Car-pool partner must be in the car — not on the phone | Long waits to get on 520

Q: Does talking on a cellphone automatically qualify a driver to use car-pool lanes? That's what Burien resident Patricia Garner has been wondering.

"I occasionally get onto Interstate 5 at the South Michigan Street onramp," said Garner, who does volunteer work in Seattle's Rainier Valley. "That's where I see them most often. Many of the drivers seem to feel that talking on a cellphone while driving qualifies them to use the HOV lane. How does that work?"

A: According to state code, car-pool lanes are for the exclusive use of public-transportation vehicles or private vehicles with the number of occupants specified on signs. That means if a driver is alone, the car-pool lane is off-limits. Having someone on the other end of a cellphone conversation doesn't change that.

The State Patrol is aware that car-pool violations are common at that Michigan Street onramp. "Unfortunately, due to the roadway design, it is also a very difficult area to patrol and enforce HOV violations," said State Patrol Sgt. Kristene OShannon. "Officers do the best they can to patrol and enforce HOV violations, often following the violator for a distance until they come to a location where the officer can initiate the contact in a safe manner."

Perhaps, though, drivers on their cellphones could be veering into the car-pool lanes there simply because they're preoccupied and not paying attention to where they're going.

Q: Sand Point-area resident Trent Gillespie has recently started commuting to Bellevue for work. "Although I had heard how bad the commute to the Eastside is, I now have to live through it daily," he said. "The average morning backup is one mile long. It takes me 25 minutes just to get onto (Highway) 520, and often much more.

"There are thousands of other people who, like me, are wasting time and gas at what has to be the worst onramp in Seattle." But after pondering his plight while stuck in traffic, Gillespie has a suggestion to address the delay. It seems, he says, that cars entering Highway 520 northbound from Montlake enjoy an advantage over traffic headed south. At a traffic signal, 10 to 12 northbound cars are able to enter the highway when they have the green light, while the light allows only about half that many southbound vehicles to go.

"I have a co-worker who comes from that direction, and his wait averages only four minutes, compared to my 25," said Gillespie. "That is hardly fair, considering we pay all the same taxes."

So, here's his suggestion: Reduce the number of northbound cars that can enter from Montlake, or curtail traffic to the freeway from that direction, except for car poolers. After all, he points out, folks coming from south of the Montlake Cut have two ways to reach Highway 520: from the Arboretum and from Montlake. "Those of us living north of the cut have only one," he said. "I think each having one entrance would be only fair and share the delays we experience equally."

Another suggestion: Has anyone considered a park-and-ride lot near the University of Washington campus for people headed to the Eastside? What about the Museum of History & Industry site in Montlake, near Highway 520? After all, MOHAI has been talking about relocating the museum to South Lake Union in a few years.

"It seems this would be an ideal solution for lessening the traffic on 520," said Gillespie.

A: One of the main problems is that when traffic backs up on Highway 520, that makes traffic headed to the freeway from city streets back up, too, points out Wayne Wentz, the Seattle transportation department's traffic-management director. Southbound drivers are able to turn onto the ramp at any and all times, providing there is room for their vehicle. Northbound drivers wanting to take advantage of a green light tend to pull into the ramp's car-pool lane, then merge into a general-traffic lane when there's room.

"This means that when southbound drivers should have a turn at merging, the ramp is often already filled," Wentz said. The light cycle for northbound left-turning traffic cannot be shortened, as Gillespie proposes, Wentz says, "because as it is, the left-turn pocket often overfills and begins blocking the northbound through lane," which is also heavily traveled, with traffic headed to Interstate 5.

Restricting access to southbound drivers only is not an ideal solution, either, because it would restrict highway access for the neighborhood to the east of Montlake.

The car-pool lane seems to flow well, and that's a good alternative for those willing to share a ride, he said. In the meantime, Wentz says the State Patrol has been asked to monitor the area for car-pool-lane violators.

Seattle Transportation Department spokeswoman Marybeth Turner says city policy discourages park-and-ride lots within the city limits, except for those already established. In terms of a park-and-ride near the Montlake-Highway 520 interchange, "it would be difficult to find a suitable location," said Turner.

MOHAI's current location may not be an option, either. Casey Hanewall, also in the city's Transportation Department, said the state may use the MOHAI property for a construction staging site if and when plans for Highway 520 replacement are nailed down.