From Deseret News archives:
'Express lane' decals sell out quickly
Car-pool lanes will open to solo drivers with permit
The agency started selling the decals at 8 a.m. Only 600 were available to purchase, and by noon, at least 100 people were on a waiting list to buy the decals, which cost $50 per month, said UDOT spokesman Nile Easton.
The demand wasn't surprising, he said.
"I think we could tell that the demand was going to exceed the number of decals we had available, just from the number of people that have e-mailed and called wanting to get information about the program," said Easton.
The car-pool lanes will be opened on Sept. 1 to solo drivers with decals. UDOT will turn them into "express lanes" on that date. The money from the decal sales will be used to help with enforcement and administration.
When opened, the express lanes will stretch 38 miles from Salt Lake County to Utah County. The lanes will be separated from the general-purpose lanes with two solid, eight-inch white lines.
Motorists will be able to enter and exit the express lanes at 15 access points, which are indicated by a broken white line. This re-striping has already been finished in Salt Lake County. It will be done in Utah County by the end of the month.
Utah Highway Patrol trooper Jeff Nigbur said Thursday that the re-striping may be difficult for drivers to get used to. On Monday, UHP did an enforcement blitz in Salt Lake County to educate motorists about the 15 new access points for the express lanes.
Troopers pulled over and gave warnings to 75 drivers during the blitz. The motorists did not enter or exit the lanes in the correct spot, or, were caught driving in the lanes without a car-pool buddy, Nigbur said.
UHP plans to continue educating the public about the express lanes for the next few weeks, he said.
"I think with any new program, there's going to be an education and trial period where people learn where the entry and exit points are," said Nigbur. "We're not out there to cite the public for using it wrong, but we will issue a citation if we must."
E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com
