On Saturday Dec. 19 at about 5:30 p.m., a collision occurred in the northbound lanes of I-405 near the SR-527 interchange.

This caused a blockage to traffic, and shortly afterwards, the variable message signs were announcing a 4-mile back-up.

At the location of the accident, there are two general-purpose lanes and one “HOT” lane, available only to carpoolers and to those willing to pay a toll.

In past times, WSP would have directed traffic into the (then) HOV lanes in order to use all the available capacity, in order to clear the back-up.  Nowadays, the same result could be achieved by changing the toll signs above the HOT lane to indicate that the lane was open to all traffic free of charge.

But instead, the toll signs were changed to read that the toll would increase by a factor of 13 from $0.75 to $10. It seemed reminiscent of the actions of the young hedge fund tycoon who purchased a drug company in order to raise the price of its product from $13.50 to $750 per pill — an opportunistic attempt to make an unseemly profit from a situation of misery.

Does this action signify that WSDOT’s priorities have changed?  Is maximizing toll revenue now more important than relieving traffic congestion?

I think WSDOT owes us an explanation, with an apology if appropriate, for this indefensible behavior.

Lin Wilson, Bellevue