Causeway plastic toll tags being replaced

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METAIRIE, La. — Many Lake Ponchartrain Causeway commuters are very familiar with the plastic toll tags. After decades of drivers using those plastic tags to make their commute across the 24-mile bridge easier, they’re being replaced.

“The old plastic hard tags we’ve had have been around for 30 years so they’re reaching the end of their life,” Carlton Dufrechou, the General Manager of the Lake Ponchartrain Causeway says.

The new decals are thin stickers that Dufrechou says are more reliable.

“These new ones are much more modern, temporary technology. They read further away and are definitely a lot more reliable than the other ones,” Dufrechou says.

The new stickers should be placed on your windshield, right under your rearview mirror. It sticks with the barcode facing the driver.

About 20,000 drivers use the bridge each day, Chris Woods is one of them. Woods drives to and from work using the Causeway, Monday through Friday. He replaced his old tags Tuesday in the Southshore office.

“It was really quick and easy I just went in gave them my license plate number and they already had me in the system and they gave me a sticker I was in and out in less than a minute,” Woods says.

The process hasn’t been so easy for the Causeway employees though. The system to notify drivers of the change sent out all 30,000 letters at the same time, instead of a few thousand at a time.

“It’s been hectic,” Dufrechou says. “That overwhelmed everyone, our commuters, our staff. I apologize for that [we’re] finally catching up. The good news we’re almost at the finish line right now.”

Dufrechou says they’ve replaced about 50,000 so far, with 10,000 left. If you have yet to replace your tags, the deadline is January 27. You can visit one of the offices, either the one on the Southshore or Northshore. You can also replace them via the Causeway website or send an email to [email protected] or [email protected].

If you choose to do it via online or email, they will mail you your new tags within a few days.

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