Christmas weekend travel charts - I-5 U.S.-Canada border
Christmas weekend travel charts showing when I-5 at the U.S.-Canada border is expected to be the most congested to help plan your travel.
Reading the charts
The colors
WSDOT traffic analysts looked at how many cars were on the road past Christmas weekends. Based on this historical data, the graphs shows how many cars (vertical axis) we project to be on the road each hour (horizontal axis) for Christmas weekend 2023. As the graphs turn from green to yellow, drivers can expect some congestion. During the red hours, traffic analysts predict travel will reach roadway capacity. Once a roadway reaches capacity, any small incident can cause significant backups.
The black line
The black line running from left to right shows typical traffic. This gives drivers more information on how the Christmas 2023 holiday weekend travel may relate to a typical weekend.
Northbound
December 21
![2023 Christmas travel chart](/sites/default/files/styles/max_650x650/public/2023-12/christmas-2023-I-5-Border_NB-Thu.png?itok=dQg0V6pT)
December 22
![2023 Christmas travel chart](/sites/default/files/styles/max_650x650/public/2023-12/christmas-2023-I-5-Border_NB-Fri.png?itok=vNcZMkij)
December 23
![2023 Christmas travel chart](/sites/default/files/styles/max_650x650/public/2023-12/christmas-2023-I-5-Border_NB-Sat.png?itok=l4h-f6xp)
December 24
![2023 Christmas travel chart](/sites/default/files/styles/max_650x650/public/2023-12/christmas-2023-I-5-Border_NB-Sun.png?itok=-O_e-j71)
December 25
![2023 Christmas travel chart](/sites/default/files/styles/max_650x650/public/2023-12/christmas-2023-I-5-Border_NB-Mon.png?itok=dernhyPc)
December 26
![2023 Christmas travel chart](/sites/default/files/styles/max_650x650/public/2023-12/christmas-2023-I-5-Border_NB-Tue.png?itok=zOYIf3xU)
Southbound
December 21
![2023 Christmas travel chart](/sites/default/files/styles/max_650x650/public/2023-12/christmas-2023-I-5-Border_SB-Thu.png?itok=5Pd85Yrm)
December 22
![2023 Christmas travel chart](/sites/default/files/styles/max_650x650/public/2023-12/christmas-2023-I-5-Border_SB-Fri.png?itok=HY6eQ_-5)
December 23
![2023 Christmas travel chart](/sites/default/files/styles/max_650x650/public/2023-12/christmas-2023-I-5-Border_SB-Sat.png?itok=kNdHWkuj)
December 24
![2023 Christmas travel chart](/sites/default/files/styles/max_650x650/public/2023-12/christmas-2023-I-5-Border_SB-Sun.png?itok=J1XvoJ9R)
December 25
![2023 Christmas travel chart](/sites/default/files/styles/max_650x650/public/2023-12/christmas-2023-I-5-Border_SB-Mon.png?itok=VXLMarFv)
December 26
![2023 Christmas travel chart](/sites/default/files/styles/max_650x650/public/2023-12/christmas-2023-I-5-Border_SB-Tue.png?itok=XXsIFnxN)
166,800 electric vehicle
registrations in Washington in 2023, up from 114,600 in 2022.
87 wetland compensation sites
actively monitored on 918 acres in 2023.
25,000 safe animal crossings
in the Snoqualmie Pass East Project area since 2014.