The Clark County HOV System Plan includes a number of elements that work together to accomplish HOV system goals. They include freeway, arterial, support facilities as well as definition for the operational characteristics of the HOV system. The system plan represents a long-range alternative for Clark County.
The freeway facilities form the spine of the HOV system and provide high quality service for shared ride commuters traveling to their major destinations. HOV bypass ramps give priority access to shared ride vehicles onto the freeway and work in conjunction with the freeway HOV lanes.
The next section describes the HOV characteristics for each of the recommended freeway corridors and their ramp bypass locations.
I-5 HOV Corridor
- 134th Street to the Main Street Interchange - Add one lane of new capacity for HOV.
- Main Street to Interstate Bridge - Convert existing inside general purpose travel lane for HOV use.
- Interstate Bridge - New Columbia River bridge with one additional lane of capacity for HOV.
- Marine Drive to Columbia Boulevard - Add one lane of capacity for HOV use.
- Columbia Boulevard to Going Street - Convert existing general purpose travel lane to HOV use.
- Ramp bypass for HOV priority access would be located at 134th Street, 78th Street, 99th Street, Main Street, Fourth Plain Boulevard, and Mill Plain Boulevard.
I-205 HOV Corridor
- 83rd Street to Glenn Jackson Bridge - Add one lane of new capacity for HOV.
- Glenn Jackson Bridge - Add an HOV lane by taking the inside shoulder.
- Glenn Jackson Bridge to I-84 - Add one lane of new capacity for HOV.
- Ramp bypass for HOV priority access would be located at 83rd Street, 18th Street/28th Street, and Mill Plain Boulevard.
SR-14 HOV Queue Bypass Corridor
- I-205 to 164th Avenue - Add outside lane HOV lanes from I-205 to 164th Avenue as a queue bypass lane for traffic destined to I-205 south.
- Ramp bypass for HOV priority access would be located at 164th Avenue, Ellsworth Road, Lieser Road, Evergreen Boulevard, and Grand Boulevard.
SR-500 HOV Ramp Bypass Corridor
- I-5 to I-205 - Ramp bypass for HOV priority access at Andresen Road/Thurston and St. John’s Road.
This section describes the arterial components of an HOV system and the locations where arterial HOV treatment is recommended. The purpose of an arterial HOV is twofold: 1) to improve access to the HOV freeway system, and 2) to support transit priority on the arterial system. The arterial HOV system is intended to promote bus movement and improve transit reliability by giving priority to the movement of transit vehicles in congested arterial corridors
164th Avenue - Bus priority treatment at Mill Plain Boulevard, McGillivray Boulevard, SE 29th Street, and SE 34th Street.
Washington/Main Street and Highway 99 - Bus priority treatment for all signalized intersections along the corridor from 7th Street to 78th Street.
Andresen Road - Bus priority treatment at 63rd Street and 78th/Padden Parkway intersections with Andresen Road.
Fourth Plain Boulevard - Bus priority treatment for all signalized intersections at Fort Vancouver Way, Grand Boulevard, Stapleton Road/54th Avenue, Andresen Road, and Thurston Way. Other intersections should also be considered.
Mill Plain Boulevard - Bus priority treatment at Grand Boulevard, Andresen Road and all signalized intersections from 104th Avenue to 164th Avenue.
134th Street (Park and ride access to I-5 on-ramp) - Provide bus priority treatment between park and ride lot and traffic signals to I-5 on-ramp entrance.
Padden Parkway (Park and ride exit to I-205 on-ramp) - Provide bus priority treatment exiting park and ride lot to left turn to Padden Parkway and at traffic signals to I-205 on-ramp entrance.
164th Avenue (Park and ride access to 164th) - Signal priority for busses between park and ride access and 164th.
Transit HOV facilities are a critical component of the HOV system, and there are a number of activities underway in the region today. The purpose of this section is to recognize that these facilities play an important role in the success of an HOV facility. At this point the system does not recommend new projects or programs, but it does recommend that the current and planned facilities and programs continue and grow to provide support to the HOV system.
Transit Service - C-TRAN currently provides extensive commuter express service in both bi-state corridors with 17 buses in I-5 and 10 buses in I-205 during the peak hour. In 2017, planned improvements call for 28 buses in I-5 and 21 buses in I-205.
Park and Ride - The primary park and ride lots providing bi-state transit service from Clark County to Portland are the Salmon Creek and Evergreen park and ride facilities. Over the next three to four years, new park and ride facilities are expected to begin operation. The Evergreen park and ride is scheduled for expansion in the near future. Fisher’s Landing park and ride and will open in the year 2000. A park and ride lot is also being considered at 99th Street and I-5 and could open by the year 2002. In addition, the planned Central County park and ride near I-205 would be constructed adjacent to Padden Parkway.
There are also several programs in the region directed by C-TRAN that complement an HOV system. They include the Commute Trip Reduction program, the Vanpool program, and the CommuteMatch program.
This section describes the operational characteristics of the HOV system plan. The freeway HOV operations will be the foundation for the final adoption of freeway HOV operating policies prior to the implementation of HOV facilities.
Hours of Operation - The Clark County HOV system would operate on weekdays for three hours in the A.M and three hours in the P.M. Hours of operation would be determined by analysis of directional peak period traffic conditions in the corridor. Opening the HOV capacity to general purpose use during the off-peak period would benefit midday traffic operations in the I-5 corridor for all users of the transportation system.
Occupancy Requirements - Occupancy requirements would be set at two or more people per vehicle. A three or more requirement would be considered if the speed and reliability standard was not met.
Operating Standards - Operating standards set speed and reliability benchmarks for the HOV lane and would be the same as state policy for the Puget Sound Core HOV system. State policy for HOV freeway operating standards state that the HOV lane must "maintain or exceed an average speed of 45 m.p.h. or greater 90% of the times that they use the lane during the peak hour".
       
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