POLK COUNTY, Fla. — Attention drivers: cash will no longer be accepted at any tolling point between Polk Parkway and Airport Road and the Eastern Mainline Plaza.
The Florida Turnpike Enterprise announced it will be fully converting the Polk Parkway/State Road (SR) 570 to electronic tolling, starting on September 23 at 8:30 p.m.
According to the Florida Department of Transportation, this change to electronic tolling will improve safety and boost mobility along the corridor.
Cash tolling in 10 existing toll points along Polk Parkway will be removed as well as at the interchange ramps and instead be replaced with new electronic free-flow toll frameworks. Those 10 existing toll points include:
- Western Mainline Plaza
- Central Mainline Plaza
- Eastern Mainline Plaza
- Airport Road
- Waring Road
- Harden Boulevard
- South Florida Avenue
- Lakeland Highlands Road
- Old Dixie Highway/CR 546
To avoid confusion, signage, as well as overhead signs and notifications via Highway Advisory Radio, has been posted throughout the area informing drivers of the changes.
Tolls will be collected electronically using a SunPass, interoperable transponder or TOLL-BY-PLATE.
Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise and the Florida Department of Transportation suggest drivers who do not have a SunPass account or a form of payment linked to a TOLL-BY-PLATE account do so to avoid a $2.50 administrative charge for each invoice mailed.
