The Columbian nails it: Remove the HOV

In Our View: Remove the HOV

Thursday, May 5, 2005
Columbian editorial writers

The Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council made the correct call on Tuesday when it voted 6-5 to remove Vancouver's only high-occupancy vehicles lane.

But it's only a recommendation. Federal and state transportation officials are urged to follow the recommendation. Don Wagner, regional manager for the state Department of Transportation, says that could take four to six months. He called the recommendation "a very significant piece of data for us."

The four-year-old, four-mile HOV lane on Interstate 5 extends south only from Northeast 99th Street to Mill Plain Boulevard. From 6 to 8 a.m. on weekdays, only car pools and buses may use it.

Well-intentioned as it was, the HOV lane simply has not been successful. After the lane, all traffic moves onto the I-5 Bridge, which has no emergency lanes and where the slightest difficulty causes lines back to Main Street or even Hazel Dell. Then, after picking up some speed on the bridge and Hayden Island, traffic slows again because of the two-lane bottleneck at Delta Park. So the HOV lane has become a monument to the hurry-up-and-wait concept.

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