Nickels on opening HOV lanes: ‘Big mistake’

SEATTLE—The Washington State Transportation Commission erred in opening High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes to general traffic during nighttime off-peak hours, according to Mayor Greg Nickels.

Nickels, in a press statement, said the money that would be used to open the lanes—$1.6 to 2 million—would not reduce congestion. It would have been wiser to use the money on critical regional projects such as the Alaskan Way Viaduct, he said.

Worst, he added, the commission ignored public opinion. According to the Washington State Department of Transportation, a majority of those who submitted public comments opposed opening HOV lanes. They include leaders from Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, Auburn and Everett.

Earlier, the commission voted to change existing policies and open eastside HOV lanes to general traffic from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. as soon as safety enhancements are completed in late summer. The change affects Interstate 405, State Route 167, State Route 520 and Interstate 90 (east of I-405).

The commission also decided to explore converting I-405 and SR 167 HOV lanes to High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes during midday off-peak hours. HOT lanes allow general traffic drivers to use HOV lanes for a fee.

“These moves allow us to better manage the freeways to maintain efficiencies for transit and carpools while increasing convenience and safety for drivers outside off-peak travel times,” Transportation Commission Chairman Aubrey Davis said.

“If we are to handle future growth of general-purpose and HOV traffic, we need a future-oriented strategy to manage traffic within the capacity that will be available,” Davis added.

Nickels disagreed.

“This is a step backward from our region’s vision of moving people efficiently,” Nickels said.

“Undoing long-time, effective policies is not the way to reduce congestion. I believe we should be doing more, not less, to encourage people to use HOV lanes by carpooling and riding the bus,” he added.

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