Utahns cool to HOT lanes

For $50 a month, individual motorists soon will be allowed to share the I-15 car-pool lanes with people who drive with a buddy or take a bus, motorcycle or eco-friendly car.

It's a move that will improve capacity on the interstate, according to the Utah Department of Transportation. But Salt Lake County residents overwhelmingly say that putting "high-occupancy toll," or HOT lanes, on I-15 is a bad idea.

A new poll conducted for the Deseret Morning News and KSL-TV showed 91 percent of county residents would not pay $50 a month to drive alone in the car-pool lane. And 61 percent said they were opposed to allowing individual drivers to pay to use the HOV lane.

The poll, which sampled 571 county residents, was conducted May 1- 4 by Dan Jones & Associates. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percent.

Chuck Stolfa of Pleasant Grove said he was "tickled pink" with the results. He is opposed to any form of tolling on state roads, saying it's just a way for the rich to pay for privilege. Other methods, like a general tax increase, should be used to improve capacity and help build new roads, he said.

"I believe that here in Utah, we don't like prima donnas, or those that would like to pay for privilege," Stolfa said. "I don't think there's a whole lot here in Utah that would see that as a plus."

UDOT officials and members of the state Transportation Commission say HOT lanes will benefit those who both use and don't use them. Capacity in the car-pool lanes is currently underused, said UDOT spokesman Nile Easton. Moving cars into the car-pool lane will create more room in the general purpose lanes, he said.

The department pledges that speeds will increase up to 10 mph in the I-15 general purpose lanes as a result of implementing HOT lanes. The cost to implement the lanes will be about $2.61 million. Ongoing costs will be about $360,000 — paid for with revenues collected from individual drivers who use the lanes.

The HOT lanes will stretch 38 miles from 600 North in Salt Lake City to University Parkway in Orem. UDOT plans to implement them in late August or early September. People who want to buy a $50 sticker to use the lanes should be able to put their name on an online "reserve" list sometime in June, said Easton. Initially, only 600 stickers will be sold.

Easton said Saturday he wasn't surprised with the poll results.

"People in general don't like to pay for something they perceive that they have gotten for free in the past," he said. "It doesn't change the fact that the lanes will work and will make commuting better for people."

UDOT has received at least "several hundred" inquiries from residents wanting to purchase a HOT lane sticker, said Easton. The department is confident it can sell 600, he said.

Transportation Commissioner Jan Wells, who represents Salt Lake and Tooele counties, said Saturday she, too, wasn't surprised with the poll results. The seven-member Transportation Commission unanimously approved HOT lanes on I-15 during a meeting about three weeks ago.

"This is a very new concept for Utah and we've never had to pay to use roads in a general sense like this before," Wells said. "I think it will take time and education for everyone to understand what it means to them personally."

UDOT began studying whether to implement HOT lanes about two years ago at the request of the Legislature. For specific details about HOT lanes, and how they will be enforced and implemented, go online to: www.udot.utah.gov.

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E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com