2 toll lanes to be added on I-95 in south florida

[JetsMania]

There is a $200 million proposal that will add two toll lanes in each direction on I-95 from Dade to broward. They will each average 50 mph during rush hour. However it will cost anywhere from 15 cents to 1 dollar per mile. I know that I would pay 5 dollars to get from downtown miami to dolphin stadium during rush hour.

 

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/sou...-home-headlines

 

Commuters willing to buy their way out of traffic jams on Interstate 95 will have to wait a bit longer in Broward.

 

The state is modifying its plans to convert I-95's carpool lanes into express toll lanes and is now proposing to add two express lanes in each direction from the Golden Glades interchange to Interstate 595 -- without widening the highway.

 

 

The change will match plans south of the Golden Glades, where the existing 10-lane I-95 will be re-striped to create a total of four express lanes and eight regular lanes. Initially, only one express lane in each direction was planned north of the Golden Glades.

 

In Broward, the state also has agreed to keep the far right two lanes 12-feet wide after local officials expressed concern about trucks driving in 11-foot lanes.

 

The extra work north of the Golden Glades, which will require partial reconstruction of shoulders, will drive up the cost of the project from $125 million to about $200 million. It also means the entire conversion won't be finished until October 2008.

 

The express lanes will charge tolls that rise and fall depending on congestion, up to 30 cents a mile at rush hour but much lower at other times. Buses and registered carpools with three or more will use them for free. Everyone else will have to pay or use the regular lanes. Still to be ironed out is whether solo drivers of hybrid cars will be allowed to use the toll lanes for free.

 

"I think it's totally ludicrous," said Pam Voller, who drives weekdays in the carpool lane with her husband from Fort Lauderdale to Miami. "I'm not going to spend $6 a day. I don't think it's right that we have to pay for it ..... 95 was built with public funds. I don't see how this is going to help anything."

 

Drivers can sound off about the project at a public meeting from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. today at the Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Airport Hotel, 1825 Griffin Road, Dania Beach. A public hearing will be scheduled this summer.

 

With I-95 bordered by noise walls, homes and businesses, officials say it's not feasible to widen the highway. At the same time, 400,000 more people are expected to squeeze into Broward by 2020.

 

Project manager Alice Bravo said the express lanes can move twice as many vehicles at rush hour compared to the regular lanes. Tolls aren't being charged to make money, she added, but to keep at least some traffic moving at highway speeds. If the express lanes were free without restrictions, traffic would overwhelm them.

 

Toll revenues will be used to pay for express buses that would zip down the new lanes and additional troopers.

 

"The public will accept this once they see the benefits," said Jim Wolfe, the Florida Department of Transportation's District 4 secretary. "One day these express lanes will expand all the way into Palm Beach County and become part of a network of managed lanes throughout South Florida."

 

Tolls will be collected with SunPass via overhead sensors, without traffic-choking toll booths. Plastic poles will separate the express lanes from the regular lanes. Drivers will be able to enter and exit the express lanes in five locations.

 

The state had planned to convert northbound I-95 by the end of the year and southbound I-95 by the end of next year.

 

Now, officials say only northbound I-95 from downtown Miami to the Golden Glades will be finished by the end of the year or early next year. The rest of the project won't be completed until October 2008.

 

Officials hope to hear in August whether the state will receive federal funding. The Legislature approved a bill earlier this year that included $35 million for the construction.

[Mauer7]

I know that I would pay 5 dollars to get from downtown miami to dolphin stadium during rush hour.

you mean you wouldn't pay $5, right?

 

 

this is ridiculous.........

[JetsMania]

I know that I would pay 5 dollars to get from downtown miami to dolphin stadium during rush hour.

you mean you wouldn't pay $5, right?

 

 

this is ridiculous.........

 

Not all the time, but if it saved me an hour of travel time I would pay it. I believe it said they want to charge 30 cents a mile during rush hour. So from downtown miami to pro player would be $4.50. I think you will see a lot of people paying it.

[Mauer7]

I know that I would pay 5 dollars to get from downtown miami to dolphin stadium during rush hour.

you mean you wouldn't pay $5, right?

 

 

this is ridiculous.........

 

Not all the time, but if it saved me an hour of travel time I would pay it. I believe it said they want to charge 30 cents a mile during rush hour. So from downtown miami to pro player would be $4.50. I think you will see a lot of people paying it.

really? even with the damn gas prices!?

[MarlinFan10]

I know that I would pay 5 dollars to get from downtown miami to dolphin stadium during rush hour.

you mean you wouldn't pay $5, right?

 

 

this is ridiculous.........

 

Not all the time, but if it saved me an hour of travel time I would pay it. I believe it said they want to charge 30 cents a mile during rush hour. So from downtown miami to pro player would be $4.50. I think you will see a lot of people paying it.

really? even with the damn gas prices!?

Considering you're 15, I'm going to guess you've never drived on I-95 in Miami Dade County. It's worth $5 if you actually want to get somewhere on occasion.

[Mauer7]

I know that I would pay 5 dollars to get from downtown miami to dolphin stadium during rush hour.

you mean you wouldn't pay $5, right?

 

 

this is ridiculous.........

 

Not all the time, but if it saved me an hour of travel time I would pay it. I believe it said they want to charge 30 cents a mile during rush hour. So from downtown miami to pro player would be $4.50. I think you will see a lot of people paying it.

really? even with the damn gas prices!?

Considering you're 15, I'm going to guess you've never drived on I-95 in Miami Dade County. It's worth $5 if you actually want to get somewhere on occasion.

I haven't. I didn't think about how bad traffic can be in miami (esp. during rush hour)......so I guess I do agree with you, then.

[JetsMania]

I think a lot of people will jump on this. If you go around to all the people who work in downtown and ask them if they would take an hour of free time for 5 dollars, you will see thousands of people pouncing on this. It also helps everyone else because there will be thousands of less cars in the free lanes.

[Mauer7]

I think a lot of people will jump on this. If you go around to all the people who work in downtown and ask them if they would take an hour of free time for 5 dollars, you will see thousands of people pouncing on this. It also helps everyone else because there will be thousands of less cars in the free lanes.

I would too. I didn't realize you'd have to sit in traffic for an hour (?!?!) during rush hour. wow.

 

I think a lot of people will jump on this. If you go around to all the people who work in downtown and ask them if they would take an hour of free time for 5 dollars, you will see thousands of people pouncing on this. It also helps everyone else because there will be thousands of less cars in the free lanes.

I would too. I didn't realize you'd have to sit in traffic for an hour (?!?!) during rush hour. wow. I bet A LOT of people will jump on this, or take another route to avoid paying the fee, in turn making the highaway even clearer.

[Mabdul Doobakus]

I mostly hate this idea. They're basically taking a lane of traffic and saying it's for people who can afford to drop $5 every day to get home faster. The rest of you, you get one lane less. Have fun waiting an extra 15 mins. or so to get home.

 

The only good thing about it is it does allow people who really NEED to get somewhere the opportunity to pay a premium to do so. Nowadays if you have somewhere you really need to get to, and you're stuck in rush hour traffic, you're pretty much stuck in rush hour traffic.

 

And yes, the traffic heading north on I-95 during rush hour is really, really bad. The Golden Glades interchange manages to back up traffic for 10 miles, and it can take an hour just to get through that stretch of road. For most people, this change will make it take even longer.

[JetsMania]

I mostly hate this idea. They're basically taking a lane of traffic and saying it's for people who can afford to drop $5 every day to get home faster. The rest of you, you get one lane less. Have fun waiting an extra 15 mins. or so to get home.

 

The only good thing about it is it does allow people who really NEED to get somewhere the opportunity to pay a premium to do so. Nowadays if you have somewhere you really need to get to, and you're stuck in rush hour traffic, you're pretty much stuck in rush hour traffic.

 

And yes, the traffic heading north on I-95 during rush hour is really, really bad. The Golden Glades interchange manages to back up traffic for 10 miles, and it can take an hour just to get through that stretch of road. For most people, this change will make it take even longer.

 

They are actually adding a lane to each side, so there will be be 6 on each side now (2 pay lanes and 4 free lanes). Right now the general traffic only uses 4 lanes because the 5th lane is the HOV. You wont see any change there. If you have a group of people, they will certainly throw in a dollar each to save time in traffic.

 

I think this is a great idea. If you really need to get somewhere you can pay a few dollars and drive right by everyone. The lady in the video (in the link I provided) said these two pay lanes will be able to move more traffic than the 4 normal lanes.

[Mauer7]

I have been on I-95 before in Miami-dade during rush hour (I remember now). This occured May 10, 2005 on my batboy day. I was 27 minutes late to the game...(I was supposed to show up at 5:30). We were in standstill forever, I wanted to cry.. I was soo mad.

 

Now I REALLY like this idea...

[Mabdul Doobakus]

If they think they can widen the highway to 6 lanes each side, then why not just widen the highway, instead of pulling this two-class nonsense. Obviously EVERYONE would like to be in the express lane, so the only ones who won't be there will be the ones who can't afford it. I just find it terribly un-American. Making them both carpool lanes is okay because that has nothing to do with who is able to pay, and everything to do with rewarding people who aren't too selfish and who don't insist on driving their own car to work every day.

[JetsMania]

If they think they can widen the highway to 6 lanes each side, then why not just widen the highway, instead of pulling this two-class nonsense. Obviously EVERYONE would like to be in the express lane, so the only ones who won't be there will be the ones who can't afford it. I just find it terribly un-American. Making them both carpool lanes is okay because that has nothing to do with who is able to pay, and everything to do with rewarding people who aren't too selfish and who don't insist on driving their own car to work every day.

 

The tolls are going to pay for the widening, so its basically paying for itself.

 

The point is to not have everyone in the express lane. If that was the case then they would just open an extra lane which wouldnt solve much. If you carpool you can split the cost with your group if you want to get to work faster. The carpool lane isnt even that much faster now.

 

Essentially, you have the people who want to avoid traffic paying for for I-95 to be widened. Everyone else will not be effected because there will still be four free lanes.

[furcalchick]

next stop: 1-95 tollway? now i know they can't do it due to federal regulations, but you think this will start a push to make the 95 all toll like the turnpike?

 

this isn't the first time this is happening.

 

but the only long term solution to miami's traffic trouble is an active push in alt. transport and getting people out of cars.

[catchoftheday]

that lane will be packed within a matter of weeks of after opening

[CTMarlinsfan]

funny, they're also discussing doing this to I95 in Connecticut...

[JetsMania]

that lane will be packed within a matter of weeks of after opening

 

If thats the case you will see the price sky rocket (whether thats good or bad is a different issue).

 

I think at most you will see 25-30% of the people paying to use the lanes. However these toll lanes will average 50 mph even during rush hour, so they will be able to handle double the amount of traffic the other four lanes can currently move. On the flip side if there are 25% less drivers on the other four lanes, you would assume that they would be moving faster as well.

[Hammerhead]

This is the kind of thing Florida wastes $200 mil on. Assbackwards state.

[Jonny Ramos]

This is the kind of thing Florida wastes $200 mil on. Assbackwards state.

 

yep.. they could of built our stadium by now.

[Guest Festa]

next stop: 1-95 tollway? now i know they can't do it due to federal regulations, but you think this will start a push to make the 95 all toll like the turnpike?

 

this isn't the first time this is happening.

 

but the only long term solution to miami's traffic trouble is an active push in alt. transport and getting people out of cars.

 

:thumbup

 

Adding more lanes to highways that are already in some case 11-12 lanes wide is not the answer.

 

It's all about mass transit and controlling sprawl.

 

Meanwhile, the street car is all but dead, county leaders are choosing to build the North-South Metro Rail corridor instead of the East-West line, the corridor down South won't be built for another 20 years atleast and sprawl in South Miami-Dade and Western Broward is making an already bad situation worse.

 

Oh, and in Broward voters rejected a measure to build an East-West corridor along 595.

 

The traffic situation in South Florida is going to be lovely in 15-20 years.

 

The area is allergic to mass transit.

[JetsMania]

next stop: 1-95 tollway? now i know they can't do it due to federal regulations, but you think this will start a push to make the 95 all toll like the turnpike?

 

this isn't the first time this is happening.

 

but the only long term solution to miami's traffic trouble is an active push in alt. transport and getting people out of cars.

 

:thumbup

 

Adding more lanes to highways that are already in some case 11-12 lanes wide is not the answer.

 

It's all about mass transit and controlling sprawl.

 

Meanwhile, the street car is all but dead, county leaders are choosing to build the North-South Metro Rail corridor instead of the East-West line, the corridor down South won't be built for another 20 years atleast and sprawl in South Miami-Dade and Western Broward is making an already bad situation worse.

 

Oh, and in Broward voters rejected a measure to build an East-West corridor along 595.

 

The traffic situation in South Florida is going to be lovely in 15-20 years.

 

The area is allergic to mass transit.

 

It will get very bad in 15 years. If adding two lanes to I-95 helps, then I am for it. I believe they are going to have a lot of express busses that will go down the toll roads (not sure to where). So its a start.

I may be wrong but I believe that the funding is from a federal grant. The rest would then pay for itself as the people who are using the lane will be the ones paying for it.

[furcalchick]

how about adding a rail train to the center lanes from downtown to golden glades instead? they can run every 10-15 minutes and help the backup problem from 1-95.

 

how is the us1 around that time of day? better? worse?

[chickenman04]

I'm not a fan of this proposal. I-95, and its HOV lane were built with tax payer money. Those roads need to stay free.

[prinmemito]

we need better mass transit, we need these construction projects to be completed efficiently and on time. we already have the turnpike which shortens drive time significantly, so i don't think the "two class" complaint carries much weight. go ahead and charge people to use these lanes, but at the same time improve our mass transit system because it sucks now.

[Mabdul Doobakus]

we need better mass transit, we need these construction projects to be completed efficiently and on time. we already have the turnpike which shortens drive time significantly, so i don't think the "two class" complaint carries much weight. go ahead and charge people to use these lanes, but at the same time improve our mass transit system because it sucks now.

 

The difference with the turnpike is that everyone has to pay. You can't opt in or out.

 

I still don't understand this proposal...if they can add another lane each way, then add another lane. I don't see how charging people is going to make the average transit time faster; adding the lane is what will make transit time faster. Charging people is what will make it faster for some people, but not for others.

 

The only point I agree with from those who support this is JetsMania's point that by charging people it will pay for itself. But I-95 has always been built and maintained on taxpayers' money, so I don't understand the need for a sudden change in funding.