The Colorado tolling authority is doing final tests on Interstate 25’s high-occupancy toll lanes before the pay-for-use highway option opens to the public June 2.
HOT lanes allow single-occupant vehicles to buy their way into HOV lanes by paying tolls ranging from 50 cents during off-peak hours to $3.25 at peak travel times for the 7-mile trip.
I-25’s HOV lanes run from near Coors Field in downtown Denver to a point just south of 84th Avenue.
The lanes also extend onto the Boulder Turnpike, from I-25 to Pecos Street.
Southbound commuters use the high-occupancy vehicle lanes in the morning and traffic reverses for the afternoon and evening commutes.
For most of the route, HOVs and solo drivers can use either lane of the two-lane operation.
But at a point near 58th Avenue, single drivers paying the toll and carpoolers must move into specifically marked lanes so tolls can be recorded, said Peggy Catlin, acting director of the Colorado Tolling Enterprise.
Toll-authority board members toured the HOT lanes Wednesday.
The lanes will not have toll booths, and motorists will not have to slow down to pay the road fee.
But solo drivers using the toll option must acquire EXpressToll electronic transponders – the same devices that motorists use on the E-470 and Northwest Parkway toll highways.
Those who drive in the designated HOT lane without a transponder are subject to a $70 fine, said tolling authority spokeswoman Stacey Stegman. Motorists who drive alone in the adjacent lane designated for HOV vehicles face a $65 fine, she added.
Information on the transponders can be found at www.expresstoll.com.
Staff writer Jeffrey Leib can be reached at 303-820-1645 or jleib@denverpost.com.
