OLYMPIA — State lawmakers on Thursday reviewed the performance of the I-405 express toll lanes’ first year of operation and got a preview of improvements transportation officials hope will ensure this experiment succeeds.
The toll lanes, which opened Sept. 27, 2015, were established by lawmakers as a two-year trial. The toll lanes needed to accomplish two things: pay for themselves and enable traffic to travel on the 17-mile stretch at speeds of 45 mph or faster 90 percent of the time. Otherwise, under state law, they could be eliminated.
Members of the state House Transportation Committee heard Thursday that drivers made 14.5 million trips in the lanes in the first year, nearly 2.5 million more than predicted. And toll receipts are exceeding projections. But the speed standard is not getting met — though it’s close.
Revenue collection is ahead of estimates as tolls hit the maximum $10 posted rate on an almost daily basis in the peak of the commute, said Patty Rubstello, assistant secretary of the toll division for the Washington State Department of Transportation.
And the average toll during the commute, southbound in the morning and northbound in the evening, has risen steadily. In the first three months of operations, the average rate was $1.75 . From July through September of this year, tolls in the peak commute periods averaged $2.99, according to Rubstello’s presentation to the committee.
But she said the speed standard is getting met only 85 percent of the time. While that’s better than the 60 percent seen for traffic in the former carpool lanes, it isn’t what the Legislature wants.
Rubstello said the primary reason continues to be “one trouble spot” in the northbound direction, north of Bothell in Snohomish County.
As part of the project, the state added a lane in both directions of I-405 south of Highway 522 — but it did not do the same north of Bothell. The result is a convergence zone of traffic as five lanes go down to three. The heavily-used interchange at Highway 527 at Canyon Park funnels another thousand vehicles an hour onto I-405, further increasing congestion, she said.
The state hopes to provide drivers some relief early next year when it opens up shoulder driving in a 1.8-mile stretch. The right-hand shoulder will become a general purpose lane during periods of heavy congestion and be managed using electronic signs. Money generated from tolls will pay for the $11.5 million project.
That’s not the only action expected. Lawmakers, in the 2016 session, directed WSDOT to identify projects to reduce congestion and add capacity on the tolling corridor between Highway 522 and I-5.
Kim Henry, project director for WSDOT’s I-405 program, said options under consideration include adding direct access ramps in the center of the highway to toll lanes. This might be done in places like NE 160th Street, NE 195th Street and Highway 527, he said.
They also are looking into the costs of two express toll lanes in each direction for the entire corridor, he said. More information will be presented Dec. 15 to the Joint Transportation Committee, a bipartisan panel of House and Senate members.
“I think we’re really starting to zero in on the next phase of improvements,” he said.
Afterwards, Rubstello declined to predict if the improvements can assure the speed requirement is achieved. She said no one is working on contingency plans if they don’t.
“We must meet both” standards, she said. “We’re working on that.”
Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dospueblos.
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