The state Department of Transportation staff and a group of elected officials will meet in Bellevue on Thursday, Oct. 29 to discuss the results from a traffic analysis study on adding up to two express toll lanes to I-405 that would connect with High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes on SR 167. This is the group’s third meeting as part of an ongoing Eastside Corridor Tolling Study.

The Legislature included a proviso in the 2009 transportation budget (Senate Bill 5352) directing WSDOT to engage local jurisdictions and the public in a series of work sessions around the possibility of implementing express toll lanes as part of future I-405 and SR 167 improvements.

The Executive Advisory Group, which includes mayors and other elected officials from communities along I-405 and SR 167, will meet at least one more time in November. WSDOT will also host two more open houses in early November in Kent and Kirkland to gather public comment. WSDOT will include the comments in a report to the governor and the Legislature in January 2010.

The meeting will take place at Bellevue City Hall – meeting room 1e-108, 450 110th Ave. NE.

The meeting agenda includes information on corridor traffic performance and a discussion of tolling study options. Members of the public are welcome to attend the meeting and provide brief comments to the group.

More information, meeting materials, and an online comment form are available at: www.wsdot.wa.gov/tolling/eastsidecorridor.