The express toll lanes run for 17 miles from where it meets I-5 in Lynwood to Northeast 6th Street in Bellevue – through Bothell and Kirkland. The toll rates were set by the Washington State Transportation Commission (WSTC) earlier this year.

At a press conference Thursday in Bothell, Tolling Division Assistant Secretary Craig Stone said the tolling represents 15 years of working with the community and the public to address growing traffic congestion on the Eastside. Stone and other WSDOT officials believe the toll lanes will help ease congestion and give drivers in the HOB lanes a more reliable trip.

WSDOT Secretary Lynn A. Peterson added that the lanes will also give drivers the option of taking a faster route, something which wasn’t available before. She said they expect there to still be congestion during peak hours, but that it will not happen as easily as it does now.

In the meantime, Peterson said, drivers should take the time before Sept. 27 to get used to the system and get a Good to Go Pass in order to use the express toll lanes without an additional fee.

“We need to be serious with our drivers,” Stone said. “This is crunch time to get ready for Sept. 27. We want people to take action.”

Drivers will also need a Flex Pass. Carpools will also have to get a transponder to place in the vehicle.

So far, Stone said, they have distributed 50,000 passes, but they are looking for that number to grow in the coming weeks.

Peterson said they chose Sept. 27 to start tolling because they needed to get the striping finished before the rainy season started but also give them time to test the system and ensure that it worked properly.

“Everything is testing out great,” Stone said, though he added there could be challenges that come along. He stated that it will take six months to a year for traffic levels to fully settle down.

According to Peterson, it is the 33rd express toll lane in the country and the second one in the state. The other express toll lane is on State Route 167 between Renton and Auburn.

WSDOT officials have cited similar express lanes in other parts of the country, such as Miami, as evidence that tolling can relieve congestion and improve highway speeds.

Toll rates for the HOV lanes will be updated every five minutes based on the average speed of each lane. The toll minimum is 75 cents and the maximum is $10, though according to Stone, 90 percent of tolls will be less than $4.

The toll is set so that the vehicles to be traveling at 45 miles per hour 90 percent of the time as per state and federal requirements. Currently, vehicles are only traveling that speed 60 percent of the time, according to Stone, in spite of adding nine transit centers, 5,000 new park and ride parking stalls and 1,700 vanpools since 2002.

Peterson expressed her confidence that tolling will allow HOV lanes to meet that 45 mph requirement.

One of the most controversial aspects of WSTC’s decision for tolling concerned carpool restrictions. Between 5-9 a.m. and 3-7 p.m. on weekdays, cars with three or more persons will not have to pay, whereas before it was only two persons per vehicle to drive in the HOV lane. During other times of the weekdays and all times during the weekend, carpools will still only require two people.

Opponents of the restriction, many of whom spoke at the WSTC’s public hearings earlier this year at Kirkland City Hall, claim that they will be unable to find a third person for their carpool and that the policy will drive more cars into the regular lanes, making congestion even worse.

Peterson said that carpools with less than three people can still use the lane, but they will need to pay.

Critics have said that it will take away any financial reasons to carpool in the first place.

WSDOT is working with the Washington State Patrol to enforce the HOV lane restrictions.

A concern of several Kirkland residents who spoke at the WSTC’s spring meetings was that the tolls would lead not only to more congestion but spillover traffic to city streets by commuters looking to avoid either the tolls or bad traffic.

Stone said that they will be working closely with the cities on a daily basis to determine how the traffic impacts their major arterials. He also said that they will be adding an additional lane and that rather than cause spillover, the tolling will ease congestion in those lanes and draw commuters off city streets.

The vendor handling the tolling fees for the HOV lanes is Electronic Transaction Consultants (ETC), the same vendor WSDOT has for the 520 bridge tolling. It also handles the lane systems for the State Route 167 hotlane.

If drivers don’t qualify for a free Flex Pass, they can still buy one for $15 at GoodToGo.com, by calling 1-866-936-8246.