The Highway 101 express lane section from Whipple Avenue in Redwood City to Interstate 380 in South San Francisco is now open to the public, with transit authorities declaring it a soft opening.
The express lanes will be open to vehicles with three or more passengers and motorcycles only from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Friday. The new express lanes will be open to all vehicles during all other times. Full operations will start in early 2023 once crews complete construction for signal operations. SamTrans spokesperson Dan Lieberman said by email tolling will not start until the official opening in 2023, with the lane still operating as a HOV 3+ lane, rather than a general purpose lane. SamTrans spokesperson Mahmoud Abunie said the soft opening would allow transit officials to examine traffic flow and signal runs for carpoolers while also allowing the public to use it. Abunie said the public desire to see it opened also played a role in the soft opening.
“We just want it open so people can start using it and so we can gain numbers on the usage rate,” Abunie said. “We just want to get people on the road to make sure there are no hiccups when we officially open.”
The soft opening will allow Caltrans to test tolling equipment to ensure it is working properly and so drivers on the corridor become familiar with the new express lanes, Abunie said. While crews have finished most of the paving, signal maintenance is needed to ensure signals are correct. Crews will work to ensure the toll readers are responsive, consistent and turn on and off during certain hours.
“This really does take a lot of work,” Abunie said. “That’s why we have to make sure it’s fully functioning ahead of the official opening.”
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The project creates 22 miles of express lanes in San Mateo County on Highway 101 to connect to express lanes in Santa Clara County. Caltrans added one lane in both directions on Highway 101 from Whipple Avenue to Interstate 380 in South San Francisco, the northern segment, with the far left lanes converted to express lanes. Construction on the north section began in February 2020. A southern segment runs from the San Mateo County and Santa Clara County line to Whipple Avenue in Redwood City and is complete.
The express lanes are managed by the San Mateo County Express Lanes Joint Powers Authority. The six-member joint powers authority consists of three San Mateo County Transportation Authority board members and three board members from the City/County Association of Governments of San Mateo County. The express lanes aim to encourage carpooling and reduce people driving in cars rather than easing congestion, Abunie said. The push to improve accessibility and the environment seeks to turn away from single occupancy vehicles and more towards public transit and carpool options.
Note to readers: This story has been changed. It had previously incorrectly stated that there would be tolling for the express lanes opening. There will be no tolling until the start of the official opening in 2023, with the lane still operating as a HOV 3+ lane, rather than a general purpose lane.
Here we go again. We pay taxes for roads, then more taxes for maintenance, then tolls. This is supposed to push us into public transportation. WHAT public transportation? Filthy, dangerous, poorly scheduled huge buses and trains that can't get you from point A to point B in a timely and safe fashion, if at all? How about a viable system that actually works, so that people will want to use it? Smaller, much more frequent vehicles - like an Uber or Lyft for public use? CALTRANS and transit officialls have NO reasonable ideas for public transit, so they eliminate parking lots, raise tolls, and design HOV lanes that are barely used and just create more traffic crush to "force us" out of our cars. The final irony: those of us who have no "public transportation" option have to pay to make our situation worse. Disgusting.
So some folks will need to pay twice for the privilege of driving on “free” ways that taxpayers have already paid for? No thanks. I’ll happily sit in traffic and spew more of those nasty emissions. I wonder whether we’ll see any metrics as to the return on investment, if any, from these lanes. Anyone know the overall building/configuration cost for these lanes and what the expected maintenance costs will be?
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Here we go again. We pay taxes for roads, then more taxes for maintenance, then tolls. This is supposed to push us into public transportation. WHAT public transportation? Filthy, dangerous, poorly scheduled huge buses and trains that can't get you from point A to point B in a timely and safe fashion, if at all? How about a viable system that actually works, so that people will want to use it? Smaller, much more frequent vehicles - like an Uber or Lyft for public use? CALTRANS and transit officialls have NO reasonable ideas for public transit, so they eliminate parking lots, raise tolls, and design HOV lanes that are barely used and just create more traffic crush to "force us" out of our cars. The final irony: those of us who have no "public transportation" option have to pay to make our situation worse. Disgusting.
Who asked for this? another bureaucratic executive decision by Sacramento that appears to have no identifiable source or accountability.
So some folks will need to pay twice for the privilege of driving on “free” ways that taxpayers have already paid for? No thanks. I’ll happily sit in traffic and spew more of those nasty emissions. I wonder whether we’ll see any metrics as to the return on investment, if any, from these lanes. Anyone know the overall building/configuration cost for these lanes and what the expected maintenance costs will be?
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.