Not everyone knows it’s there yet, but I-5’s new direct-access ramp that drops traffic directly into the Lynnwood Transit Center is getting some use by buses and carpools after being open one week.
About 300 vehicles – including about 140 buses – are using the ramp per weekday, said Jamie Holter, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation.
“That’s a really good start,” she said, adding that she expects usage to pick up as Lynnwood carpoolers realize the overpass offers an easy way for them to get on and off I-5.
Sound Transit paid $26 million to build an overpass that allows buses and carpool traffic to exit and enter I-5 directly from the carpool lane, saving buses from having to weave across four lanes of traffic to get on and off the freeway.
The ramp also shaves 15 to 20 minutes off the roundtrip bus commute into Seattle by allowing buses to avoid having to navigate their way through Lynnwood’s crowded downtown streets.
Sound Transit didn’t set specific goals of how many buses and cars it would like to see using the ramp each day, said agency spokesman Lee Somerstein.
“We’re building nine in our system,” Somerstein said. “It becomes part of a network of ramps that we’re trying to use to improve traffic throughout the Puget Sound region.”
The Lynnwood Transit Agency direct-access ramp is the state’s first.
A similar ramp is being built at the Ash Way park-and-ride about four miles north on I-5, also in Lynnwood. That project is behind schedule because of difficulties building the overpass.
Construction is to start in 2006 on a 400-stall park-and-ride lot and bus stop on the I-5 median just north of 112th Street SE. That would be the third and final direct-access ramp planned for Snohomish County.
The state DOT tracks how many cars use the new Lynnwood Transit Center overpass with sensors that are imbedded in each ramp, Holter said.
Reporter Lukas Velush: 425-339-3449 or lvelush@heraldnet.com.
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