O.C. wants carpool lane rules eased

A controversial plan to let solo drivers use carpool lanes on all freeways in Orange County during off-peak hours was endorsed Monday by county planners, sending the proposal to Caltrans for consideration.

At the same time, the Orange County Transportation Authority asked Caltrans for permission to let drivers who use carpool lanes pull in and out of the lanes as they wish. Typically, motorists can enter and exit the lanes only at designated spots.

Liberalizing carpool rules has been a recent theme of transportation planners in Orange County, who are looking for creative ways to ease freeway congestion.

The California Department of Transportation gave no immediate indication of how long it would take to study the requests, but if they are granted, Orange County would be one of the few urban areas in the state to open carpool lanes to solo drivers.

The state will first study the effects of allowing more vehicles access to the carpool lanes and then tackle what hours will be considered peak and off-peak, said James Pinheiro, Caltrans deputy district director.

Caltrans’ focus will be on traffic safety, he said.

Supervisor Bill Campbell, who is on the OCTA board, predicted that it would be difficult to get permission for solo access to the lanes on some county freeways.

“In Orange County, we have some freeways where it’s very hard to tell the difference between peak and non-peak hours,” said Campbell, referring to the frequent stop-and-go traffic on the Costa Mesa Freeway. “To make this plan work, the board will have to define what the non-peak hours are,” he said.

More than a year ago, Campbell, then OCTA chairman, asked Caltrans to grant solo drivers access to the carpool lanes throughout Southern California.

Campbell, a former assemblyman, said he wanted Southern Californians to have the same carpool privileges as motorists in some parts of the Bay Area and Sacramento. In those areas, Caltrans restricts carpool lane access only during morning and evening rush hours.

OCTA Chairwoman Carolyn Cavecche has put the carpool issue high on her agenda this year.

In December, new carpool lanes on the Garden Grove Freeway became the first “continuous access” lanes in Southern California, enabling carpool drivers to enter and exit the lanes regardless of how they are striped. Some drivers complain that being forced to wait to leave the carpool lanes forces them to cut across the entire freeway to make an exit.

Caltrans plans a major safety study of the carpool lanes on the 22 Freeway this summer.

Campbell applauded his fellow board members who were part of a planning committee that recommended taking action now, rather than waiting for the study to be completed.

“Not only are they recognizing the work on the 22 Freeway, but they want things ready rather than waiting for the go-ahead after the study is done,” he said.

Under Monday’s decision, OCTA and Caltrans would begin implementing the first conversions to allow drivers continuous access to the carpool lanes on the San Diego, Riverside and Orange freeways. More complex conversions for other freeways would come later, Pinheiro said.

Both agencies still would need to find funding and schedule the projects. In addition, the proposed conversions must be approved by federal environment and highway agencies and the state air quality district.

david.reyes@latimes.com