Jim from Jefferson County writes, “What’s driving you crazy? Semi trucks in the express lane on 470. They should be banned or tolled so much their company’s eyes water looking at the toll statement. I paid about $5 to go 40 mph with normal, non-tolled traffic flying by. Use the cameras that gets people leaving the express lane to toll these semi truckers into oblivion. End rant. Thank you for your time.”
I’ve had that exact same experience Jim, and in my case, the semi was blowing all the small rocks from the shoulder onto my car so I backed way off and got out at the first point I could. I know that buses, most often RTD and Bustang buses use the metro area express lanes. I’ve also seen a variety of semi trucks use the lane and their speeds have varied from around the limit to well over.
I talked to Tim Hoover from the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) who knows just about everything having to do with the express lanes and he told me, no, there is no restriction on what types of vehicles can use any of the front range express lanes as long as the driver pays the toll. Truckers do pay more as they have a $25 surcharge on top of the toll…