Senators vote to rescind tolls during off-peak hours

05/19/2005

Laurie Blake, Star Tribune
May 19, 2005

A provision that could lead to reopening segments of the new Interstate Hwy. 394 toll lanes to all traffic during off-peak hours was passed Wednesday by the Minnesota Senate as part of a larger transportation policy bill.

Meanwhile, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) reported a surge in new toll accounts and asked for more time to evaluate the operation of the lanes before concluding that a change is needed.

The legislation passed by the Senate answers complaints from westbound drivers in the general lanes about new congestion that has been reported since the toll lanes opened on Monday. Morning reverse commuters and those who go home in the evening after 6 p.m. now find their trips on westbound I-394 extended by 15 minutes or more.

Sens. Gen Olson, R-Minnestrista, and Ann Rest, DFL-New Hope, sponsored the measure saying the toll lanes were intended to relieve, not cause, congestion on I-394.

The language approved Wednesday says transportation officials “shall designate off-peak hours, during which user fees may not be charged” for the toll lanes west of Hwy. 100.

Legislators approved the creation of the toll lanes, and Rest was one of the chief sponsors of the original legislation that put the toll operations in MnDOT’s hands. This measure, which will require approval of the House and the governor before becoming law, sends a strong signal that legislators want MnDOT to make adjustments.

Meanwhile, the number of toll accounts shot up from 3,400 by opening day to 5,033 through Tuesday.

“The rush for transponders is telling us we are doing some things very well,” said Nick Thompson, director of the toll lane project for MnDOT.

Under the toll system, drivers get the transponders, or windshield devices, that they use to pay variable tolls electronically. Currently, the lanes are reserved at all times for toll-payers, buses, motorcycles and cars with at least one passenger.

The new toll lanes took the place of the old carpool-bus lanes that were off-limits to general traffic only three hours per day in each direction west of Hwy. 100.

The commuters who are complaining say they object to losing the use of the left express lane. Because the toll lanes operate 24 hours per day, many motorists now must pay a toll to use the lanes during off-peak hours when they used to be able to use them for free.

For these drivers, the freeway has shrunk from three lanes to two—causing congestion at hours when they experienced no congestion before.

And many are angry about it.

“Something needs be done about this,” said Kemal Balioglu of Fridley, who commutes to work in Minnetonka on I-394 at about 8:30 a.m. Just merging from Hwy. 100 to I-394 now takes him five to 10 minutes. “Even if I wanted to use the toll lane, I have to merge into the other congested two lanes first. ... This was not thought through very well.”

Said Mara Schutz of south Minneapolis: “My commute at 7:30 a.m. was perfectly fine—a 25-minute commute to Wayzata.” It now takes about 40 minutes.

“Same going home at 4 p.m. It used to be slick—only congesting at Penn Avenue,” Schutz said. “Now it’s backed up by Ridgedale, making the commute horrible” and keeping her from getting home to her son by 5 p.m. She said the $40 necessary to open a toll account is not within her budget.

MnDOT’s Thompson said it looks as if traffic flow in the eastbound general lanes has improved at night, but he acknowledged that westbound general lanes are showing congestion.

“That is the only issue we are hearing about with this road,” he said. “MnDOT will continue to monitor and we can evaluate whether changes are needed after we can see some more. Traffic is so different you need more than one or two days.”

Rest, however, said people saw it coming. MnDOT “has said they are going to monitor things and evaluate them,” she said. “But some of us as far back as last November and December identified this issue as a potential significant problem. And I don’t believe we received a particularly satisfactory response.”

Added Olson: “As one who drives [1-394] from one end to the other regularly ... I have anticipated that the relief of congestion had the greatest possibility during the peak hours.

“By continuing to charge beyond peak hours,” Olson said, “I see congestion happening in the other lanes.”