Boeing Express Road -- First Hov Lane On County Arterial Under Evaluation

Snohomish County did something unique when it built a special lane for buses and carpools to relieve the road-choking traffic congestion during the afternoon Boeing Co. shift change.

It was the first time in this state that a high-occupancy-vehicle lane was built on a county arterial.

HOV lanes have been built on federal highways, like Interstate 5, to encourage carpooling and make riding the bus more attractive. In Seattle, there is an HOV lane on Highway 99, but that is a state highway.

In Snohomish County, the special lane on Airport Road and 128th Street Southwest between Boeing's Everett plant and I-5 opened in January for afternoon traffic headed toward the freeway. The jury is out on whether the HOV lane is a success.

Built partly with money Boeing provided for mitigation in constructing its new plant, the HOV lane is encouraging to the Boeing employees using vanpools or carpools, according to Frank Figg, a Boeing spokesman. He noted, however, that what is built is a temporary fix, a single lane going only eastbound during peak hours. Construction of a second lane to go westbound is planned later.

The road is carrying more traffic than it did before; there is no question about that, Figg added.

Larry Ingalls, capital facilities director for Snohomish County's bus system, Community Transit, said the lane appears to work out well for Boeing workers.

Snohomish County is looking for a more scientific basis for

making an evaluation.

MORE LANES PLANNED

When the Boeing-area lane was installed, the county also created an elaborate evaluation schedule, with the first coming three months after the lane opened to traffic. That evaluation is being done now, said Gary Powell, design and construction director in the county Department of Public Works.

Constructing the special lane was spurred by a CT-sponsored report to identify if HOV lanes or priority traffic improvements for buses and carpools would be appropriate for any county or city roads. One goal of the study was not to worsen traffic in the general travel lanes, Ingalls said.

The one-year study also is unique. No where else in the nation has it been done.

Study consultants Parsons, Brickerhoff Quade & Douglas Inc. considered 100 miles of road in the county. It said special treatment would be valuable on 25 miles, most of it in South Snohomish County.

It proposed HOV lanes for Highway 99, the Mukilteo Speedway, the Airport Road-128th Street link, portions of 196th Street and 44th Avenue in Lynnwood, and on part of state Highway 2, from I-5 to Highway 204 near Lake Stevens.

The report said so-called "special treatments" such as giving buses a head start at or priority to get through traffic lights would be useful along parts of the Bothell-Everett Highway, Highway 104 from the freeway to downtown Edmonds, on 212th Street Southwest in Mountlake Terrace and on Highway 9 near Lake Stevens.

There are a variety of ways to give buses priority: having a signal turn green for bus lanes only 15 to 30 seconds before they change for other lanes, providing for separate HOV turn lanes, electronically changing the traffic signal to green when a bus approaches as well as separate HOV lanes.

Special treatment for buses provides for a more reliable bus schedule and that could translate into more people opting for public transit in lieu of driving alone in their cars, according to transit officials.

"We think it will help quite a bit," said Ingalls.

Establishing a commuter model, the consultants studied each intersection. By decreasing the signal delay for buses on Highway 99, public transit can reduce travel time along that road by 30 percent, Ingalls said.

By implementing the report's recommendations, the road network could carry an additional 19,000 people during peak hours. That could reduce the number of additional general traffic lanes that would be needed, the report said.

The study recommends giving buses priority to get through traffic signals at 150 intersections and special access to freeways and park-and-ride lots.

It would cost $30 million to put all the recommendations into effect. CT is willing to provide 20 percent of the cost as a local match to capture federal dollars. Under new federal financing laws, providing HOV lanes will give a project an advantage at tapping into the federal money, Ingalls said.

POTENTIAL CONGESTION?

The roads in question are either under city or county jurisdiction. One of Ingalls' jobs will be to persuade the municipalities to go along with the proposals. That might not be easy.

Placing HOV lanes on county and city roads is far different from constructing special lanes on freeways.

Cars can enter interstates only at designated locations, unlike the regular cross streets on arterials where there are turns and frequent stops because of traffic lights or entrances for businesses.

"This is a really leading-edge type of analysis," said Loren Sand, Lynnwood public-works director. "They did very fine work."

But Sand is not convinced giving buses or carpools special lanes on Highway 99 will not create congestion on the cross streets.

Neither is Mukilteo Mayor Brian Sullivan sold on the idea of giving buses and carpools encouragement on the Mukilteo Speedway, where city officials for years have been trying to discourage traffic.

In Mukilteo, Ingalls concedes, his presentation was not met with enthusiasm.

"The mood of the council is not real excited about HOVs on an arterial," Sullivan agreed. "To change Mukilteo's mind now would be difficult. But I am willing to keep an open mind and work with CT to expedite buses through the corridor."

Though he envisions problems on Highway 99, Sand also believes now is the time to sit down with CT and seriously discuss what providing HOV lanes or giving buses a head start at traffic signals on Lynnwood streets will do to the city's notoriously crowded streets.

Widening Highway 99 from five to seven lanes from the King County line to 148th Street Southwest, a $16 million project, is ready for final design work. But HOV lanes do not have to be designed into the project. "The design is the same no matter what we do with the outside lane," Sand said.

Sand is concerned about congestion on cross streets but speculated that some special treatment for buses might be appropriate: a small priority given buses at intersections during specific times of the day, or making the outside lane a turn lane for in-and-out traffic and public transit.

"There is no other location where there is a similar situation as we have in Lynnwood," Sand said. "We need to know what safgeguards there are for the free flow of traffic."