SR 167 HOV lane finally opening
Aug 2, 2022, 6:42 AM | Updated: 7:16 am
(Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)
(Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)
The orange cones on northbound State Route 167 have frustrated drivers for months, but they should disappear in the next few weeks.
The cones have been blocking off the new left lane between Sumner and Auburn, leaving drivers frustrated that an open lane is just sitting idle when they are backed up daily. Cara Mitchell with the Washington Department of Transportation said workers are still using that lane to finalize the project. “They’re keeping those cones there because they do have some work they have to take care of in that median barrier,” she said. “The cones give them a work zone and the opportunity to be out there during the day.”
Keeping that lane blocked also helps keep the project on schedule. “If we opened it up and had to close it back during the day, it would just take that much longer to get the work done and get those lanes open,” Mitchell said. “There’s a reason for keeping that lane cordoned off for workers when they need it.”
So the question that every driver from Puyallup to Auburn wants to is “when will that lane open?”
“A large section, probably about six miles of that HOV lane, is going to open in mid-August, maybe a little bit sooner than that,” Mitchell said. “We’re going to have a section of it, right at the very beginning near the 410 interchanges that’s not going to open yet. They still have some drainage that they need to finish on that overpass.”
So mid-August, just a few more weeks, and don’t forget this new lane will be an HOV lane.
It will connect with the existing HOV lane in Auburn, which drivers know is a toll lane the rest of the way into Renton. Eventually, this new section from Sumner to Auburn will be folded into the High Occupancy Toll system.
“It will transition over into a toll lane at a future date,” Mitchell said.
I checked with the toll division and the transition to a tolled lane is scheduled for 2025. The state needs to upgrade all the tolling equipment along the corridor before the transition. Once that is finished, drivers will need to upgrade to a flex pass, if they want to drive in those lanes for free as an HOV.
The plan is to extend the southbound HOT lane from Auburn to Sumner, but that project hasn’t been funded yet.
They will then all be folded into the completion of 167, known as the Gateway Project, which will also be tolled from Puyallup to Fife.
Follow @https://twitter.com/newsguysully
