New 13 mile section of Pennsylvania Turnpike opens, tolls in place

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) opened the “Southern Beltway” stretch of the Turnpike over the weekend.

The Southern Beltway (also known as PA Turnpike 576) opened on Friday.

The 13 mile Southern Beltway between U.S. Route 22 and I-79 connects to the existing, six mile beltway section known as the Findlay Connector. The new Southern Beltway leads to I-79 at the Allegheny-Washington County line.

Officials say that the Southern Beltway is expected to ease traffic congestion on Parkway West, I-79, and State Route 50.

The $800 million Southern Beltway project has been in development since 1985 with work starting on the project in 2014.

“It is not often, in the world of transportation, that we are able to construct brand-new highways,” said PA Turnpike Chair Yassmin Gramian. 

According to the PTC, there will be three toll points on the Southern Beltway, which is an open-road tolling system that utilizes overhead toll gantries to charge customers. Turnpike customers will be charged via their E-ZPass accounts or the PA Toll By Plate program, which takes a picture of the license plate and sends an invoice to the registered owner of the vehicle.

See below for more on tolling rates on the Southern Beltway.