Why is WSDOT building a carpool lane instead of a general purpose lane?
HOV lanes are an efficient way to address increasing traffic demands on the Puget Sound freeway system. Last year during rush hours, HOV lanes moved about a third of the people on Puget Sound freeways in only 18 percent of the vehicles. That means fewer cars trying to squeeze into the regular lanes and more people moving smoothly on our highways. Buses, vanpools, and carpools would be slower and less reliable if we opened the HOV lanes to all drivers. A newly opened general purpose lane would quickly fill up with as much traffic as the other lanes.
This new HOV lane will also be a part of the State Route 167 High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes project. The four-year pilot project will convert nine miles of existing carpool lanes along SR 167 into HOT lanes. HOT lanes maintain toll-free, priority status to transit and carpools, but also allow solo-drivers that pay a toll to use the lanes. Toll rates will automatically vary depending on the level of congestion. WSDOT is using the pilot project to assess how HOT lanes could be implemented on other highways in the Puget Sound region.
Why does building an HOV lane cost $40 million?
The cost of a project can vary by the type of work being done, such as bridge and interchange improvements, by the project’s environmental constraints and by overall construction costs. WSDOT construction projects must also comply with a number of environmental, federal and safety regulations. All of these items contribute to the cost of a project.
We are widening SR 167 to accommodate an HOV lane and upgrading several interchanges. We are also expanding the bridge and on-ramp at SR 18 to provide space for the additional lane. Additionally, environmental improvements, such as stormwater treatment facilities, will help keep our streams, rivers and lakes clean. The $40 million price includes all of this work and reflects the increasing costs of labor and materials, such as oil, asphalt and concrete.
Why can’t WSDOT use money from other projects such as cable median barrier, HOT lanes and 10-foot shoulders, etc to build more lanes on SR 167?
We design and operate our highways, ramps, and interchanges to help keep drivers safe and moving. Eliminating cable barrier and HOV lanes would not help achieve this goal. In fact there would be more congestion and a higher number of serious collisions on the highway. Statewide cable barrier stops 95 percent of solo cars from crossing the median. This prevents the worst kind of collisions - crossover and head-on collisions. Furthermore, because these safety features are effective, there are state and federal laws that require WSDOT to keep roads up to current standards. Some efforts, such as installing cable barriers throughout the state, are financed by specific safety-dedicated budgets.
Why is WSDOT spending money to install metered on-ramps?
Ramp meters help us with our priority of keeping highways safe and traffic moving. In fact, if we didn’t have ramp meters there would be more congestion and a higher number of serious collisions on the highway. For example, ramp meters reduce accidents statewide by 30 percent. They create a delay between cars entering the freeway to help them merge more smoothly.
The existing SR 167 bridge over SR 18 is wide enough to accommodate an extra lane. Why doesn’t WSDOT narrow the shoulders and restripe the highway to add an additional lane?
The SR 167 shoulders weren’t built to support the amount of traffic that highway lanes carry each day. If we put traffic on the shoulders, they would fail soon. WSDOT’s priority is to make roads safer and keep traffic moving. A ten-foot shoulder provides the necessary space for drivers to safely pull over in case of break down or emergency. This keeps them out of traffic and prevents congestion due to blocked lanes.
Why not widen southbound SR 167 while you’re already working on the northbound HOV lanes? You’re going to need to widen the road eventually so it makes more sense to do it all now.
Our project schedules are based on funding availability and we must work with the budgets provided by the Legislature. Right now crews are widening the northbound lanes on SR 167 to provide a continuous carpool lane from the Auburn Supermall to Interstate 405 in Renton.
We have plans to widen SR 167 in the southbound direction to add or improve the existing HOV lane from 37th Street NW in Auburn to 24th Street E. in Sumner. We are currently designing this project and expect to start construction in 2009.
Why isn’t WSDOT widening SR 167 all the way to the median? Why is WSDOT filling the median with grass instead of using that space for more lanes?
The grassy median is instrumental in straining out heavy metals from stormwater before it enters the streams and lakes. The median also provides a buffer to separate opposing traffic and prevent crossover or head-on collisions.
Keeping the grass median also fulfills our permit requirements. Without these permits we could not build this project. These safety and environmental features are a required part of widening SR 167 and is the reason why we cannot widen the median for future use. That green space is important for safety and clean water.