Will drivers on Interstate 25 be willing to give up the equivalent of a premium cup of coffee to get out of congested traffic?
That’s the question thousands of motorists will face starting today when the Colorado Tolling Enterprise and the Colorado Department of Transportation open a new tolled express lane.
Peak travel time during morning and evening rush hours will set drivers back $3.25 for a 6.6-mile section between downtown Denver and the Boulder Turnpike.
At a news conference Thursday outside Coors Field, where northbound users can hop on at 20th and Blake streets, Gov. Bill Owens said the new toll road “is going to be a solid hit.”
The new high-occupancy toll, or HOT, lane will run side by side along an existing high- occupancy vehicle, or HOV, lane, which remains free to vehicles carrying two or more people. Motorcyclists also can still use the stretch for free.
Cars with only a driver will be able to take advantage of the free-flowing lanes after getting a transponder and opening an account with the tolling enterprise. There will be no toll booths or collectors.
Cameras above the lanes will snap a shot as vehicles pass, and toll violators will be fined $65.
After completing the short journey, the transponder will record the trip, and money will be deducted from the driver’s account, much like lanes already in use on E-470 and the Northwest Parkway.
HOV users do not need a transponder.
Proponents say the new paid section will free up traffic on the non-tolled highway running next to it.
“It’s about people mobility,” said Tom Norton, executive director of CDOT.
Federal Highway Administrator J. Richard Capka, in Denver on Thursday for a tour of the HOT lanes and pre-opening hoopla, said they give drivers an “option” and allows them to buy time.
“Time is important to everyone,” Capka said, especially in emergency situations, such as a parent racing to pick up children from day care.
But some view HOT lanes as “Lexus lanes,” a way for the affluent to keep moving while others are mired in traffic.
“Colorado cannot toll its way out of congestion,” said Michael Huttner, executive director of ProgressNow.org, a group opposed to toll roads.
Some low- and middle-income drivers don’t have the credit- card accounts necessary to buy their way into the fast lane, and many can’t afford it, Huttner said.
Work to convert the section from a strict HOV lane started in May 2005 and cost a total of $9 million, including two years of future maintenance.
By 2008, officials expect 550 HOT lane users an hour during peak hours and 4,000 users daily, said CDOT’s Myron Swisher, the project manager.
Staff writer Kieran Nicholson can be reached at 303-820-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
