Express Lanes Mark 2 Years on Fast Track

Commuters lucky enough to have a rider or two and qualify for the Interstate 15 express lanes south from Rancho Penasquitos to Kearny Mesa have escaped the morning-evening rush hour for two years now.

Today is the second anniversary for those fast-moving lanes that daily usher express buses, car pools and ride sharers past 8 miles of stop-and-go traffic.

Growing from a meager start of 2,000 cars per day to a current 8,700, the express lanes have put a slight dent in traffic on the crowded inland freeway.

State Department of Transportation mathematicians translate that into at least 17,400 fewer cars in the conventional lanes of I-15 during rush hours, because each express-lane car must carry at least two occupants, each of whom could have been driving to and from work alone.

Unfortunately, inland North County commuter traffic has grown by even more, according to the San Diego Assn. of Governments. About 30,000 more cars a day now travel I-15 than did two years ago.

The worst is yet to happen, said Bill Tuomi, Sandag manager of transportation programs. Population increases projected in inland North County by 2010 translate into average daily traffic on I-15 of 310,000 vehicles, well over today’s 198,000. That will make the north-south freeway’s Miramar Naval Air Station segment the No. 2 traffic bottleneck in the county, topped only by the I-5 in the Sorrento Valley, where average daily traffic is expected to reach 380,000 20 years from now.

Caltrans spokesman Steve Saville has first-hand knowledge of the joy of express-lane commuting. The Rancho Bernardo resident brags that the fast lane saves him 15 minutes in commute time to his Mission Valley offices.

The 2-year-old I-15 expressway, with its reversible traffic flows and its computer controls, was the first of its type in the state. A computer in the Caltrans traffic operations center 12 miles away controls the daily operation of the lanes, which flow southbound from 6 to 9:30 a.m. and northbound from 3 to 6:30 p.m. The computer controls changeable message signs along the 8-mile stretch, railroad-style crossing arms and pop-up cones that prevent wrong-way driving.

Saville said the express lanes’ traffic record has been exemplary. No fatalities or serious injury accidents have occurred in the express lanes and, although drivers tend to disregard speed limits on the expressway segment, only 1% to 2% have been ticketed by the California Highway Patrol.

Saville said that no special ceremonies are scheduled for the express lane anniversary today. In fact, the lanes will be closed to traffic, as they are every Saturday and Sunday.