Dave Ross supports tolling boats that cross the 520 bridge
Aug 17, 2012, 1:08 PM | Updated: 3:27 pm
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We toll cars crossing the 520 bridge, so maybe it’s time for boats to pay a toll too.
In July, the Washington State Department of Transportation set new guidelines for marine traffic crossing Lake Washington.
The bridge would no longer be raised for boats to pass through during morning and evening rush hours. The new rules added an hour-and-a-half more than the previous rules and were designed to coincide with the bridge’s heaviest trafficked times.
That hasn’t seemed to slow marine traffic. On a sunny Friday, the bridge has opened four times; creating traffic headaches again, and again, and again.
This will be the 4th today, 5a, 10a, 11a, 2:30p MT:
@michaelmcdaniel:@wsdot_traffic@520_bridge Is 3 openings in a day a record.— WSDOT Traffic (@wsdot_traffic) August 17, 2012
It’s no surprise that Dave Ross, a commuter of the SR-520 and I-90 bridges, has the solution.
“If we’re getting charged a toll to cross it, [boats] should get charged a toll to cross it.”
Much like the statistics that show traffic has decreased on the 520 bridge, it may lessen marine traffic and in turn, lessen bridge openings for midday drivers.
That’s not what Dave has in mind.
“The toll [boaters] pay should be enough to refund the tolls for the people who are on the bridge.”
