At the February 8, 2010, OCTA Board of Directors meeting, a presentation about adding a toll lane to the 405 between Long Beach and Costa Mesa was discussed. The Board asked that the work be continued. OCTA sees adding the toll lane (also called a HOT lane or High Occupancy Toll lane) as a way to relieve congestion on the 405. The presentation is available here Download 405
OCTA claims that the current speeds on the 405 are about 20 mph in the general purpose lanes and about 35 mph in the HOV lanes during peak PM hours. By 2035, the speeds are projected to drop to about 18 mph in both the general purpose and HOV lanes if no improvements are made. What is very interesting is the projections made for adding additional lanes. Adding one general purpose lane would bring the speed up to about 20 mph by 2035. Adding two general purpose lanes would bring the speed up to 30 mph. But adding 1 general purpose lane and 2 express lanes (toll lanes) brings the speed up to 65 mph in the toll lanes and 25 mph in the general purpose lanes.
The toll road plan for the 405 creates a freeway 7 lanes wide in each direction or a total of 14 lanes wide total. The objective of this plan is money - the tolls are supposed to pay for construction costs. Given the financing problems for the toll roads and the limitations on expanding the 5 and 91 caused by contracts with the toll road operators, this plan does not sound like the best one to make people more mobile in the area. The operators of the toll lanes will prevent the the expansion of other lanes on the 405 if if would cut into their tolls. If OCTA is looking to make people more mobile, they really need to find ways to move people better using public transportation such as busses and light rail.
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