FOLLOWUP: No temporary Highway 99 tunnel toll increase during FIFA World Cup, state Transportation Commission decides

The potential downsides of temporarily increasing Highway 99 tunnel tolls during the FIFA World Cup would outweigh the benefits. That’s what Washington State Transportation Commission members just decided, so the idea is dead; we mentioned last week that this was on their agenda for today. Two possibilities were studied – a 50-cent surcharge or a one-dollar surcharge, potentially in effect June 1st through July 15th of next year. The higher of the two would raise about $1.6 million dollars, and that could help cover $2 million in extra maintenance costs. But commissioners were told that tunnel revenue under current rates would cover that cost just fine (they had seen an earlier presentation showing that the tunnel’s finances are in fairly good shape). And they also were told that increased tolls were likely to lead to more drivers diverting to surface streets, leading to more traffic trouble. So they voted unanimously to scrap the idea. (The WSTC is responsible for setting tolls and ferry fares on state facilities. The whole temporary-toll-increase idea came up because the Legislature told the commission to study and consider it.)

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