10:00 a.m. | Newark Toll Plaza Center | Newark, DE

Gov. Jack Markell and Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) will tour the Newark Toll Plaza on Friday, July 1, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. with Delaware Department of Transportation officials and discuss the technology and testing phase of the I-95 E-ZPass highway-speed lane openings at the Newark Toll Plaza in Delaware.

The I-95 Newark Toll Plaza underwent reconstruction and reconfiguration to incorporate two highway-speed E-ZPass lanes in the northbound and southbound directions. The project cost approximately $32.6 million and is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The project is currently in the testing phase.

The toll plaza will experience a high level of traffic this Fourth of July holiday weekend. Average daily traffic counts range from 110,000 cars a day, to more than 140,000 during holidays and tourist seasons like the one we are expecting this weekend. Because 55 percent of travelers use E-ZPass, congestion will be significantly reduced with highway-speed E-ZPass lanes.

WHAT:
Press is invited to come to the Newark Toll Plaza to learn about the highway-speed E-ZPass lane project, the testing phase and to tour the facility.

WHO:
Governor Jack Markell
U.S. Senator Tom Carper
Acting DelDOT Secretary Cleon Cauley, Sr.
DelDOT Officials

WHERE:
Newark Toll Plaza Center, Newark, Del.

Directions: Take I-95 to Route 896 northbound. Make the first left onto Welsh Tract Road. Newark Toll Plaza is approximately one mile on the right, at the intersection of Welsh Tract and Whitaker Roads.

WHEN:
Friday, July 1, 2011 from 10 a.m. – 11 a.m.

###