I am not the first one to notice this simple solution. I was doing some research to see if this had been tried before and I found that in the UK “Active Traffic Management” has been implemented with considerable success. According to the UK’s Highways Agency, “Compared with road widening, Active Traffic Management is significantly more cost effective but provides comparable benefits including increased capacity, reduced journey times, increased journey time reliability, lower emissions and lower fuel consumption.” A pilot project on in M42 motorway decreased commute times by 26%. The Highways Agency surveyed drivers, stating that 84% felt confident using the hard shoulder, 68% felt better informed about traffic conditions and that around 66% wanted the scheme expanding to other roads.

It would be great if we were able to implement an easy was to reduce traffic during rush hour. The method has been proven both effective and popular. Anyone who has to drive on the highways during rush hour understands how frustrating it can be. This is just one way to make all of our lives a little easier. I am curious to know if utilizing the shoulder ever been considered in Maryland? Is there any reason why it wouldn’t work? Is there anything I can do to get something done?

Dave Buck, spokesman for the State Highway Administration, provided a brief history lesson:

Back in the late 1990's SHA widened the inner and outer loops of I-695 between MD 140 and I-83 south at a cost of about $60 million.
 
The left shoulder in this area was built to accommodate an eventual  an HOV lane along I-695.  
 
The left shoulder is wider in some areas (as much as 26 feet wide between Greenspring Ave and I-83 south) but closer to 12-13 feet in others.   
 
We do appreciate the writer thinking of new innovative ideas to reduce congestion.  However, the idea would not work for several reasons:
 
- With a wide shoulder only for a very short distance between Greenspring Ave and I-83 south, the merge/weaving condition that would occur in such a short distance would present a major safety issue.   
 
-  Using the 12 foot shoulder between MD 140 and Greenspring Avenue as a regular use lane as the reader suggests would eliminate any breakdown lane on an interstate, which is dangerous and a significant safety issue.
 
- In looking at the reader's example on M 42 in the UK which stretches more than 11 miles, several features on M 42 are included; breakdown lanes, overhead gantries and messages signs over every lane, variable speed limits, more than 200 cameras, sensors in the road ... not practical for I-695.
 
- SHA regularly uses right and left shoulders when available for incident management.  We take full use of every available inch of pavement in the event of a crash to keep traffic moving until more lanes can be cleared.

Meanwhile, as far as that intended HOV lane is concerned, Buck said it's still onh its way. He said that opening it requires the completion of several projects, including a rebuilding of the Charles Street interchange -- now under way -- and work on the Liberty Road bridge scheduled  to begin next spring. He said it will  also require a major widening of the Beltway between Interstate 83 and Harford Road as well as on the west side.

Buck explained that the highway agency can't open an HOV lane in one small area, though he said such a lane eventually will be opened on most of the westertn Beltway between the two interchanges with Interstate 95. That project is still well in the future, he said, but the agency decided it makes sense to add the pavement now rather than later.