Removal of toll booth on Beachline good news for some

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Tolls on Beachline could be getting cheaper, but just for some drivers.

Expressway officials had planned to install express lanes at the airport toll plaza, but WFTV's Racquel Asa has learned that the plaza is going to be taken out.

For some who drive on State Road 528, the Beachline, it feels like toll booth after toll booth along a 3.5 mile stretch of road between the Florida Turnpike and the airport. But soon, there will one less toll plaza.

A $35 million project is now in the works to remove the airport toll booth.

"So there will only be one mainline toll plaza between the airport and International Drive," said Max Crummit of the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority.

When the toll plaza is gone, the $1.25 it cost at the plaza will be added to the toll near the turnpike, bringing the price up to $2.25.

Some E-Pass customers will pay less when they drive that stretch of road. Those paying cash will pay the $2.25 regardless of how much of the toll road they drive. Transponders in the E-Pass customers' vehicles will note where they exit the road, and they will be refunded a portion of the toll, depending on how much of the road they drove.

Cash customer Jaime Ramirez told Asa that the change gives him more reason to avoid the toll road.

"There are so many ways to avoid it. It's just not worth it for me," said Ramirez.

Construction on the project will start in 2014 and take nearly two years to complete.

WFTV