• 12:01 a.m. Sunday to 6 a.m.: The cashless toll system will be activated after the final driver leaves the Tarrytown toll plaza. At that point, all tolls will be collected by the temporary cashless system in South Nyack. Three lanes will be open to traffic with a 20-mph speed limit until 6 a.m. while other construction activities take place.
• 6 a.m. onward: An additional five lanes will open to traffic, making the total of eight. For safety, traffic through the six unstaffed toll plaza lanes will be limited to 20 mph. Traffic using the two left lanes will be allowed to go 35 mph. This configuration will be in effect until the next construction phase which is scheduled to begin in May.

There will also be lane and ramp closures near the bridge on the Rockland County side.

Two right lanes of the southbound Thruway from exit 10 to exit 9, will be closed beginning at 9 p.m. Saturday, April 23. At midnight, three lanes will be closed. The closures will end at 8 a.m. Sunday, April 24.

An on-ramp closure southbound at exit 10 will begin at 10 p.m. Saturday, April 23. The closure will end at 5 a.m. Sunday, April 24.

The Thruway Authority is closing the lanes of the toll plaza in order to facilitate the removal of parts of the structure.

Once the first phase of removal is completed, after about a month, the second phase will begin to remove the rest of the toll plaza structure and create landings for the new bridge.

For more information, go here.

Map: Planned detour from the Thruway Authority website.