Q&A | Transponder shields | Road still closed

Q: Some fast-paced commuters see the new high-occupancy/toll (HOT) freeway lanes between Auburn and Renton as a good thing. But Bellevue resident Drew MacLean isn't exactly jumping for joy.

He's still fuming over the need to fork out $3.50 for a small aluminum shield to cover the vehicle transponder he's already purchased from the state in order to escape being charged a toll for being a car-pooler in the carpool lanes on Highway 167 — which, in the case of the stretch between Auburn and Renton, is the same as the HOT lanes.

MacLean has affixed a decal with an embedded computer chip — that's the transponder — to the inside windshield of each of his three vehicles so that his family can use their prepaid "Good to Go" account to pay tolls to cross the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. The transponder electronically debits his prepaid account.

The state uses the same transponder system to charge lone drivers who use Highway 167's HOT lanes.

"Now, I do not care if folks choose to self-tax themselves to shave a few minutes off of their daily commute," MacLean said, "but I am absolutely infuriated that the [state Transportation Department] chose to require vehicles with transponders to also purchase transponder shields when traveling in the HOV lane as a legitimate car pool."

His family car-pools regularly between their Eastside home and Federal Way and points south on Highway 167. Without a shield to deactivate their transponder, they can't use the car-pool lane without being charged the HOT fee — and fees range from 50 cents to $9 at peak times. (So far, though, the highest toll has been $2.75, the state says.)

MacLean already paid a fee to open a "Good to Go" account and a fee for his transponders. He has asked the state to provide the shields for free.

"They suggested I purchase only one shield and share it among the vehicles," he said.

Bridge tolls are another matter. "I think users ought to be responsible for helping to offset the high costs to develop very expensive highway projects," he said. "But I am not interested in being taxed either for the purchase of a shield or the debiting of my account each time I legally use the HOV lane on Highway 167.

"I would be surprised if I was the only individual who feels that the test installation of an HOT lane ... should not cost any legitimate car-pooler a cent."

A: State Department of Transportation spokesman Noel Brady said the state can't afford to give away transponder shields. When the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge opened last summer, the state offered free transponders in a promotional campaign, and Brady says that led to a $5 million cost overrun.

"Over one-third of the transponders that were given away have never been used," he said. "WSDOT does not have the inventory of shields or the money to fund another such giveaway."

By selling shields at cost, the state hopes only drivers who really need them will request them.

The bottom line, Brady said, is that shields, at this point, are the most cost-effective solution for car-poolers to avoid being charged extra HOT tolls, and he says the shields the state is selling are the cheapest available.

Q: Barbara Cantwell, who lives at Shilshole Marina in Seattle, had been curious to know if and when Golden Gardens Drive Northwest — the snaky road that runs from the top of Sunset Hill down past the off-leash dog park to Golden Gardens — would be reopened.

"The detour has been around forever, and I'd love to use that road again," she said.

A: Seattle's Transportation Department says Golden Gardens Drive, which has been closed to vehicles, pedestrians and bicyclists since a record-breaking rainfall Dec. 3, will probably not reopen to the public until late fall.

The rain caused a collapse in a section of the roadway just west of View Avenue Northwest. Until repairs are made, use of the roadway presents a safety hazard and could lead to more road damage, a department spokesman said.

New signs and fencing were scheduled to go up over the weekend and will remain in place until the roadway is restored.