By LaVendrick Smith,
WNPA Olympia Bureau

Lawmakers say they intend to find immediate solutions to motorists’ frustration and anger over the Interstate 405 express toll lanes, which opened in September.

Senate Bill 6152 would authorize the Washington State Department of Transportation to operate only one express toll lane in each direction on I-405. Currently the agency operates two express toll lanes from Bellevue to Bothell in both directions, in addition to a single express toll lane running in both directions from Bothell to Lynnwood.

I-405 extends from I-5 at Tukwilla to the south along the east side of Lake Washington, reconnecting to I-5 just north of Lynnwood.

Bill sponsor Sen. Andy Hill, R-Redmond, and Rep. Mark Harmsworth, R-Mill Creek, who has a companion bill in the House, said Thursday thousands of constituents in their districts have complained of traffic congestion and high toll rates since the express toll lanes opened.

Harmsworth said congestion increased on I-405 when just three non-toll, general-purpose lanes were left open. He called the legislation a first step toward mitigating the effects of the new lanes.

“It’s a moderate approach,” he said at a hearing on the bill in the Senate Transportation Committee Thursday. “It doesn’t do away with the tolls. It takes just a little step back to give us some relief so that we can start looking at this problem.”

David Hablewitz, with Stop405Tolls—an organization with support from 28,000 people who oppose the express toll lanes—said he’d like to see a bill that removes the tolls completely, calling the toll program an improper way to collect revenue.

“Charging a fee to drive on a road does nothing to increase its capacity,” Hablewitz said.

Not everyone is against the express lanes, including some commuters. Duncan Milloy, a Mill Creek resident, said he travels I-405 frequently in the HOV lanes, and that he’s willing to pay the toll if it means he can get to his destinations on time.

“During rush hour, trips that used to take me well over an hour can now be done in about 35 minutes,” Milloy said at the hearing. “Paying a modest toll, usually 75 cents, is well worth it to reduce my time on the road.”

At some travel times, commuters are paying well over 75 cents and have complained about paying as much as $10 to drive in the lanes—the maximum toll rate. Hill said commuters have also complained about WSDOT’s response to calls.

“We’re talking about 25-minute wait times on the phone,” he said.

Patty Rubstello, WSDOT assistant secretary for tolling, said the toll lanes have had beneficial effects. She said the department has seen more than one million trips each month on the toll lanes, and that people are taking advantage of the lanes for quicker commutes.

“Not every day,” she said. “But when they need to, they can get a faster and more reliable trip.”

Rubstello said the department is listening and has plans to address issues. She said the agency has identified places where access lanes need to be expanded and that the department will modify two of those access points next week to help relieve traffic.

The department currently has two years to see how the lanes work, and they must be removed if they don’t meet certain standards during that two-year period. Traffic in the toll lanes must maintain speeds of 45 miles per hour 90 percent of the time during their peak use, and they must generate enough revenue to pay for all costs related to operating the lanes.

If passed by the Legislature, the bill would go into effect immediately, though Rubstello said it’d take about 18 months to successfully remove the lanes—pushing the lanes close toward their two-year period.

Hill and Harmsworth want the issue resolved.

“I can’t wait two years with a failed experiment to see if this is going to work or not,” Harmsworth said.