OLYMPIA — Toll lanes on I-405 could be open to vehicles for free at night and on weekends and holidays as early as next month, a state transportation panel decided Wednesday.
The state Transportation Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to begin rewriting the rules for tolling the 17-mile stretch of highway between Lynnwood and Bellevue.
Commissioners balked at taking emergency action to compel the state Department of Transportation to make the switch immediately.
Rather, they will wait at least until their March 15 meeting so WSDOT staff can make recommendations on what hours the lanes would be open, if all vehicles or just carpools would be able to use them at no cost and any other steps needed to ensure a smooth changeover.
And commissioners also want to see if lawmakers will act in the final days of the legislative session on this subject. Lawmakers could direct the commission and department to carry out specific revisions in the toll lane operations.
Rep. Mark Harmsworth, R-Mill Creek, who authored legislation to open the lanes, said he and his colleagues might do something but doesn’t want the commission waiting on them.
“I don’t care how it happens just make it happen as soon as possible,” he said.
Assistant Transportation Secretary Patty Rubstello, who oversees the tolling division, said they’ve begun examining a variety of issues and options.
“It’s complex. We want to make sure whatever gets decided doesn’t have any unintended consequences,” she said after the commission action. “I think the public would like us to do it in March.”
There are several questions to be examined, she explained. One is what hours would the lanes be open during the week. Rubstello told the commission they are looking at either 7 or 8 p.m. and lasting to 5 a.m. each morning.
Regarding weekends and holidays, she said they are discussing opening the express toll lanes to all traffic or just carpools of two people or more. Those carpools would not need any special pass to use the lanes.
Meanwhile, what the commission did Wednesday was start the formal rulemaking process. It involves several steps, including holding a public hearing, and can take six months to complete.
But commissioners could act in March to approve an emergency rule to immediately open the lanes for free. That decision would expire once the formal process runs its course.
The commission decision came one day after Inslee steered directly into the firestorm surrounding the operation of the toll lanes.
At a news conference, he cited department figures that some drivers and bus riders are enjoying shorter trips but he also acknowledged the northbound afternoon commute through Bothell has taken longer. And there have been other unforeseen wrinkles in need of ironing out.
He used the event to highlight improvements WSDOT has completed or is working on.
And he said he wanted to get rolling on studies to add an auxiliary lane on I-405 at Highway 520 to Northeast 70th Place in Kirkland and converting the right shoulder on a stretch in Bothell for use a general lane between Highway 527 and the exit-only lane onto I-5 in Lynnwood.
Inslee will seek $250,000 to get started on studies. Rep. Judy Clibborn, D-Mercer Island, chairwoman of the House Transportation Committee, said the money will be in the supplemental transportation budget she releases next week.
Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
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