Drivers ask why I-394 MnPASS lane isn't used for eastbound afternoon traffic

At 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, a traffic jam formed on eastbound Interstate 394 near Hwy. 100 in St. Louis Park, with stop-and-go conditions stretching back to near Louisiana Avenue.

Some of the heavy traffic could be attributed to fans heading into downtown Minneapolis ahead of the Twins-Brewers game that night at Target Field. But Drive reader Bob has noticed that bottlenecks in the area form on weeknights even when there isn't a Twins or Timberwolves game or other special event downtown.

Meanwhile, Bob said, westbound traffic seems to be much lighter, with only a handful of motorists using the reversible MnPASS lane.

"It seems that it would be much better to have the HOV lane open to all that eastbound traffic, rather than the relatively light westbound traffic," he said in an e-mail to the Drive. "This may seem counterintuitive, since one might think that the westbound (outbound) traffic would be heavier than the eastbound (inbound) traffic during rush hour, but clearly this is not the case."

The most recent traffic counts from the Minnesota Department of Transportation show that during the evening rush hour — 3 to 6 p.m. — westbound traffic peaks at about 5,000 vehicles per hour while eastbound traffic peaks at about 4,000 per hour.

"With such close volumes, it's easy to understand how the public may feel the reversible is open the wrong way in the afternoon," said Brian Kary, director of traffic operations for MnDOT's Regional Transportation Management Center.

But traffic volumes don't tell the whole story, he added.

A single traffic lane can handle about 2,000 vehicles an hour, and westbound traffic volumes exceed that between 3 and 6 p.m., with a peak volume of 3000 vehicles per hour, Kary said.

Without the reversible MnPASS lane open to westbound 394 drivers, only one lane would be available to motorists coming out of downtown. That would cause even bigger backups on I-94 and downtown streets leading to 394.

"Eastbound drivers never see that," Kary said.

Though westbound 394 traffic typically does not begin to drop off until about 6:30 p.m., it may not look like it to eastbound drivers. At Penn Avenue, westbound drivers generally are picking up speed because they have more lanes to spread out in than does incoming traffic.

"It's a perception thing," Kary said. "Eastbound drivers see [westbound] traffic is moving just fine."