LAST REMINDER: Highway 99 tunnel tolls start Saturday

That’s a WSDOT crew uncovering one of the signs south of the northbound Highway 99 tunnel last night. By 5 am, all signs in both directions will be uncovered, because that’s when tolling begins – though it’ll be a little later on the northbound side, since that’s scheduled for a maintenance closure 10 pm tonight until 8 am tomorrow. If you’re still not entirely sure how tolling will work, here’s a WSDOT video:

And here’s the chart of what you’ll pay and when:

If you don’t have a Good To Go sticker pass, you can still get one, but they’re not free any more. You can also open a Good To Go account without a sticker – that’ll cost you an extra quarter each time you’re tolled if your car is registered to the account. Or if you skip Good To Go altogether, every time you take a tolled trip, you’ll pay $2 extra and get a bill via postal mail.

Trickycoolj November 9, 2019 (12:05 pm)

Ordered the passes with the HOV switch last week since we use 167 to visit family but have yet to see them show up. How long do the toll passes take to ship?

AliAlki November 9, 2019 (11:51 pm)

I’ve had to order 4 of them in the past year (it’s a long story….) and from my experience there doesn’t seem to be a standard time frame for delivery. I had one in 4 days and another took over 2 weeks.

Mark November 9, 2019 (12:39 pm)

I ordered two stickers, one for me and one for my wife about a month or two apart. The first one took a while to show up, I think around 3 weeks. The second was much faster, around a week or so.

WGA November 9, 2019 (1:05 pm)

I had a Pay By License Plate Account. WSDOT sent me the Good To Go Pass for my registered car over a month ago. Activating the GTG Pass was tricky. It can not be done online if one already has a Pay by Plate Account. It has to be done via email (or phone or office visit). I went the email route and it took about 7 working days to activate the GTG Pass. If you are setting up a brand new account I think it’s doable online. Here is the info to get you going: https://www.wsdot.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2019/09/09/Tolling-ActivatePass-All-Accounts-Visual-Guide.pdf

Mj November 9, 2019 (4:27 pm)

I received my GTG Pass Sticker within a week, I ordered it 6 weeks ago before the rush. People waiting to the last minute likely will wait a bit longer.

Scott November 9, 2019 (6:29 pm)

They’re all WAY too busy complaining here.

PatsFanPNW November 9, 2019 (10:36 pm)

Can someone explain something to me? Why raise the rates during peak hours to force traffic downtown? I know we may think it would discourage people from driving, but I’m thinking it’s just going to push it to the free streets. Maybe I’m guessing wrong on human behavior but I’d put me money on articles in about two weeks about the ever-increasing times for the C line and other bus services being caught up in traffic jams.

Matt P November 10, 2019 (3:01 pm)

Because during peak times with bad traffic, people will use it no matter what, so this raises more revenue. Of course there’s a break even point where people won’t use it no matter the price, but I guarantee that’s much higher than $2.25.

aa November 10, 2019 (7:20 am)

I don’t know that stats on what happened after the 520 tolls started but I think they know there will be an increase in people avoiding the toll road for awhile and then a certain percentage come back. This is why I have always been against the idea of adding yet another stadium in that area. Back when there was more discussion about that I kept wondering why no one was talking about increased traffic on the side streets after the tunnel and tolls were up and running? Seemed crazy to me to consider another stadium in that area.

Sorry, comment time is over.