Bothell business owner leads fight against I-405 tolls
Jan 18, 2016, 10:48 PM | Updated: May 7, 2016, 10:49 pm
The Washington State Department of Transportation says the I-405 toll lanes are working great. But anti-toll activists have called the lanes a cancer.
Reality lies somewhere in the middle.
Cassandra Backman grew up in the Bothell area and has been driving I-405 her whole life. She took over the Den Coffeehouse in downtown Bothell about four years ago.
She said the new tolls have destroyed her commute.
“I actually live up right at the top of I-405, so I travel from the beginning of 405 just down to here, back and forth every day, and it’s insanely ridiculous,” Backman said. “It used to be a 10-15 minute drive. Now, it’s a 45 minute drive. That’s a pretty big change.”
She has only paid to use the lanes once or twice.
“I only use it for carpool when I have my husband and son in the car — when it’s three-person,” she said. “Otherwise, I just sit in the traffic.”
Despite the numbers WSDOT produces — claiming there haven’t been a bunch of diversions to other roads — Backman says she’s living in a different reality.
“It’s just been a lot more congested on the back roads,” she said. “Pretty much no matter where you go, you’re going to be hitting a ton of traffic.”
She believes something has to change to improve the overall conditions on I-405.
Her business was the first place you could find “Stop 405 Tolls” bumper stickers. She says the new tolls are huge topic of discussion every day.
Despite her frustration, Backman is not a complete fan of the legislation introduced last week that would gut the toll system, eliminating the double toll lanes south of Bothell. If passed, the legislation would also open up toll lanes to all traffic between 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. and remove the double white lines and filter lanes.
“The only time I actually really do like those lanes is when there are two because then you have the option to go around someone if they’re slow and clogging up the lane,” she said. “I think it would be better to make them two lanes the entire way, if anything.”
And that, of course, is the Department of Transportation’s plan, once it gets funding from the Legislature.
Backman does like the idea of making the lanes free to everyone between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m. She also feels the lanes are just creating a bigger divide in the community.
“I feel like it puts a greater divide between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots,'” she said. “If you have a bunch of money and you can afford it, great. You can pay for the tolls. Anyone who can’t afford that every single day, especially when the tolls are super high, if you can’t afford those high prices then you just have to sit in the traffic.”
