Permanent High-Occupancy Vehicle Lanes
21655.3. (a) A high-occupancy vehicle lane on a state highway that has been given permanent operational status as a high-occupancy lane by the department on or after January 1, 1987, but before December 31, 1987, in conjunction with a transportation planning agency, and that is operated as a high-occupancy vehicle lane on a 24-hour basis after that date, shall be separated from adjacent mixed-flow lanes by a buffer area of at least four feet in width.
(b) The transportation planning agency having within its area of jurisdiction a high-occupancy vehicle lane meeting the operational requirements of subdivision (a) and having no buffer or a buffer less than four feet in width shall, by July 1, 1988, do one of the following:
(1) Enter into an agreement with the department to provide a four-foot buffer between the high-occupancy vehicle lane and the adjacent lanes and agree to pay any costs for the buffer not programmed by the department.
(2) Submit to the department a written request that the high-occupancy vehicle lane be changed to a mixed-flow lane.
(c) Upon receipt of notification by the transportation planning agency of its request that the high-occupancy vehicle lane become a mixed-flow lane, the department shall proceed with the work necessary to change the high-occupancy lane to a mixed-flow lane.
(d) The width of a buffer between a high-occupancy vehicle lane and adjacent lanes may be less than four feet at locations where a four-foot buffer would require the removal, relocation, or reconstruction of any existing bridge support structures or where part of the buffer space is required for enforcement refuge areas.