I-405 tolling bill moves forward in Olympia

State House members, after a lengthy debate, on Saturday narrowly approved a controversial bill calling for charging tolls on lanes of Interstate 405.

The vote was 52 to 46, largely along party lines, in the second attempt in a year to establish toll lanes on the crowded Eastside freeway.

The measure now goes to the Senate, which could add a pivotal amendment. The bill's chief sponsor, Rep. Judy Clibborn, D-Mercer Island, echoed other backers who think tolls are needed to finance other improvements on the route.

"Statewide money cannot cure what's going on in King County and in the Central Puget Sound area" on highways, Clibborn said in a House floor speech. "We need to have other tools."

Republicans tried unsuccessfully to amend the bill to keep tolls off of lanes built with gas-tax money and to allow private development of new tolled lanes. The said an experimental set of such "high occupancy toll" (HOT) lanes on Highway 167 hasn't worked well.

"It's not been that successful, quite honestly," said Rep. Jay Rodne, R-North Bend.

The measure directs the state Department of Transportation to develop and begin operating the system, which would be similar to those on 167.

The plan is to designate I-405 HOT lanes in each direction, including parts of segments that would be built starting next summer, as "express toll" lanes open to buses and carpools. Like 167, the lanes would be open to solo drivers who'd pay a toll to use them with tolls that would vary with time of day and traffic. A system could be in place by 2014 if lawmakers approved it this year.

Similar legislation passed the House last year but died in the Senate due to lack of support from cities along the corridor and questions over whether carpools should include at least two people or three. The new bill doesn't address the carpool question but would leave it to the transportation agency.

The department estimates that adding new lanes between Bellevue and Lynnwood would cost $388 million. Equipping the new lanes and one existing one for tolling would cost $67 million and the system would cost $8.75 million annually to operate.

Ultimately, toll backers hope to create a tolled-lane system extending from Lynnwood south beyond Auburn on 405 and 167. The I-405 tolls have not yet been set but Clibborn, who chairs the House Transportation Committee, said they "could raise enough revenue to fund the rest of the corridor (improvements) from Lynnwood to Puyallup at some point."

Officials have talked for years about adding tolls to some highways because of predictions that state gas tax revenues will decline as cars become more efficient and more hybrids and electric models hit the roads.

Rep. Mike Armstrong, R-Wenatchee, proposed allowing a private venture to build the HOT lanes, run them until it repays its investment and then turn them back to the state to operate permanently.

He said this would save the state the initial investment and wouldn't leave motorist in the position of building them with gas tax money and then paying to drive on them. His party members "would like to see the business world get into the process and build us some transportation lanes," he said.

Clibborn opposed the move, saying the 405 toll lanes also would be an experiment, in which the state could first see how much money they raise, then decide whether to have them privately operated. "We haven't precluded any decisions," she said.

Clibborn's counterpart, Senate Transportation Committee chairwoman Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, has proposed adding private-development language to the bill in her chamber. Clibborn, in an interview, predicted that move would ultimately kill the bill. House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, opposes privatization of highways.

The 167 HOT lanes, so far, have cost more more to operate than they raise in toll revenue. But state Department of Transportation officials say those lanes have been successful in other ways, improving traffic flow and speeds. The state Office of Fiscal Management estimates that an I-405 toll lane operation, with far larger traffic volumes, would be profitable to the state for at least the first six years of its operation.

That hasn't convinced other critics, like members of the Eastside Transportation Association and Eastside Developer Kemper Freeman Jr., who are trying to kill the bill.

Several other states operate HOT lanes. Two more are being built in Texas, one in Florida and another in the Washington, D.C. area.

The first such lane in the country was on Highway 91 in Orange County, Calif. It was privately built and operated initially but was eventually taken over by the county. Jennifer Ziegler, a spokeswoman for the Washington transportation department's toll division, said the original development agreement limited the county's ability to expand other nearby roads, to protect the private toll income. The county "bought out the private (toll) investors to enable further improvements to the corridor," Ziegler said.

Also Saturday, the state House, acting to comply with a citizen initiative, formally approved a schedule of tolls that will be charged on the 520 Bridge beginning this spring.

The vote, after a brief discussion was 73 to 25.

The state's advisory Transportation Commission adopted a toll schedule in January. Rates will vary by hour and day of the week, but the highest rates will be during commuting hours. Those will range from $3.50 each way for drivers with an electronic "Good to Go" pass to $5 each way for drivers who pay by mail.

The commission has been given responsility by legislators to adjust tolls but the rates were adopted in January subject to final okay by lawmakers. The House passed a Senate bill including the rates, to comply with Initiative 1053, which requires that fees such as tolls may only be imposed or increased with majority legislative approval.

The new bridge is expectd to be open by 2014.