WSDOT hoping ‘Weave lane access’ on I-405 cuts Bothell congestion
Apr 6, 2017, 9:35 AM | Updated: 10:46 am
This is the adjustment coming to the I-405 express toll lane access point in Bothell. The left image shows the current "skip stripe access." The right shows the future "weave lane access."(WSDOT)
(WSDOT)
The state is throwing another quick fix at northbound I-405, hoping it will help the daily afternoon chokepoint in Bothell.
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We all know that the drive approaching and getting through Bothell is the one spot that has become worse in the year-and-a-half since tolling went into effect.
It backs up every afternoon because the heavily used road goes from five lanes to three.
In a few weeks, the Washington State Department of Transportation will work on adding shoulder driving north of State Route 527.
WSDOT just announced another change that could happen as soon as next week.
“We’ll be addressing a spot where cars slow down to exit the northbound express toll lanes south of SR 527, by adding a new lane in Bothell to give drivers space to pull out of the express toll lanes before merging into the regular lanes,” said Washington State Department of Transportation spokesperson Ethan Bergerson.
The state is going to re-stripe the freeway to create a new half-mile merge lane out of the express toll lane before the SR 527 exit.
This means that if drivers need to get out, they will have a dedicated space to find a place to merge into regular traffic. The general purpose lanes of I-405 will now jog slightly to the right, pushing the far right lane onto the current shoulder to make room for this lane.
“There will be a dedicated space to exit the express toll lanes, match the speeds of the regular lanes, before they merge over,” Bergerson said.
The I-405 problem
More than 5,000 cars are merging out of the toll lanes at that spot each afternoon, and as drivers look for a spot to merge right into the general lanes to get to their exit, they are slowing down the toll lanes.
“Cars decrease their speeds in the express toll lanes to find a gap in the regular lanes when they merge over,” Bergerson said. “Since there’s only one express toll lane in this area, there’s nowhere for cars to pass slower moving vehicles which can create backups behind them.”
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The biggest impact of this move will likely be to drivers in the general purpose lanes. They are going to have to get used to the new jog to the right. The impact to those in the toll lanes should be increased speed through this stretch of freeway.
Will it fix the daily chokepoint approaching Bothell? No. It will likely help a bit, but congestion likely won’t vanish until the new lane between SR 522 and I-5 is added. And that part of this corridor is not yet funded.
But Bergerson says the state will continue to look for opportunities like this to make the corridor work better.
“What we’re really looking for is when there’s an opportunity to improve things, we take it,” he said.
The re-striping should happen next week. It is weather-dependent. Workers will need a few nights of lane closures to get this done.
