I-5 & SR 16 Tacoma/Pierce County HOV Program

[@MikesFoggyIdea]

Construction felt like it lasted forever but driving through there now is so less stressful.

[@wileycoyotesr8623]

A well made synopsis video featuring generations of WSDOT staff and contractors both stressing the importance of communicating over a long period of time. Congratulations!

[@mratran]

Woot Woot! Can't wait to try out the HOV Lanes!

[@johningraham6547]

Most people who use HOV lanes are those that are already traveling with others. HOV lanes do not reduce traffic significantly.

[@CloudSportracer]

There is an alleviation of traffic when hov drivers don't have to fight across the freeway to join or exit the freeway.

[@mightylydy5192]

yes thank you. If public transit was better funded and a more popular/convenient option to get to and from work or points of interest especially between Lakewood and Seattle areas, then the HOV lanes might actually make a difference but until then adding more lanes isn't going to solve the fundamental problem that results in traffic.

[@dltooley]

As a former Tacoma resident who was engaged a bit in this planning and design process, congratulations on a job very well done.

[@KeithCarpenter1179]

SOMEONE WAS AN FNG AND RETIRED BEFORE YA'LL WE'RE DONE!!! Please give everyone a big round of applause

[@hobog]

I like that WSDOT is replying to comments, and that this project seems to not purely just-add-more-lanes. I desire WSDOT to help make it safer for people to be along SR 99 without a car (it's not that safe even in a car bc of driveway spam and right-on-red). I wish that Alaskan Way wouldn't be getting so many lanes that make the tunnel superfluous

[@lbthingsstuffmore9513]

Will there be an exit from Sprague to 16? It's a pain in the butt to drive all the way around to get back on to I-5. You can get off at Sprague, but not on. I hope you fix that. Thanks💚🖖

[@wsdot]

No additional changes to the Sprague/SR 16 interchange are planned right now.

[@lbthingsstuffmore9513]

@@wsdot Thanks for responding.🖖

[@davidcooke5712]

You sure milked the hell out of this one, didn't ya? Three years of work crammed into 22 years of inconvenience. Very impressive.

[@markm.9932]

It was the blood sucking contractors

[@d.s.parentsr6502]

You're right. They should have just shut down the entire corridor for 3 years to bang out the work. Wait, never mind.....no. Because that's really stupid. The point was to plan the work out in a way that maintained use of the road to the several hundred thousand drivers that use it each day. This was explained to you. Pay attention. It's difficult to build a road when there is an active road in the way.

[@markm.9932]

Thanks for your input

[@adsoutdoors]

Took so long it's obsolete and I live here.

[@mikenicely2815]

HOV lanes are great if they are enforced. Otherwise, they simply result in induced demand. Thanks WSDOT - from Tacoma in the future. Also, 'HOV lanes that move more people" are 'trains'. Get on it!

[@Truths_Sayer]

Glad it's done, thank you. But what about that zipper merge from I705 to Southbound I-5? Southbound I-5 is trying to merge onto Highway 16 while the 705 traffic is trying to get on to I-5. It's an extreme Slowdown. I think they needed another overpass or something so it's not a zipper merge. Back before you fixed SR512 and i-5, there was a zipper Lane from southbound I-5 to get onto SR512 at the same time SR512 traffic was trying to get onto I-5. It caused a huge slowdown until it was fixed.

[@wsdot]

We looked at designs for the I-705, I-5 and SR 16 weave. It was cost prohibitive due to the size of the overpasses needed and available right of way. The cost was beyond the budget of what was funded in the Tacoma/Pierce County HOV program.

[@Truths_Sayer]

@@wsdot thanks for the answer.

[@TheTikeySauce]

@@Truths_Sayer A huge part of it I think is that tons of people on both sides (I-5 and I-705) are trying to merge in the first 10-15% of that stretch of highway, leaving the rest of it being under utilized for merging. People also need to realize that there's hardly any time loss if you miss your exit because the 38th and Sprague/Union Ave. interchanges provide pretty fast turnarounds.

[@Truths_Sayer]

@@TheTikeySauce agreed on the 10 to 15%

[@mudduck754]

Okay that works out for people that use HOV lanes.

[@dentonhess5810]

Excellent worK WSDOT.

[@ricku8121]

does the new HOV lanes show on GPS?

[@wsdot]

Hopefully.

[@Montyhugo]

Now if they can get the "ferry system Hov lanes" done!🤪

[@mrvolts9262]

Yall really scammed the people out of 20 years of traffic and there is STILL big slowdowns there

[@artcafe2684]

A better transit system in Tacoma would be nice.

[@hotstonestacey1422]

What about the part that was built in the wrong spot ? Lol

[@michaelmarciniak7959]

No matter what they do it will always bottleneck in the end. Too much traffic goes through that area. It's like a toilet eventually it opens and flushes you out.

[@susannekondrup1373]

😮

[@alexandercuevas7418]

It only benefits ppl for hov drivers

[@dwilcher11]

Is this some kind of a joke? Are we supposed to thank you????

[@wsdot]

Us posting information doesn't equal us asking people to thank us.

[@davidd6003]

@@wsdot of course you don't need our verbal thanks you taxed the life out of us

[@wsdot]

@@davidd6003 We also don't create taxes.

[@shanemccreery]

I'll be dead and gone before they even think about finishing the I5 corridor in Tacoma. I was born into this construction. WADOT is slow and stupid. Close it and tell the area to suck it up buttercup. Smh. Good try Washington and you're scandalous taxes for "roads".

[@redbellyproduction1605]

This project took to damn long. We all know that there were mistakes made. Government projects are all a joke. Now it's time to start all over again because this project won't help the traffic build up of today. 20 years too late.

[@SeaMariners]

*too damn long. We know mistakes are made.

[@AdaDenali]

If we want to help traffic we should be building alternatives to highways, like a decent regional rail network that doesn't have to share track with freight

[@rickyceccanti5914]

HOV lanes for the sake of pollution?

[@johnwrego]

WSDOT wasting tax dollars. All the same players rewarded with work. They do just enough to make it look like progress but never solve the problem. When does the next project start for this same stretch of highway?