News

Transportation leaders are asking for these new changes in 405 toll lanes

In efforts to improve safety and ease congestion on Interstate 405, toll lane changes were announced by House Democrats on Tuesday.

Transportation committee members and legislators along I-405 sent a letter to the transportation commission chair on Tuesday, writing to request changes in the operation and management of the express toll lanes system.

The improvements include: 

  • Lengthening access to the lanes in areas where entry and exit have proved difficult
  • Making merging at the north and south endpoints easier and safer
  • Providing more clarity around when and how tolls are processed through signage

House Democrats said they worked jointly with Washington State Department of Transportation officials, but when KIRO 7 News called WSDOT to comment, they said this information was so new that they needed time to process it before they could say anything about it.

These changes follow a work session on I-405 last week in the House Transportation Committee, which featured presentations from WSDOT, local governments along the interstate and the founder of the “Stop 405 Tolls” petition.

%

INLINE

%

Among the 11 House Democrats who drafted the plan to change the I-405 toll corridor is State Representative Judy Clibborn of Mercer Island, who effectively killed a recent bill that would have radically changed the current I-405 toll system.

Harmsworth's bill would have eliminated one toll lane in either direction, and made the lanes free to all drivers between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m.

"The concerns of commuters have been heard loud and clear," said Clibborn , chair of the Transportation Committee, in a news release. "These are real solutions to real problems, not knee-jerk proposals that would do more harm than good."

"My district has gotten the worst of it."

Another author of I-405 change is State Representative Luis Moscoso from Bothell, where I-405 traffic is described as a clogged artery during morning and afternoon commutes.

Moscoso is another one of the 11 lawmakers calling for WSDOT to make toll lanes free on non-peak hours and weekends, to give drivers more access to get over restricted lane stripes, and to open a shoulder for use to make up for the loss of general purpose lanes. The plan calls for WSDOT to add a general purpose lane between SR 520 and Northeast 70th street.

"I think we have to more aggressively help WSDOT move as quickly as possible to change this," Moscoso said.

Even some hardened I-405 toll lane skeptics say some ideas in the lawmakers' plan is a good start. David Hablewitz, who leads stop405tolls.org, told KIRO 7 that some lawmakers are getting the message, after more than 20,000 people signed a petition to eliminate the tolls

"The fact that they're looking at removing the toll for the off hours is right in line with what we're saying, so that's good, they're understanding that," said Hablewitz, who adds that express toll lanes won't work for the majority of commuters in the long run.

"Clearly, their goal is to create revenue out of this, not for congestion relief," he said. "The fact is that the tolls do not relieve congestion overall; they only relieves congestion for those who can buy their way into that lane."

Stay with kiro7.com for details on this developing story. 

In addition to improvements, lawmakers want WSDOT to stop tolling drivers during evening non-peak hours, weekends, and holidays.

Want to talk about the news of the day? Join us here on Facebook.