This fall the Florida Department of Transportation is tearing out the toll plaza on the Pinellas Bayway near Dolphin Cay Lane. The toll itself stays. Cash disappeared from the Bayway years ago, so the booths have been an obstacle for a while without doing much. When they're gone, the drive off Tierra Verde will lose its slowdown and keep its price. What a household actually pays still depends on two things: which of the three Bayway plazas each trip crosses, and whether its passes have been renewed under two different deadlines.
The Booths Outlasted the Cash
FDOT's project page describes the work as converting the SR 682 toll plaza "just west of Dolphin Cay Lane S/Landings Drive" to all-electronic tolling. Construction began July 13, 2026. The contract is $1.2 million, Cone & Graham, Inc. is the contractor, and FDOT's estimated completion is "Fall 2026." The agency says the goal is to improve traffic flow and safety "by eliminating the need for vehicles to slow or stop at toll collection points."
The plazas stopped taking cash well before this. In a September 2023 release, Florida's Turnpike Enterprise said cash collection was ending at the East and South plazas, and that the West Plaza had already switched to electronic collection in 2021. For about three years, then, the structure near Dolphin Cay has slowed drivers down without collecting anything a transponder or plate camera couldn't. The 2026 project removes the physical plaza and the slowdown that came with it.
Bay News 9 reported in August that drivers "will still pay to use the Bayway," and that tolls will continue to be collected electronically. Kris Carson of FDOT summed up the agency's goal in that report as "Safety, smoother traffic and less congestion." FDOT scheduled daytime lane closures from Dolphin Cay Lane/Landings Drive to the toll plaza for Monday, October 19 through Friday, October 23, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. As of this week, no date has been announced for when the last of the plaza will be gone, beyond the fall target.
Three Plazas, Two Price Tiers
Once the booths come out, the toll for any trip depends only on which plaza you cross and how you pay. The current Florida's Turnpike toll schedule, effective April 12, 2026, lists these rates for a standard two-axle car:
| Plaza | Location | SunPass rate | Toll-By-Plate rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pinellas Bayway II, West Plaza | SR 682, milepost 1 | $0.58 | $1.08 |
| Pinellas Bayway I, East Plaza | SR 682, milepost 3 | $0.58 | $1.08 |
| Pinellas Bayway IV, South Plaza | SR 679, milepost 6 | $0.28 | $0.81 |
Paying by plate costs more than paying by transponder at all three plazas, and the gap is widest on SR 679. At the South Plaza, Toll-By-Plate costs almost three times the SunPass rate. At the two SR 682 plazas it's not quite double. Visitors driving a rental car or a plate without a transponder pay the higher column, which is useful to know before Thanksgiving guests borrow a car for a beach day.
Which Plaza Each Trip Crosses
Tierra Verde sits on SR 679, south of where that road meets SR 682 on Isla del Sol. Because of that, the three most common drives off the island each meet a different plaza.
- To mainland St. Petersburg. North to Isla del Sol, then east on SR 682 over Bayway Isles and across the Boca Ciega Bay Channel to the mainland by Dolphin Cay. This is the route the 2026 project affects. The plaza being removed sits on this stretch, at the mainland end.
- To St. Pete Beach. North to Isla del Sol, then west on SR 682 toward Gulf Boulevard. That end of the Bayway has its own plaza, separate from the one near Dolphin Cay, and this project doesn't touch it.
- To Fort De Soto Park. South on SR 679 through the South Plaza, the cheapest of the three. According to Pinellas County, state ownership of the Bayway continues through that plaza, and county property begins "just after you pass through the State toll plaza and fully cross the bridge entering Fort De Soto." Once inside, the county's park page lists a $6 parking fee.
The bridge between Isla del Sol and Tierra Verde is a separate piece of infrastructure, and its change came years earlier. FDOT replaced Structure E, the old two-lane bascule bridge, with a high-level fixed bridge, and all construction activities on that project were finished as of January 30, 2023. NOAA's current Coast Pilot lists the span over the Main Channel at 65 feet of vertical clearance, so it no longer opens for boats. With the drawbridge and soon the plaza both gone, the mainland route off the island will have no point where the road itself makes drivers stop.
Two Passes, Two Different Deadlines
The Bayway has two annual passes, and they expire in different months. Every pass in a household lapses on a fixed date, regardless of when it was bought.
The Commuter Pass costs $50 a year per two-axle vehicle. It covers all three Bayway plazas, and anyone can buy it. The Turnpike schedule says it is a SunPass Mini that has to be stuck to the windshield, and it is valid only on the one vehicle registered to the pass holder. Every Commuter Pass expires September 30. That means each one on Tierra Verde expired a few weeks ago and had to be renewed for the 2026–27 cycle. You can buy one online with a new SunPass transponder or added to an existing account, in person at the Pinellas Bayway Administration Building at the East Plaza, or by calling SunPass at 1-888-865-5352.
The Resident Pass costs $15 a year and works on a different schedule. According to SunPass, it is valid at the East Plaza only, requires proof of residency, and must be purchased in person at the Pinellas Bayway Administration Building at the East Plaza. Up to five can be bought, and each one expires June 30. A household with both passes therefore has one deadline at the end of June and another at the end of September.
Comparing the price with the per-trip rate helps when sorting out which pass covers which drives. At the $0.58 SunPass rate, the $50 Commuter Pass equals about 86 crossings of an SR 682 plaza in a year. At the $1.08 Toll-By-Plate rate, it equals about 46. The $15 Resident Pass only applies to the East Plaza, so trips to St. Pete Beach and to Fort De Soto are charged separately.
The Administration Building Question
The building where Resident Passes are sold in person stands at the plaza that's being converted. FDOT's project description covers converting the plaza and lists the lane closures. It says nothing about the Administration Building or about Resident Pass sales. SunPass also lists a Pinellas Bayway walk-in center at 4501 54th Avenue S, open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. While the plaza work wraps up this fall, calling SunPass at 1-888-865-5352 before driving over is the simplest way to find out where Resident Pass sales are being handled.
Who Benefits From No Stop
People who drive the Bayway every day get a smoother commute out of this. Businesses along the road hope to get more customers. Bay News 9 spoke with Cedric Robinson, owner of The Deck Bar and Grill on the Pinellas Bayway, who told the station that tolls have made some drivers hesitant to travel through the area.
"That's kind of what you're looking for. So you don't have that slow down, that stop."
Robinson said that in the same Bay News 9 report, describing his hope that fewer slowdowns would bring more drivers to stop at businesses along the Bayway. For a Tierra Verde household, the toll at the plaza near Dolphin Cay stays at $0.58 by SunPass and $1.08 by plate.
The toll rates and pass rules here come from the official sources linked above and can change. Treat this as general information, not financial or legal advice, and check your own account and vehicles with SunPass.
Tierra Verde homeowners think about the Bayway constantly, and so do the buyers who visit. If you'd like a local view of how island logistics like these factor into owning or selling here, Melody Stang is glad to talk it through. Let's connect and schedule a consultation.
