If you’ve ever driven the Northeast Corridor, you know the drill. You’re cruising through Maryland, maybe feeling good about your ETA, and then—bam. You hit that massive concrete gauntlet known as the Newark Toll Plaza. It sits right there on I-95, just south of the Route 896 interchange, acting like a giant sieve for East Coast traffic.
Honestly, it’s one of those places that everyone loves to hate, but almost nobody actually understands how it works or why it’s even still there.
The $5 Reality Check
Let’s get the big news out of the way first. As of late 2025, the price of passage changed. For years, you could toss four bucks at the booth and go on your way. Not anymore. Now, it’s $5.00 for a standard two-axle passenger vehicle.
It’s the first time DelDOT (the Delaware Department of Transportation) has hiked the rate since 2007. That’s an eighteen-year run at the same price, which, in "toll years," is basically an eternity. If you’re driving something bigger—say, a truck or a car with a trailer—that price jumps quickly. We’re talking $7 for three axles and it keeps climbing from there.
The money isn’t just disappearing into a black hole. Delaware is using that extra $22 million or so in annual revenue to fund a massive backlog of infrastructure projects. You might have noticed the construction chaos near the I-95 and SR 896 interchange lately. That’s where a lot of this cash is going—trying to fix the very bottlenecks that the toll plaza itself sometimes creates.
The E-ZPass vs. Cash Trap
There’s a weird misconception that you save a ton of money using E-ZPass at Newark.
Kinda. Sorta. But not really.
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Unlike some bridges in New York or the heavy discounts you see on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the Newark Toll Plaza is pretty democratic. Whether you’re paying cash or using a transponder, the base rate for a car is still $5.00.
The real "saving" is your sanity.
The plaza features high-speed E-ZPass Express Lanes that let you maintain highway speeds (usually around 65 mph, though you should always check the signs). If you don't have a transponder, you’re stuck in the "Cash/Receipt" lanes. These are located to the far right and far left of the high-speed center lanes. During a holiday weekend, the line for those cash booths can easily add 20 to 30 minutes to your trip.
One thing people often miss: those high-speed lanes were part of a $32 million reconstruction back in 2011. Before that, every single car had to slow down to a crawl. It was a nightmare. Now, it’s only a nightmare if you’re the one searching for five dollar bills in your glovebox while a line of cars honks behind you.
Why Is It Only One Way?
This is the question that trips up tourists every single time.
You’re driving Southbound from Philadelphia to Baltimore. You hit the Newark Toll Plaza. You pay your five bucks. You keep going.
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Then, you cross the Maryland line and—wait, another toll?
That’s the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway toll. But here’s the kicker: Maryland only collects that toll in the Northbound direction.
So, if you’re driving North (from DC to NYC), you pay the Maryland toll ($6.00 or $8.00 depending on your E-ZPass status) and then you hit the Newark plaza in Delaware and pay another $5.00.
Basically, the Newark Toll Plaza collects money in both directions, whereas its Maryland neighbor only wants your cash when you’re headed toward Philly. This confuses people constantly. They think they’ve already paid their "I-95 tax" for the state, only to realize Delaware and Maryland operate completely different systems.
A Bit of History (Because JFK Was Actually There)
It’s easy to look at the concrete and the exhaust fumes and forget that this stretch of road has some serious history.
This part of I-95 is officially the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway. It was actually dedicated by President Kennedy himself on November 14, 1963. That was just eight days before he was assassinated in Dallas.
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Originally, the toll was a whopping 30 cents.
There was even a weird period in 1970 where they tried an "honor system" for some of the ramp tolls. You can guess how that went. People just didn't pay. Within a month, the honor system was scrapped because, well, humans are humans.
Avoiding the Newark Toll (And Why You Probably Shouldn't)
Local "pro-tips" often involve trying to bypass the plaza by hopping off I-95 at Route 896 or trying to snake through the back roads of Newark.
Don't do it.
Unless there’s a literal 10-mile standstill due to an accident, the time you spend navigating traffic lights, school zones near the University of Delaware, and local congestion will almost always take longer than just sitting in the toll line for five minutes. Plus, the residents of Newark aren't exactly fans of thousands of cars cutting through their neighborhoods to save five bucks.
Technical Stats at a Glance
- Location: I-95, Milepost 4.0 (near the Maryland border).
- Lanes: Two high-speed E-ZPass lanes in each direction; multiple staffed cash lanes.
- Accepts: Cash, E-ZPass (all 19 states in the network), and credit cards at staffed booths.
- Peak Times: Friday afternoons (Northbound) and Sunday afternoons (Southbound).
Actionable Advice for Your Next Trip
If you want to handle the Newark Toll Plaza like a pro, do these three things:
- Check your E-ZPass balance before you hit the DE/MD line. If your account is in the negative, the plaza’s cameras will flag your plate. You won't get "stopped," but you’ll get a bill in the mail that includes administrative fees.
- Stay in the center for speed. If you have E-ZPass, don't drift to the right. The high-speed lanes are the middle "express" sections. If you accidentally end up in a cash lane with a transponder, don't panic—it will still read your tag, you'll just have to wait behind the guy paying in nickels.
- Use the DelDOT App. They have real-time traffic cameras. If the Newark plaza looks like a parking lot on the screen, that’s your cue to grab a coffee and wait it out or look for a major highway alternative like US-301 if you're coming from further south.
The Newark Toll Plaza is a permanent fixture of Mid-Atlantic travel. It's expensive, it's busy, and it's a bit of a relic, but knowing the rules of the road makes the crossing a lot less stressful. Keep your eyes on the overhead signs and your transponder on the windshield.