‘WSDOT’s head is stuck in the sand’: Jake and Spike grill agency over not switching I-5 express lanes

Northbound I-5 has been reduced to two lanes while the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) works on the next chapter of its invasive Revive I-5 project. As a result, the express lanes will only function south to north. Therefore, southbound I-5 drivers will be without access to the express lanes for the next five months.

KIRO host Jake Skorheim, who started a petition with KIRO host Spike O’Neill to switch the express lanes during rush hour, had one question for WSDOT: “Why do you hate us so much?”

“Hate has nothing to do with it,” Tom Pearce, communications consultant for WSDOT, responded on “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio. “It’s about we’ve got this huge project that we’ve got to get done. We’re going to be working on both directions of the Ship Canal bridge for the next two years. We’re working northbound this year with the express lanes northbound only.”

“Next year, we’re going to be working southbound with the express lane southbound only,” he continued. “So it’s just a volume of work. We’re working on like three-quarters of a mile of the bridge, that has to be, we’ve got to open it up, make sure that the structure is in good shape.”

While Jake said he appreciates the work on the bridge, he questioned why the express lanes can’t reverse direction like they do on a typical day.

Why can’t WSDOT just open the express lanes?

“Can’t we open those lanes up for a couple of hours in the morning just to alleviate some of that backup? Because I was in it for two hours yesterday,” Jake asked.

Mike Swires, WSDOT’s assistant regional administrator for traffic, said the setup is designed to prevent a total shutdown if a crash occurs.

“If we didn’t have a way to maintain throughput and capacity on the roadway system, anytime we had a collision occur, northbound I-5, all of northbound, would basically be shut down until we’re able to clear that crash,” he explained.

“I respect that, and I want there to be safety. But that’s also true for any time there’s a bad accident on any freeway. Right?” Jake asked. “There are guardrails on the freeway, so those are difficult to get in and out of. And so if there is a bad crash, that would be true for times outside of road work, too. Isn’t that right?”

Mike said that while there are collisions on the road all the time, in this case, a crash could shut down the entire freeway.

“If we were to reverse the express lanes and run them for any period of time, we would lose that capacity altogether. And northbound I-5 would be down to zero lanes until the crash is cleared. And this is right north of downtown in our busiest, most heavily traveled section of I-5,” he explained.

Jake reiterated that traffic is “extremely bad from north to south.”

While drivers are facing delays, Mike noted WSDOT is seeing traffic times trending in the right direction.

“It takes several weeks for an impact like this, a roadway closure and change in operations, to kind of shake out, and people to adjust the times they choose to travel, the routes they can take, and those sorts of things,” he said. “Over the last two weeks, we’ve seen about a five to 10-minute improvement in southbound travel times, and we expect to continue to see changes in improvements as this goes on.”

Mike added that any changes WSDOT makes to the express lanes could have a ripple effect throughout the city, specifically on I-405 or SR 99.

Jake pressed again about opening the express lanes in the morning, to which Mike responded, “At this point, we’re not going to try something like that when we see the numbers trending in the right direction.”

What about waiving tolling fees?

Spike asked if WSDOT would at least consider waiving the toll lanes on I-405.

Tom responded that the Washington State Transportation Commission sets the toll prices, not WSDOT, but that they would mention it.

In closing, Jake said he and Spike would keep the pressure on WSDOT in hopes of seeing a change down the road.

“We’re still going to stay on this, and I really do think you guys should consider opening up the express lanes, because to me, this feels like WSDOT has their head completely stuck in the sand. And I would love if we could get these lanes open, get people moving throughout the region, because it’s bad, it’s really bad, and people are going crazy,” Jake said.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.