New rules and new look coming to SR 167

By Lauren McLaughlin

If you’ve been driving on SR 167 during the last few weeks you’ve likely seen some new equipment. We’re here to shed some light on what’s happening on the road.

Cameras, pass readers and more!

We are installing updated tolling equipment. This includes cameras that read license plates, pass scanners, and other equipment to help us manage traffic.

On the gantry you can see pass scanners, license plate reading cameras, lights, and other vehicle detection equipment that will help track when vehicles enter and exit the tolled lane.

This new equipment will help modernize SR 167 and make it consistent with other toll roads in Washington. Drivers without a Good To Go! account will be able to use the toll road via Pay By Mail; a payment option where we’ll take a picture of your license plate and mail a bill. That bill will be sent to the address on your vehicle registration with the Department of Licensing. (The Pay By Mail toll rate is $2 higher than the Good To Go! Rate.)

Right now, drivers on SR 167 need to have a Good To Go! account and a pass installed before they can pay a toll to use the SR 167 HOT lanes while traveling alone.

Once the new equipment is installed people will have the chance to decide during their drive whether the toll is worth it for their trip, the same way they can on all our other toll roads.

As early as this fall, SR 167 will also have toll zones. These zones allow us to better manage the toll rates throughout the corridor. (This is similar to the way tolling currently works on I-405.) That means if there’s heavy traffic in one toll zone, the toll rates might be higher in that area. If traffic is flowing freely in another area the toll rate will be lower.

A mockup of what the new signs will look like on SR 167 when the toll zones are in place.

Along with the new toll zones, SR 167 will be restriped in some areas. Striping will show specific entry and exit points for the tolled lane. There will also be double white lines separating the tolled lane from the general purpose lanes. But unlike I-405, SR 167 will continue to have just a single tolled lane in either direction.

HOV to express toll lane

We’re also extending the northbound toll lane further south to Sumner. That change allows us to manage traffic for a larger piece of the roadway. It also gives drivers a chance to decide sooner if the toll is worth it. If they decide it is, they will get more benefit from it.

However, this does come with some growing pains. The installation of license plate readers means that people who carpool on SR 167 will need to have a Good To Go! account and a Flex Pass installed in their vehicle. That pass has to be set to HOV mode to travel toll-free. Motorcycles will need to have a Motorcycle Pass to travel toll-free on SR 167. In the future, anyone traveling without a Motorcycle Pass or a Flex Pass set to HOV mode will be charged a toll, no matter how many people are in the car.

The good news is that it’s completely free to open a Good To Go! account! Our Pay As You Go option allows you to open an account with just a credit card, and have your tolls charged to your card after your trip. And even better, we plan to give out free Flex Passes and Motorcycle Passes later this year to help make that transition easier!

We’ll have more information about how to get a free pass available this summer, as well as timing for when the rules will change for SR 167.

Testing in progress

As the installation continues over the next few months you may see lights flashing or words or numbers displayed on the new signs. Don’t worry, that’s part of testing the new equipment.

Even if you see those lights and numbers on the new signs, you won’t be charged a toll for driving by them until the system upgrades take place later this year.

A new sign structure on northbound SR 167 near Sumner, showing an entry and exit point for the tolled lane is coming up. There is also a rate sign, with its information obscured, which in the future will display what the tolls are for each toll zone ahead.

Travel disruptions
We started installing the updated equipment near Sumner. We’ll be making our way north over the next few months. The work does involve some overnight lane reductions and road and ramp closures. Be sure to keep an eye on our project page for the most up-to-date information about closures and planned work.

Heavy equipment and work crews need to use all lanes when installing certain elements of the new equipment. The work is done at night to avoid too much disruption to daily commutes.

Why update now?

This work has actually been in progress since 2023 (and has been in the works long before then). The ultimate goal is to seamlessly connect three toll facilities, creating an approximately 50-mile tolled corridor. That would allow drivers to travel all the way between Sumner and Lynnwood without needing to exit the tolled lanes. To do that, the tolled lane on SR 167 needs to work the same way as the tolling on I-405. We especially want this update in place before the new toll lanes open on I-405 between Renton and Bellevue.

The SR 167 HOT lanes opened in 2008 as a pilot program to test if tolling could be used as traffic management tool. The pilot was one of the first of its kind in the country. At the time, the equipment was state-of-the-art. After 17 years, the equipment has aged and will soon no longer meet the needs of our system or our customers.

Like all systems, tolling equipment must be regularly updated so it continues to work reliably. Our oldest toll road is the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. Earlier this year we updated all the equipment on the bridge for the first time in nearly 19 years. We also monitor other roadways as they age to make sure the equipment still meets our needs. We will consider equipment updates on those roads as needed.