Date:
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Contact:
Joshua Cheatham, WSDOT Project Engineer, 253-872-2958 (Kent)
Greg Phipps, WSDOT Communications, 206-440-4702 (Seattle)
RENTON – Holiday shoppers will face congestion on SR 167 between Renton and Kent this weekend.
Crews working for WSDOT will close sections of the high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane between Interstate 405 in Renton and SR 516 in Kent from 11:59 p.m., Friday, Dec. 7, to 11 a.m., Monday, Dec. 10.
Drivers can expect congestion on southbound SR 167 and on both directions of I-405 approaching southbound SR 167, particularly between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
During the closure crews will install 40,000 feet of fiber optic cable for the SR 167 HOT Lanes Pilot Project. The fiber optic cable will provide communications for HOT lanes’ equipment, such as the signs that will display toll rates and the sensors that will read windshield-mounted transponders in vehicles using the HOT lanes. The cable installation will be a moving operation. Earlier in the weekend the HOV lane will be closed between I-405 and S. 212th Street in Kent as crews install one section of the fiber optic cable. Later in the weekend the HOV lane will be closed between S. 212th Street and SR 516 as crews install another section of the cable.
During the day on both Saturday and Sunday drivers may notice no work occurring. This is because labor rules require that crews take an eight-hour break between two 12-hour shifts. During these breaks the lane must remain closed because there is no shoulder along these sections of SR 167 to store the spool that feeds the cable.
The SR 167 HOT Lanes Pilot Project will allow solo drivers to pay a toll to use the HOV lanes. Toll rates are set electronically to keep HOT lanes traffic flowing at 45 miles per hour or faster, even when the regular lanes are congested. During the SR 167 HOT Lanes Pilot Project buses, vanpools, carpools and motorcycles may continue to use the HOT lanes without paying a toll. To use the lanes, solo drivers will need a pre-paid Good To Go! account and a transponder. Tolls will be debited from their accounts electronically upon entry. The HOT lanes will open to traffic in spring 2008.
To see how the new SR 167 HOT lanes will work, view the video on the SR 167 HOT lanes Web site at www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/SR167/HOTLanes. For more information on Good To Go!, visit the WSDOT Good To Go! Web site at www.wsdot.wa.gov/GoodToGo.
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