Date:  Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Contact: Contacts: Victoria Tobin, WSDOT Communications, 206-464-1184 (Seattle)
Patty Rubstello, Project Engineer, 206-464-1299 (Seattle)

RENTON – WSDOT crews are installing gantries over SR 167 that soon will support signs and electronic tolling equipment for the SR 167 HOT Lanes Pilot Project. It’s a signal to motorists that the state’s first high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes soon will begin offering solo drivers a new choice for their commute while reducing congestion in all lanes along nine miles of SR 167 from Renton to Auburn

The new overhead gantries will support electronic, variable-message signs that display the current toll rate and signal to drivers when a HOT lane access point is approaching. Smaller gantries at each of the six northbound and four southbound access points will support electronic readers that detect Good To Go!™ transponders and automatically debit tolls as solo drivers pass beneath them.

Drivers might also notice equipment that extends over the left general purpose lane. Those readers enable the system to pinpoint exactly where each transponder is, so vehicles with transponders traveling outside the HOT lane aren’t mistakenly tolled.

The HOT lanes team is fine tuning the system’s electronic tolling software and other equipment while preparing for opening day this spring. An exact date will be announced in the coming weeks.

In late March, road crews will add a second solid stripe to the existing white stripe that currently separates the HOV lanes from the general purpose lanes. Once the second stripe is down and warning signs are uncovered, it will be illegal for all drivers to cross the solid double white lines. Access in and out of the HOV/HOT lane will be permitted only at the designated access point marked by a single dashed line. This enables the State Patrol to monitor which solo drivers paid to enter the HOT lanes and which did not.

The SR 167 HOT lanes will help ease traffic congestion by better distributing traffic between the clogged general purpose lanes and the HOV lanes which typically go underused. When there’s available space, solo drivers will have the option to drive in the HOT lane by paying an electronic toll that automatically goes up and down with the level of traffic. Carpools, vanpools, transit and motorcycles will continue to use the HOT lane toll free.

To open a Good To Go! account and obtain a transponder, log on to the Web site (http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/goodtogo) and fill out an electronic application form, or call customer service at 1-866-936-8246. Carpools, vanpools and motorcycles that have transponders for the Tacoma Narrows Bridge or occasional solo-driver use of HOT lanes may also obtain a shield from Good To Go! (available late March). When placed over the transponder, the shield interferes with the signal and deactivates the transponder.

Applicants also may sign up in person at the Good To Go! customer service office at 3212 50th Street Court NW, Suite 200 in Gig Harbor. In coming weeks, a mobile Good To Go! customer service office will appear at various locations along SR 167. Log onto to the SR 167 HOT Lanes Pilot Project Web site (http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/SR167/HOTLanes/Default.htm) for schedules and locations to be posted in mid March.

New road rules for HOT lanes

• Solo drivers must have a properly mounted and operating Good To Go! transponder to drive in the HOT lane.
• All vehicles must enter HOT lanes only at access points designated by a dashed white line. It is illegal to cross the double-white line.
• Transit vehicles, vanpools, carpools and motorcycles may use the HOT lanes toll free. (No transponder necessary.)
• No vehicles heavier than 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight are allowed to use HOT or HOV lanes.
  

Visit the SR 167 HOT lanes Web site:

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/SR167/HOTLanes/

###

< Back to News Home