The Washington State Transportation Commission says they are interested in your opinion.
They are coming to Bellevue and Seattle to hold a meeting for public comments regarding raising the tolls on the 520 bridge and extending the hours to 24 hours /day. For those of us in Bothell/Kenmore area, we know all too well that the toll on 520 has caused a huge increase in traffic diverted from SR520 to SR522/I-405 to avoid the tolls. That also means increased traffic on I-405. They believe that a 5% increase each year in 2016 and 2017 won’t cause a change in drivers’ habits. They also think changing from free 11:00 PM – 5:00 AM to charging $1.25 during those hours won’t have an impact. What do you think?
You can voice your opinion at the public comment meeting being held at Bellevue City Hall. The meeting is this Thursday, April 21 from 6-8 PM. Open house is 5:30 – 6:00PM. The meeting starts at 6:00PM. There is also a meeting being held 12-2pm at Union Station, downtown Seattle if you prefer. Check here for the location details. It would help if you RSVP to stop405tolls@outlook.com if you plan to attend, so we have an idea of how many we can expect. Our numbers on the petition got their attention. The massive phone outreach to Rep Clibborn was effective. This will also be effective at getting attention and letting our leaders know we aren’t going away!
I was asked by WSTC to point out 3 things:
– This meeting is intended to be about the 520 tolls.
– WSTC can’t directly make changes to tolls on I-405 without instructions from the legislature.
– You can always drive to Olympia and give your comments about the I-405 tolls at their monthly meeting.
Read the details of the meeting time/location/agenda here. See you there!
Stop405Tolls 
We have been voicing our opinion but Olympia does not listen
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Sometimes it feels that way, but compared to every other place where toll lanes or toll roads were implemented, we have already been amazingly successful at getting our voice heard and getting results. At the moment not much visible progress can be made because the legislature is out of session. But we can and are able to influence and educate legislators and the public about the truths regarding the HOT lanes. Elections are coming up and that will also drive the issue. Stop405tolls.org did more in 3 months than most organizations here in Puget Sound have done in 20 years! Persistence is key. Hang in there with me. 32,000 people cannot be ignored. Get that number to 50,000 and they will probably act much faster.
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