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The opening date for the San Ramon Valley’s Interstate 680 express lanes is still undetermined, but drivers will start to see “EXPRS LANE” markings popping up along the highway.
Starting Monday and lasting for the next two weeks, crews will take down the existing high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) diamond markings and install new markings labeled “EXPRS LANE.” They will also remove some of the “Under Construction” labels and “Coming Soon” wraps from the express lane signs, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC).
However, the variable toll messaging signs will continue displaying test toll amounts and the message, “Testing — No Tolls.” Meaning that the lanes will not be open to solo drivers during HOV operation hours — 5-9 a.m. and 3-7 p.m. — until all construction and software testing is finished later this fall, according to MTC officials.
Work will begin in Walnut Creek, travel south on southbound I-680 and then continue northbound starting in San Ramon; it will require the nighttime closures of the two left lanes.
The project includes one northbound express lane from Alcosta Boulevard in San Ramon to Livorna Road in Alamo, and one southbound express lane from Rudgear Road in Walnut Creek to Alcosta Boulevard. It’s part of a larger plan sponsored by the MTC and Caltrans to develop an integrated Bay Area express lanes network.
Everyone can drive in the lanes, but only HOVs and some select others can use them for free during toll hours: carpools, vanpools, eligible clean-air vehicles, motorcycles and buses all count as HOV for tolling purposes.
All cars, though, will need a toll tag. Toll-exempt vehicles can set the FasTrak Flex toll tag in the “2” position for 2-person carpools and the “3+” position for everything else, while solo drivers can use either a standard FasTrak toll tag or a FasTrak Flex tag set in the “1” position.
This San Ramon-Walnut Creek segment is the first of three proposed MTC projects intended to implement express lanes most of the way from Alcosta to the Benicia-Martinez Bridge.
Why is it that we have never heard what use of the “Express Lane” is going to cost?
Thanks for your comment, Duffy. Tolls will vary depending on traffic, with a minimum toll price of $0.50 per zone, and a maximum toll set by supply and demand. For more information, you can go to our previous coverage linked in the above story or to the MTC website at http://mtc.ca.gov/our-work/plans-projects/major-regional-projects/mtc-express-lanes.
Good luck in that 680 “Express” lane between San Ramon and Walnut Creek after 3pm. Just another user tax to creep along at 10 mph instead of 5. Who knows though, maybe it will be of some help to those who can afford it.
Segregation at it best and most visible: “carpool” and “express” lanes. Since their inception, is there any *actual* proof that these separation lanes improve flow for the masses? I sincerely doubt it because the reality is that these lanes benefit few, and mire the rest into *fewer* (legal) available lanes.
Maybe a study needs to be done comparing the correlation between the inception of “specialty lanes” and incidents of road rage and frequency of collisions. I suspect they are closely related.
The electronic “express” lanes may do one thing: catch the cheaters that the CHP manages to pay no attention to. And that will bear out the grand vacancy of usage when the use fee (tolls) start jacking and only the wealthy will be legally using the tax-payer funded segregation lane.
@ Road user.
How dare you ask for actual data? The state will tell you what is good for you with their 2/3 super majority and the so called media will help them sspin their BS.
How does the system determine how many people are actually in the car? How does it distinguish between one person driving and a mother with children in the backseat that cameras from above cannot see?
Marie,
On your Flex Pass you set the switch to the number of people in the car, 1, 2 or 3+.
I am aware that you can change the number on your flex pass, just wondering if people can be pulled over if it is set to 3+ but police do not see children in the back.
Who can we write to and ask WHY the carpool lanes include CHILDREN who do not drive? The CARPOOL lanes are for CARPOOLING – meaning multiple persons of DRIVING AGE – not children or babies! I have always found that incredibly insane since the inception of these lanes!
Dear Teri,
They are/were officially “HOV” high occupancy vehicle lanes, and CARPOOL is a colloquialism. Nationwide, kids count, but not dogs, inflatables or manikins. The boat has long sailed on that issue.
It’s funny (NOT FUNNY) that the MTA “FAQ” page doesn’t address the frequently asked questions:
* What data suggests express lanes are a good idea compared to HOV lanes?
* How long will it take express land charges to pay for the construction and operation?
* When did voters approve the 680 project?
What is the value of the express lane when it moves at snail pace along with all the other lanes on the right that are not express lanes?