VICTOR, N.Y. — The toll booths that have marked the New York State Thruway for decades are now starting to come down.
Demolition got underway at the Victor exit overnight.
Cashless tolling officially kicked off last weekend and the Thruway Authority wasted no time in taking out the old to make room for the new.
The removal process is starting at high traffic areas like the toll booth at exit 45 in Victor and a few in the Buffalo area. All toll booths along the thruway are expected to be gone by the end of next summer.
Construction workers got started after the sun went down on Wednesday and worked through the night.
Thruway spokesperson Jonathan Dougherty says they'll do traffic shifts to avoid causing too much of a slow down for drivers coming through.
"They'll see this work ongoing. It's a construction zone so we just ask drivers to use caution when driving through those areas. Travel the posted speed limit within that toll barrier. It's 20 miles an hour. Just slow down, be safe for everyone around. But they'll notice that construction of toll booths coming down," said Dougherty.
The total cost of installing the cashless tolling system and removing the old toll booths comes to $355 million.
Dougherty says this is one of the biggest projects in thruway history.
It's also important to note that cars without an E-ZPass could face increased toll charges in the future.