Express lanes create more traffic problems

By Mark Steele
Published: Sunday, June 10, 2007 12:07 a.m. MDT
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It's 7:30 a.m. as I merge into the southbound I-15 traffic at the 500 East onramp in American Fork. As usual, I'll drop off my son at his charter school in Orem, then continue on to work in Provo. I immediately start easing over, lane by lane, so I can reach the express lane. And none too soon. It's a thick day and already brake lights are rippling on ahead of me.

Oh, wait. It is too soon, since I'm still next to a double solid line, which means the Utah Department of Transportation doesn't want me to enter the lane just yet. What do I do? Stay in the left lane and slow down, or check my side mirror for police and just quickly ease into the sparsely traveled E lane, risking an $85 ticket? Already a couple cars ahead of me have made the switch, but I normally don't want to break the law.

Dang it!

A few minutes later it's time to leave the E lane so I can exit on Center Street in Orem. This means I have to get out of the lane at 1600 North, since it's the last access point before that offramp. The 3,000-foot dance begins, as E laners try to merge right and E laner wannabes merge left, all as we navigate the daunting Lindon turn in the freeway.

Phew! I made it through another day without sideswiping anyone!

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This is life with Utah's express lanes, which used to be high occupancy vehicle/car pool lanes till two changes last fall, when the state decided to allow a couple thousand people to pay $50 a month to drive it whenever they want and restrict access to and from the lanes at designated hot points. The $50 option is to help fill underutilized car pool lanes. Here's a secret: They're dangerous. Mix one lane of traffic at 60 and an adjacent lane at 40, and you have people darting into lanes and getting rear ended. In Texas, that meant as much as a 50 percent accident increase in areas where the car pool lane wasn't barricaded away from the other lanes.

Social and traffic engineers have made it worse with the double line facade, because restricted access points are even more dangerous than normal car pool lanes. A recent study of HOV lanes in northern California (no double lines, car pool lanes only active during rush hours) and high occupancy toll lanes in Southern California (double lines restricting access, 24/7 car pool only) showed there were more accidents per car mile in Southern California. The researchers found that the limited access points created frantic crossovers and more accidents.

So, UDOT, help me out here. Why did we follow the Southern California model when our traffic is likely closer in its metrics to northern California? What have the safety results been like here since the introduction of express lanes? Nearly every day I see people violating the weak line restrictions.

Give me my car pool lanes back and stop tempting me to flout a flawed law.

Mark Steele lives in American Fork.

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