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Express Lanes Urged To Ease Congestion

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The bus / toll lanes would be constructed on the existing median of I-75.

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By RICH SHOPES

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 2, 2008

TAMPA - Motorists running into gridlock on Interstate 75 might have an option in the next few years: Pay a toll to hop onto an uncongested lane.

The agency that runs the Selmon Crosstown Expressway is proposing separate toll lanes on parts of I-75 near Tampa and possibly other Bay area highways such as Interstate 275. The managed toll lanes would be built in the medians; electronic sensors would automatically bill motorists who use the lanes.

The idea is being pushed by the Tampa Hillsborough County Expressway Authority, though the toll lanes would need state approval and might involve financial backing from a host of local and regional agencies.

Joe Waggoner, executive director of the expressway authority, said the lanes could be up and running within five years.

Although motorists would have to pay to use the lanes, buses would get a free ride.

"What we're really trying to do is make transit the priority here," he said.

The managed lanes concept has been around for years. Typically built in the median of congested highways, or inside shoulders, tolls are charged according to the time of day. In general, as traffic volume increases at peak hours, the tolls go up.

The aim, Waggoner said, is to keep traffic flowing at 50 to 60 mph. Striping, plastic lane strips or concrete barriers would separate the lanes from the rest of the highway. Overhead sensors would deduct drivers' tolls automatically without vehicles having to slow down.

About a half-dozen U.S. highway systems use variable-pricing toll roads now, mostly in California and Texas, although a dozen across the nation are studying it. The tolls pay for construction and maintenance of the lanes.

In Florida, the concept, called 95 Express, is being tried on a stretch of Interstate 95 between Miami and Fort Lauderdale. Toll rates haven't been established but likely will fluctuate from 25 cents to $2.50 from the Golden Glades Interchange to downtown Miami. The two-year project started in February.

Like 95 Express, Waggoner said, Hillsborough's version would give buses a free ride to promote transit usage.

"If you put this in place then you really are encouraging bus rapid transit," he said.

At the moment, congestion levels might not be exasperating enough to sway drivers to jump to managed toll lanes, but they'll reach that point eventually, Waggoner said.

In Miami-Dade, where the managed lanes are under construction, about 250,000 cars a day travel I-95 between Fort Lauderdale and Miami. In Hillsborough, about 130,000 cars take I-75, but traffic experts say that daily total will double in 30 years.

In addition to the expressway authority's interest, the Department of Transportation's Tampa office has been studying the issue. The goal is to have managed toll lanes become part of a master transportation plan developed by the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority.

HART, the county's transit agency, could see a big boost in express bus service if the lanes move forward. David Armijo, HART's executive director, said the agency might seek federal funding to apply toward the lanes' construction. That would entitle the agency to a slice of the toll revenue.

HART and the expressway authority have approved having their planning staffs work together on the idea, starting in the next month or two. A proposal by HART for federal funding could go forward late next year.

"I think it's a great project," Armijo said. "The economy five years from now I think will be very solid and we're going to have a lot more traffic and a lot more people complaining, 'Why didn't we do something back when we had the opportunity?'"

In addition to I-75, managed toll lanes might work on I-275 between downtown and Tampa International Airport, he said.

TBARTA and the Department of Transportation are creating a long-range transportation plan combining highway projects, light rail, express buses and ferries. The plan is supposed to be finished by the end of the year.

"I'm confident there will be some component of this managed lanes in the master plan," said Bob Clifford, planning director at the DOT's Tampa office.

Reporter Rich Shopes can be reached at (813) 259-7633 or rshopes@tampatrib.com.

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