No toll boost for major Seattle route during World Cup

Drivers won’t pay higher tolls to pass through the Highway 99 tunnel in Seattle during next summer’s FIFA World Cup.

The Washington State Transportation Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to park a plan to impose a surcharge of up to $1 per trip to cover added costs of managing the expected surge in traffic during the international sporting event.

It wasn’t a hard decision for commissioners after they heard enough money is coming in from toll collections to deal with additional expenses.

Plus, several had misgivings about the potential to cause disruption and congestion elsewhere if drivers turned to city streets and Interstate 5 to avoid the surcharge.

“I’m a firm believer that we only toll (for) what we need,” said Commissioner Jim Restucci, who made the motion to not proceed.

At the behest of state lawmakers, the commission was considering the temporary increase between June 1 and July 15, 2026, the period in which six World Cup contests are scheduled at Lumen Field in downtown Seattle.

Tens of thousands of fans will flood into the Puget Sound region for the first of those matches on June 15, a tussle between Belgium and Egypt. Four days later, the United States will battle Australia. Two other opening round contests are planned June 24 and 26.

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Teams will be training at the University of Washington in Seattle and Seattle University ahead of their matches. There will be other practice venues and fan zones in the region and across the state, too.

There’s $2 million for maintenance in the vicinity of the tunnel in the current state budget. Those dollars will come out of the tunnel toll revenue account. Lawmakers assumed that sum could be covered from a temporary toll rate increase, but didn’t mandate one.

Tolls vary based on time of day, with higher rates in peak commute hours and lower rates on nights and weekends. They are collected in both directions as one exits the tunnel.

Weekdays, the cost ranges from $1.25 to $1.85 per trip with a Good to Go pass. It is $1.25 on weekends.

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Commission staff studied potential increases of 50 cents and $1 per trip and found those hikes would bring in about $900,000 and $1.6 million, respectively, in the six weeks. If approved, it would have been the first-ever temporary toll rate hike in the state.

But, it turns out, the $2 million will be generated through collections with the existing toll rates.

“There’s no financial need to do this,” said Brent Baker, senior vice president and managing director of WSP USA, a firm that consulted on the analysis of a potential surcharge.

This story was originally published by the Washington State Standard.