Gas prices crashed in 2020 as the health crisis caused many Americans to stay off the roads. The national average that Labor Day plunged to just $2.22 a gallon. Then gas prices reached a Labor Day record high of $3.79 in 2022, the same year gas surged to $5 a gallon for the first time after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine spiked oil prices.

WSDOT has charts covering expected Labor Day congestion levels on other main travel routes as well, including Interstate 5 between Lacey and Tacoma, Highway 2 between Stevens Pass and Skykomish, and I-5 at the U.S.-Canada border. The state also provides real-time traffic information online for highways and ferry routes.