Press Release

Vancouver, Washington -- The Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council (RTC) is hosting its second open house to discuss possible High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane options in the I-5 Corridor. The open house is scheduled for:

Thursday, November 4, 1999, 5-8 p.m.
Vancouver Housing Authority
Community Meeting Room
2500 Main Street
Vancouver, Washington

HOV lanes, also called diamond lanes or carpool lanes, can be used by buses, motorcycles, and carpools with at least two people. A project team has been exploring the technical feasibility of numerous options and has focused on a promising set for more in-depth analysis. They include:

• A southbound HOV lane that operates during morning rush hours from 134th Street to Mill Plain Boulevard.
• A southbound HOV lane that operates during morning rush hours from 134th Street to Mill Plain and also from Jantzen Beach to Lombard Street.
• A southbound HOV lane that operates during morning rush hours from 134th Street to Lombard Street. This option includes a an reversible HOV lane on the northbound span of the Interstate bridge that handles southbound HOV traffic during morning rush hours and reverts to regular northbound traffic use at all other times.
• A southbound lane that operates during morning rush hours from Jantzen Beach to Lombard Street.
• All the options described above also retain the current northbound HOV lane from Going Street to Marine Drive in Portland, which would continue to operate in the PM peak period. Further analysis will look at whether to also implement a northbound HOV lane north of the Interstate Bridge up to 134th Street in the PM peak period.

The open house will have information about how the options were developed and their traffic operations impacts. A preferred HOV option will be selected by the end of this year and will conclude with a final report and a design for the HOV alternative in the spring of 2000.

This project is a collaborative effort of the RTC, the Washington State Department of Transportation, C-TRAN, the City of Vancouver, Clark County, and the Oregon Department of Transportation.

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