Anderson Toll Plaza Changes Coming

Westchase area drivers who roll up on the Veterans Expressway’s Anderson Road toll plaza heading south this week might discover a few less lanes open to serve them.

Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise has plans to close the two far right lanes starting Monday. The closing will be “long-term” as work on the $386 million widening project continues. While plans were in place to close the lanes late last month, rain caused delays, said spokeswoman Christa Deason.

“Here’s the issue, and it sounds counterintuitive, but if the roadway is too wet from rain, we can’t water blast off the existing striping and restripe the lanes with the new traffic pattern shift through the plaza,” Deason wrote in an email.

The closing is expected to happen sometime on Monday, Aug. 5. Once the lanes close, southbound motorists will only have four toll lanes to choose from – two SunPass only lanes on the left and two mixed-use lanes on the right.

The closing is expected to last until next spring, she said.

The Anderson Road ramps are also closed at this time until further notice.