WSDOT: Toll drivers on I-5 express lanes
SEATTLE -- Attention, drivers: there might be tolls in your future, and not just to the Eastside, either.
There might even be tolls on the Interstate 5 express lanes.
And under a plan released by the state Department of Transportation on Wednesday, the charge could be as much as $5.50 during the afternoon rush hour.
Why would anyone pay that much for the privilege of driving in the express lanes that's 5 miles long, be it morning or afternoon?
The state Department of Transportation's tolling director Craig Stone has this answer: "If you can get to downtown Seattle 17 mph or 20 mph faster, is that worth it to you or not?"
Some may point to the high gas taxes and ask why we need a toll. The problem is not that drivers are paying less gas tax; it's that the feds are no longer sending the money needed to fix freeways.
"We have a long need of improvements on I-5. We need $2 billion of just pavement rehabilitation that's needed in King County alone," said Stone.
The state is already tolling the Tacoma Narrows bridge, and will start tolling 520 just as soon as crews work out all the bugs. And now I-5 tolling looms in the horizon.
"It doesn't sound good to me," said driver Andy Payton. "They are also talking about tolling in the mountains. Are they going to toll everything?"
Yes, you read right. The state may even toll in the mountains.
"Snow removal in the passes, keeping them open year round -- I believe you may have to," said Philip Parker, vice chair of the transportation committee.
"I think they are trying to be creative to get money they don't have," said driver Jan Cunningham. "I don't like it, but what else are they going to do? They've got to do something."
The only other alternative might be a huge statewide increase in the gas tax, which DOT officials say might prove even less popular.
The state Legislature must approve the I-90 tolling plan.
There might even be tolls on the Interstate 5 express lanes.
And under a plan released by the state Department of Transportation on Wednesday, the charge could be as much as $5.50 during the afternoon rush hour.
Why would anyone pay that much for the privilege of driving in the express lanes that's 5 miles long, be it morning or afternoon?
The state Department of Transportation's tolling director Craig Stone has this answer: "If you can get to downtown Seattle 17 mph or 20 mph faster, is that worth it to you or not?"
Some may point to the high gas taxes and ask why we need a toll. The problem is not that drivers are paying less gas tax; it's that the feds are no longer sending the money needed to fix freeways.
"We have a long need of improvements on I-5. We need $2 billion of just pavement rehabilitation that's needed in King County alone," said Stone.
The state is already tolling the Tacoma Narrows bridge, and will start tolling 520 just as soon as crews work out all the bugs. And now I-5 tolling looms in the horizon.
"It doesn't sound good to me," said driver Andy Payton. "They are also talking about tolling in the mountains. Are they going to toll everything?"
Yes, you read right. The state may even toll in the mountains.
"Snow removal in the passes, keeping them open year round -- I believe you may have to," said Philip Parker, vice chair of the transportation committee.
"I think they are trying to be creative to get money they don't have," said driver Jan Cunningham. "I don't like it, but what else are they going to do? They've got to do something."
The only other alternative might be a huge statewide increase in the gas tax, which DOT officials say might prove even less popular.
The state Legislature must approve the I-90 tolling plan.
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