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Tonya Papanikolas reportingCome late Fall, commuters in Davis County will have an extra lane in each direction along I-15. The Department of Transportation (UDOT) was originally building it as just a regular lane, but now the transportation commission has designated it as a carpool lane.
Right now, Utah has 40 miles of express lanes. By the end of November, we'll have 50, making Utah's carpool lanes the longest stretch in the nation!
Drivers know the morning and evening commute through Davis County is a headache at best, but soon that will change. UDOT spokesman Nile Easton says, "It's gonna be a very different commute for a lot of people come this Fall."
One part of that change will be an added HOV lane. Right now Utah's express lane goes from 600 North in Salt Lake to Orem. But in about six months, the carpool lane will also extend north from Farmington to Layton.
"We've had a lot of Davis County people write in to us, email, requesting, why can't we have the carpool lane all the way into their county, and it's what we're gonna do," Easton said.
UDOT had already started construction on I-15, originally intending to add one more regular lane in Davis County. But then they realized the opening of the Legacy Parkway will be easing a lot of Davis County congestion in September.
"With Legacy opening, we're expecting 30 percent of that traffic to move onto Legacy. That should free [I-15] up, and then we add this carpool lane, and people who want to come into Salt Lake and carpool will now be able to," Easton said.
Like in other HOV lanes, Davis County drivers will be able to use the HOV lanes if they have two people in the car, or if they buy a pass for $50 a month. Easton says, "We have seen carpooling go up about seven-percent in the Salt Lake area. So we think we'll have quite a bit of success."
UDOT is also planning for the future of the HOV lanes. In the next few years, UDOT will install an electronic payment system, which will basically scan your car for the time you use the carpool lane. "They'll be able to drive in it as much or as little as they want. Rather than paying a $50 flat-fee, it will only charge them for the time they're actually in that lane," Easton said.
Currently, 1,800 people have bought express lane passes in Utah, but once the system goes electronic, the department thinks that number could jump to 20,000.
As for construction on the new lanes, the good news is, since UDOT had already planned for a new lane, they've already put their restrictions in place, so drivers won't notice any more lane closures than they see right now.
E-mail: tpapanikolas@ksl.com
