WSDOT announces date for SR 99 tunnel tolling

The new State Route 99 Tunnel in Seattle has been toll-free all summer but that will change starting Saturday, Nov. 9 at 5 a.m.

WSDOT aims to ease transition for coming SR 99 tunnel tolls

Transportation officials made the announcement late Monday morning.

Tolling was pushed back to the fall by transportation officials in June, as the new toll vendor struggled to build a billing system.

“We don’t know when in the fall, but our commitment to drivers is to provide them at least a month’s notice,” Emily Glad of the Washington State Department of Transportation said in June.

WSDOT wanted problems fixed as the new vendor began missing deadlines last December and did not want to add tens of thousands of new customers to the system.

“While the SR 99 tunnel has been a great success, we expect traffic patterns in Seattle will shift when tolling starts,” WSDOT’s Patty Rubstello said in a Monday news release. “We are giving as much advanced notice as possible to allow drivers plenty of time to get ready, which includes opening up a Good To Go! account.”

The toll prices will be as follows:

Weekends: $1

Weekdays:

• 6 – 7 a.m. – $1.25
• 7 – 9 a.m. – $1.50
• 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. –  $1.25
• 3 – 6 p.m. – $2.25
• 6 – 11 p.m. – $1.25
• 11 p.m. – 6 a.m. –  $1

WSDOT said there will be three ways to pay the SR 99 tunnel toll:

• Lowest rate – Drivers with a registered Good To Go! pass, registered on an account, will always pay the lowest toll rate when using the SR 99 tunnel and other toll roads statewide.
• 25 cents extra per trip – Drivers who open a Good To Go! account and register their license plate, called Pay By Plate, will pay an extra 25 cents per toll, on top of the Good To Go! pass toll rate.
• $2 extra per trip – Drivers without a Good To Go! account will pay an extra $2 per toll and will receive their bill in the mail. Bills will be mailed to the vehicle owner registered with the Department of Licensing.

If you plan on avoiding the tunnel after the tolls begin, you have some options. From the tunnel’s north end, the final SR 99 off-ramp before the tunnel is at Aurora Avenue and Harrison Street. Approaching the tunnel from the south, the final northbound off-ramp is at South Dearborn Street.