State proposes tolls on I-405 from Bellevue to Lynnwood

While motorists brace themselves to pay new tolls on the Highway 520 floating bridge this spring, state lawmakers are already planning the next move — to possibly toll the carpool lanes on Interstate 405 from Lynnwood to Bellevue.

The plan is to charge a toll for single- or dual-occupant vehicles to enter the carpool lane, where they would travel faster than cars in the congested general-purpose lanes. Similar "high occupancy or toll" (HOT) lanes already exist on Highway 167 south of Renton, and in several other U.S. cities.

Tolls on I-405 are part of a broader vision among state leaders to spread tolls throughout the urban parts of the state. Backers say tolls would reduce congestion and make up for what are expected to be flat gas-tax revenues. The new Tacoma Narrows Bridge is tolled, and the state Department of Transportation intends to toll the planned Highway 99 tunnel in 2016 to raise $400 million toward its construction. After the first phase of tolls between Bellevue and Lynnwood, the state hopes to extend its toll corridor all the way to Puyallup, by building new lanes and converting carpool lanes to HOT lanes.

"We're seeing this work in other places, and we think this is our future," said state Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond at a Senate hearing in Olympia on Wednesday, on a bill to launch I-405 tolling in 2014. The House already approved the legislation.

The state's experiment with the tolls on Highway 167 has caused a moderate improvement in travel times, even in the general lanes, since it began in 2008. But the 10-mile corridor from Renton to Auburn hasn't generated enough money to pay its startup costs for toll equipment, signs and collections. But Hammond said a budget update Thursday will show the project breaking even in the next year. Toll rates there fluctuate every few minutes between 50 cents and $9 for the entire route, depending on congestion, and average just under $1.

For the I-405 lanes, tolls are projected to be higher, averaging 74 cents a mile at peak times, a study said. This year's bill doesn't set rates.

The special lanes would be free to transit, van pools and carpools of three or more people. Two-person carpools and solo drivers would be forced into the general lanes, unless they pay the toll.

Drivers would pay by using the same "Good to Go" transponders as on other tolled highways. Instead of stopping at booths, cars pass under electronic devices that deduct money from a prepaid account. Drivers who lack "Good to Go" would likely be billed by mail.

Though toll income is stable on the Narrows Bridge, the varying toll rates and multiple exits on I-405 make revenue there hard to predict.

For example, tolls on the north segment of I-405 in the fifth year would bring in anywhere from $17 million to $56 million, with costs of $9 million to $14 million — such ranges, in a nonpartisan fiscal note, show how speculative the revenue can be.

Hammond said tolls will partly close the gap between the costs of adding lanes and what DOT can afford. The state has about $400 million available in the budget from gas-tax boosts in the last decade, to apply toward improvements worth $1.8 billion on I-405 and Highway 167, including carpool-lane flyovers where the highways meet in Renton. Some projects, including a major widening of I-405 just south of downtown Bellevue, are already finished.

"This appears to be the only game in town in terms of generating additional revenue for construction activities in the near future," said Duke Schaub, representing Associated General Contractors, at the hearing.

Sen. Doug Ericksen, R-Ferndale, replied that the state can start to build lanes now, while any toll income would await in the future. "The construction jobs would be created by the gas tax that was passed, not the HOT lanes," he said.

The I-405 bill calls for converting the carpool lane so it becomes one HOT lane alongside two general lanes each direction, from Lynnwood to Bothell. Then from Bothell to Bellevue, I-405 would be converted to have two HOT lanes and three general lanes each way.

Backers include Microsoft, the Bellevue Downtown Association and former Transportation Secretary Doug MacDonald. He said there's little doubt HOT lanes would improve mobility, though the income can't be predicted.

"These lanes improve flow. The reason they improve flow is that pricing meters demand, in a way that reduces the risk of clogging and delays," he said.

AAA Washington is supportive but wonders whether forcing two-occupant vehicles (which can now use carpool lanes) into the general lanes will worsen congestion.

Opponents include downtown Bellevue developer Kemper Freeman and the Eastside Transportation Association, which favors more general lanes. Member Bill Eager, a traffic engineer, said DOT "will want to keep congestion at a high enough level, that the misery index is high enough, that people will want to pay those tolls."

Meanwhile, tolls peaking at $3.50 each way are expected to begin sometime in mid-April on the old Highway 520 bridge, to cover one-fourth of the $4.65 billion cost of a replacement. Highway 99 tunnel tolls might reach a maximum $3.40 each way, though officials are far from a decision.

A bill to create I-405 HOT lanes almost passed last year.

Last fall, an expert review panel endorsed the plan and suggested detailed revenue studies for an entire 40-mile swath; the state proposed $2 million for that.

Senate Transportation Committee Chairwoman Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, said the toll plan deserves consideration.

"The issue is whether we move forward now, or wait a year," she said.

Mike Lindblom: 206-515-5631 or mlindblom@seattletimes.com