That means the 405 Express Toll Lanes will be free and ‘OPEN TO ALL’ drivers:

• Weeknights between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m.
• All day on weekends
• On six major holidays: New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas Day

What do drivers need to know?

This is another big change on the roadway, and WSDOT expects it may take drivers some time to get the hang of the new rules:

Check the signs.

The signs will display the words “OPEN TO ALL”. That means drivers can enter the lanes for free without a Good To Go! pass or a carpool.

Use the designated access points.

Drivers must observe the designated access points, and are not permitted to cross the double white lines at any time. Failure to observe these rules may result in a $136 ticket. WSDOT designed an express toll lanes interactive map to help drivers learn the access points and plan trips.

Direct access ramps are HOV only during off-hours.

Only transit and two-person carpools are permitted to use the direct access ramps at NE 6^th Street in downtown Bellevue and NE 128^th Street in Totem Lake. These signs will show “HOV2+ NO PASS NEEDED”. This means there will be limited exits for drivers traveling southbound through Kirkland and downtown Bellevue due to the restrictions at these two locations. WSDOT is looking at options to improve access in these areas. Toll-paying customers using the express toll lanes between 5 a.m. and 7 p.m. on weekdays are still allowed to use these ramps, regardless of vehicle occupancy.

Vehicles over 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight are always restricted from using the I-405 express toll lanes.

Other tolled facilities operate as usual.

The SR 167 HOT Lanes and SR 520 and Tacoma Narrows bridges will operate as usual.

What’s next?

WSDOT is planning more than a dozen changes to the I-405 express toll lanes corridor to increase capacity and improve operations including:

• Improved striping and signage,
• Longer access points, including changes to the northbound I-405 access point at SR 520 happening this weekend, that make it easier for drivers to merge into the toll lanes,
• Improvements to the algorithm which calculates toll rates to keep the toll lanes moving, and
• New merge-and-weave lanes and hard running shoulders at key northbound I-405 chokepoints near SR 520 and SR 527.

Please feel free to contact WSDOT with questions during this time of transition. WSDOT’s goal is to provide a safe and efficient highway for all drivers on I-405.