Tolling begins in Seattle’s SR 99 tunnel: What you need to know
Nov 8, 2019, 1:37 PM | Updated: Nov 11, 2019, 8:07 am
Tolling for Seattle’s SR 99 tunnel began early Saturday morning. Here’s what you need to know before you drive through the tunnel.
Prices
Toll prices in the tunnel vary by time of day, and will go as follows:
Weekends:听$1
Weekdays:
- 6 鈥� 7 a.m. 鈥� $1.25
- 7 鈥� 9 a.m. 鈥� $1.50
- 9 a.m. 鈥� 3 p.m. 鈥撀� $1.25
- 3 鈥� 6 p.m. 鈥� $2.25
- 6 鈥� 11 p.m. 鈥� $1.25
- 11 p.m. 鈥� 6 a.m. 鈥撀� $1
Those prices apply for anyone with a Good to Go pass attached to their car — without a pass, it’s an extra $2 per trip to account for WSDOT sending you a bill in the mail. You can purchase
If you are deciding which pass is best for you, be sure to think about your drive. Do you ever use 405? Do you ever use 167? If the answer to either one of those questions is yes, maybe 聽works best for you. It will work in the tunnel, and it will work on the other corridors. The Flex Pass will also cost you a little more money.
Weekend rates will apply for drivers headed to CenturyLink Field on Sunday to see the Seattle Sounders take on Toronto FC in the MLS Cup Final.
Traffic
Tolling director Ed Barry told Seattle City Council that聽up to 1,700 vehicles an hour during the peak commutes could divert to city streets to avoid tolling. About 5,000 vehicles an hour use the tunnel during those times. They have to go somewhere, so you should have your backup plan ready to roll.
That all being so, the fastest way through the downtown corridor is no huge surprise.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e traveling through downtown Seattle, the tunnel is always going to be your best route,鈥� said SDOT鈥檚 Heather Marx. 鈥淥ur streets are at capacity 鈥� it鈥檚 not worth your time trying to make your way through downtown on surface streets.鈥�
Beyond that, the hope is driver behaviors mirror what we saw back when the Alaskan Way Viaduct closed for good, where traffic levels weren鈥檛 nearly as problematic as originally projected.
鈥淲hen the viaduct came down, we found that so many people just took our advice and changed up their commute,鈥� Marx noted. 鈥淲e just hope that everyone does that exact same thing for the purposes of tolling.鈥�
