While improvements to the bridges along the Spaulding Turnpike are years away, travelers could be trading in highway tokens for E-ZPass transponders within the next few months.

E-ZPass is scheduled to roll into toll plazas across the state by the end of May, according to Department of Transportation spokesperson Bill Boynton. Boynton said the Hooksett toll plaza on Interstate 93 will probably be the first. The Hampton toll plaza on Interstate 95 will be one of the last places where E-ZPass will appear, he said. This will give the DOT a chance to iron out any bugs before the system is installed in such a high-volume area.

"We want to make sure we're doing everything right by that point," he said.

Approximately 70,000 vehicles pass through the Hampton tolls on an average weekday, the same number cross the Little Bay Bridges on the four-lane Spaulding Turnpike, and that number is expected to exceed 94,500 by the year 2025, according to a study by the Department of Transportation. To grapple with that problem, renovations are in store for the Spaulding Turnpike, including changes to the Little Bay Bridges and the historic General Sullivan Bridge. The Advisory Task Force for the Newington-Dover project met last week to narrow down options for the turnpike.

The historic General Sullivan Bridge, which still sits alongside the busy Little Bay Bridges span, has been one of the thornier aspects of the project. "Is it prudent in this financial environment to spend $8 to $11 million for a bridge that has, in some eyes, a limited use? It is not a clear cut issue," said project manager Christopher Waszczuk at last week's meeting at the Newington Town Hall.

Built in 1934, the bridge is considered a local landmark and has the second-highest rating among bridges from the state Division of Historical Resources. The bridge is currently used as a bicycle and pedestrian path. Because of its historic status and the use of federal funds for the project, planners must make a case that there are absolutely no alternatives other than removing the bridge. The General Sullivan was recently found eligible to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, according to Jim Garvin, state architectural historian with the DHR.

"It sort of reaffirmed the fact that the bridge is highly important in engineering history and transportation history," he said.

However, keeping the bridge could be expensive. Boynton said it could cost between $8 and $11 million to rehab the bridge, a number that could be higher due to unforeseen deterioration of the bridge between now and the start of construction, which is expected to begin at the end of the decade.

Of the four options currently favored by the task force, three call for rehabilitating and/or widening the Little Bay Bridges, along with renovating the General Sullivan Bridge. The fourth option would remove both bridges and replace them with a new eight-lane bridge. All four strategies place an emphasis on including pedestrian and public transportation options. The expected cost for each plan ranges from $148 million to $192 million.

Renovations of the tollbooths for E-ZPass are expected to come in at a cool $20 million, including installation and implementation of the E-ZPass system along with updating the state's toll collecting facilities. Hardware such as cameras and transponder readers are still being installed, but Boynton doesn't expect many lane closings or other traffic disruptions.

E-ZPass is an automated toll collection system already used throughout the Northeast. Transponders, which will cost $30 for passenger cars and $36 for commercial vehicles, will be compatible with other states' systems, and soon with Canada and Mexico. Civil liberties advocates worry that transponders are linked to a whole range of personal information-credit card number, bank account information and addresses, to name a few-accessible to toll collection companies and law enforcement agencies.

When New Hampshire's system becomes operational, Boynton said motorists can set up E-ZPass accounts on the Internet at www.E-ZPass.com, through an 800-number or at walk-in facilities at the Seabrook rest area on I-95, at the Nashua rest area on the Everett Turnpike, or at the Hooksett toll plaza.

The future of the state's highway tokens is a little less clear.

"As of right now, there are no plans to do anything with tokens. There's certainly plenty of discussion going on," he said.

Tokens offer a 50 percent discount for motorists, and about 60 percent of toll transactions in the state use tokens, Boynton said. The tokens cost $750,000 a year to process. New Jersey is the only other E-ZPass member that still uses tokens. The state Legislature is currently considering HB 604, which would eliminate the use of tokens; however, the Executive Council determines toll rates and has final say on the future of tokens.

"Their position last year was they don't want tokens to go anywhere any time soon," Boynton said. "Our position is ideally we would not like to have competing systems."

If tokens are eliminated, Boynton said there would probably be a six-month phase out period where people could use up their remaining tokens.

The DOT has no estimates on the number of drivers they expect to adopt the system, but Boynton said E-ZPass already has a built-in customer base of 11 million users nationally.

"The bottom line is it's going to be a significant service improvement for motorists," Boynton said.