The first full week of tolling is under the seat belt.
Overall, express toll lane drivers saved from 15 to 25 minutes on the Lynnwood-to-Bellevue commute for average toll rates of $1 to $1.50. At the same time, travel times in the general purpose lanes the whole length stayed close to average, despite increased traffic volume overall compared to last year.
That uptick in efficiency is reason for encouragement, said Craig Stone, assistant secretary for tolling with the Washington State Department of Transportation.
Only time will tell, he added. “We have a long ways to go.”
During the first week in operation, express toll lane volumes increased 15 to 20 percent. The highest volumes occurred Thursday near NE 132nd Street in Kirkland. Typical HOV lane volumes were about 1,600 an hour. The double express toll lanes south of Highway 522 carried 2,400 vehicles an hour.
There were 119 collisions on I-405 from I-90 to I-5 from Sept. 27, the first day of tolling, to early Monday. The figure includes collisions south of the tolling corridor. But it’s still “a significant number,” Washington State Patrol Trooper Chris Webb said.
The majority of the collisions were between NE Sixth Street in Bellevue and NE 70th Street in Kirkland. Of the 119 collisions, 25 occurred on Saturday alone.
In the first week of tolling, troopers issued 40 citations but focused mostly on education, handing out 358 warnings to drivers, most of whom illegally crossed double white lines.
“We can only give verbal warnings for so long,” Webb said.
Drivers tempted to cut over the double white lines into the express toll lanes also pose a safety risk, going from a dead stop to entering free-flowing lanes of traffic. “That’s not a good recipe,” Webb said.
Trouble spots highlighted by Snohomish County drivers already are getting tweaks.
Extra striping and labels were added near NE 160th Street in Bothell, where a second express toll lane begins, clarifying where drivers need to go if they want to stay in the general purpose lanes.
Stone also held out the possibility that temporary striping could be reworked at other entry points where merging is required, in order to make them longer.
One of those entry points is that same NE 160th Street access area, the first available for drivers entering I-405 southbound from Highway 522.
Meanwhile, Sound Transit express routes operated by Community Transit start training this week on new transit-only shoulder lanes. Buses will drive on the shoulder when traffic dips below 35 mph weekday mornings between Highway 527 and NE 195th Street and between Highway 522 and NE 160th Street.
The change had been in the works since 2010, with active planning the past two years. The goal is to give reliability to buses going from exit to exit. WSDOT is looking at the possibility of similar shortcuts on I-5 near transit stations, though shoulders on that interstate aren’t wide enough for more extensive use.
WSDOT also plans to post signs clarifying what vehicles can not use the express toll lanes, which are part of a statewide HOV network that bars vehicles with gross weight ratings above 10,000.
Some popular medium-duty pickup trucks should stay out of the lanes based on that law. Stone said WSDOT is exploring through the state rules-making process whether to increase the weight limit.
Local experiences
After a 1.5 hour slog last week, Janet Perkins, of Everett, and her carpool buddy started using the toll lanes in their commute to Boeing in Bellevue. One day it cost 75 cents. On Monday, they went in after it dipped from $2.25 to $1.
But Perkins is sick of expending so much energy just thinking about how to get to work. She’s hunting for apartments in Bellevue, cringing at the high rents but not seeing another way.
“It’s so stressful. Every day you have to think about it,” she said.
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