Plans for a Naches Tunnel or highway date back to the early 1930s, designated as the Naches Pass Link of Primary State Highway 5. The state legislature appropriated $50 thousand (equivalent to $ in 2019) for a study on the feasibility of a new highway. The corridor was included as part of an extension to Interstate 82 in a 1959 proposal by the Washington State Highway Commission that was later dropped. In the early 1960s, Governor Albert Rosellini established a committee to study the feasibility of a toll road. The route was considered feasible by the committee, and they estimated tolls of $1.50 per vehicle (equivalent to $ in 2019) would need to be levied to pay for the highway. Proponents of the new highway were pushing to have U.S. Route 10 routed over the pass, away from the routing over Snoqualmie Pass; however this never occurred. Ultimately, the highway was not built as the state considered the highway unfeasible. The highway has been codified in Washington law since 1970, while the tunnel through Naches Pass has been codified in state law since 1959.