Another challenging year for drivers expected with changes
Jan 2, 2015, 5:43 AM | Updated: 6:52 am
KIRO Radio traffic reporter Chris Sullivan expects commute times to get longer and frustration to increase in 2015. (AP file photo)
(AP file photo)
The new year could bring new challenges for drivers. Commute times are going to increase and frustration is going to rise. There are a few projects coming along designed to make your life easier, but those fixes come with a price.
All of that construction on I-405 between Bellevue and the Lynnwood merge with I-5 will finally end this year, but that means express tolling will begin on that stretch of Eastside freeway.
“It’s definitely good to see the light at the end of the tunnel,” said I-405 tolling engineer Todd Merkens. “We’re really looking forward to the last stretch here, in terms of getting the system up and running.”
The express toll lanes will allow drivers to pay their way into the HOV lane, just like drivers do on Highway 167 right now. To make sure drivers get charged the proper toll, a new Good To Go Pass will debut this spring.
“We’re calling it the Flex Pass,” Merkens said. “It will allow customers to let us know, in a kind of declaring mode, if they are carpooling or driving by themselves.”
The one huge outstanding question is who will be free in that HOV lane. The state Transportation Commission is deciding whether to increase the requirement to three people in the car to be free, and whether that requirement will be variable, based on traffic.
“Maybe five hours in the morning and five hours in the evening, we will be at three-plus HOV for being free and then other vehicles with two or single individuals would then pay whatever that rate is,” said state tolling division director Craig Stone.
Parking in Seattle will also be getting an overhaul this year. The city is replacing or retrofitting all 2,200 parking meters. They feature the latest technology, bigger display screens, and a much lower risk of eating your debit card.
Mike Estey, manager of parking operations and permits for the city, said variable pricing will be coming to meters too, charging rates based on demand.
“We will start to install time-of-day rates in Pioneer Square,” he said.
The variable pricing rates will then spread across the city. The maximum price, $4 an hour, will remain the same unless the Seattle City Council decides to change it.
