Seafair_LowRes-32 by ttstam

Whether you like it or not Seafair is here along with its associated traffic impacts. Below is all the transit related info riders need to survive.

Thursday, Aug. 4

9:45 a.m. – noon
1:15 p.m.-2:40 p.m.
I-90 bridge closed eastbound and westbound, mainline and express lanes – between Interstate 5 in Seattle to Island Crest Way on Mercer Island. All I-90 bus service will be rerouted to State Route 520 during the closures. From Mercer Island, bus riders can board a Metro connector to the South Bellevue Park-and-Ride to transfer to Sound Transit Express routes 550 or 554 across the lake during the I-90 closure.

More after the jump.

Friday, Aug. 5

7 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Free shuttles begin service between Othello Station and the hydro course.

12:45 p.m.-2:40 p.m.
I-90 bridge closed both eastbound and westbound, mainline and express lanes – between Interstate 5 in Seattle to Island Crest Way on Mercer Island. All I-90 bus service will be rerouted to State Route 520 during the closure, and the Mercer Island connector will be in service.

Saturday, Aug. 6

7 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Free shuttles begin service between the Othello Station and the hydro course.

12:45 p.m.-2:40 p.m.
I-90 bridge closed both eastbound and westbound, mainline and express lanes – between Interstate 5 in Seattle to Island Crest Way on Mercer Island. All I-90 bus service will be rerouted to State Route 520 during the closure, and the Mercer Island connector will be in service.

Sunday, Aug. 7

7 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Free shuttles begin service between the Othello Station and the hydro course.

12:45 p.m.-2:40 p.m.
I-90 bridge closed eastbound and westbound, mainline and express lanes – between Interstate 5 in Seattle to Island Crest Way on Mercer Island. All I-90 bus service will be rerouted to State Route 520 during the closure. There is no Mercer Island connector service on Sunday.

25 Replies to “Seafair is Here!”

  1. From KC Metro:

    On Saturday and Sunday, August 6 and 7, from 10:0 AM to 6:00 PM each day, Route 39 will be rerouted off of S Genesee St, due to traffic congestion associated with the Seafair Hydroplane Races.

    During these times, Route 39 heading toward downtown Seattle, will travel via Wilson Av S, westbound S Orcas St, northbound Rainier Av S, westbound S Alaska St and on to its regular route.

    Heading south toward Othello Station, Route 39 will travel via Rainier Av S, eastbound S Orcas St and on to its regular route.

    While on reroute, it will miss its usual stops along S Genesee St and 50th Av S, however it still goes to within walking distance of the Hydroplane venue.

    1. Insert standard Seattle grumbling about how some noisy jets will be flying around soon making it sound like we’re all under attack

      2. I like the loud jets. Besides I rather they be giving an airshow than bombing somebody somewhere.

  3. I remember when they would run diesels on Route 14 and extend the 14 to the park. Since the 39 used to be a shuttle at night and on weekends, the 14 was the way to get from downtown to the hydroplane races.

  5. I can see the reason for closing the I-90 bridge to car traffic during the air-show. But will EastLINK have to shut down for the jets as well? Meantime, what about letting transit have the center lanes, possibly both ways?

    Considering usual distractions of bus-driving, I’d trust coach operators to keep their eyes on the road and let the pilots take care of their planes. Would do wonders for ridership, and traffic too. People would be able to watch the airshow and keep moving.

    However: Is the reason for the closure that there’s a real chance that one of the planes might have to “ditch” in the lake? Curious about this- in the same way I wonder about flight paths in and out of Sea-Tac and Boeing Field. Someone who knows aviation, please fill me in.

    Mark Dublin

  6. What a waste of dino fuels! LOL j/k…but no I’m serious Nascar is such a waste of dino’s. That sport, rather that pointless driving in circles should be shut down…

  7. Also a lot of reroutes in the CD:

    Event Reroute – Umojafest African Heritage Parade

    On Saturday, August 6 from 10:30 AM until about 3:00 PM, Metro bus routes 3, 4, 8, 14 and 48 will be rerouted in the Seattle Central District, due to street closures and traffic congestion associated with the Umojafest African Heritage Parade.

    Riding transit is a great way to get to and from this event; all buses that serve the Central District, including ones that are rerouted, will still go to within walking distance of the parade.

    Visit the Metro Online Alerts page for complete information about revised bus service, routing and stops for this event.

    Visit Metro’s online Trip Planner to find out how to get to and from this and other events and locations.

    Enjoy the Umojafest African Heritage Festival & Parade this weekend.

    Thanks for riding and for using Metro’s services.

  8. Of course, when EastLINK is finally up and running, there will be no re-routing for that, so I guess we just won’t have any transit from Bellevue to Seattle for several hours at a time in the middle of the day. Really???

    1. I’m betting on splitting trains between the Eastside and West side and a bus bridge between BTC and UW Stadium station or something like that. By the time East Link is up, you’ll have many more options to get people across and not have to run buses from South Bellevue P&R to Downtown Seattle via I90, 405, 520, and I-5 like I did this morning. I ended up being 30 minutes late which isn’t too shabby given the chaos that was out there.

      1. Why couldn’t East Link continue to operate across I-90 during the bridge closure to motor vehicles? The reason to close the bridge isn’t that the Blue Angels are going to crash into the bridge – else why allow all the boats under the performance? The issue is that drivers will be distracted and crash into each other. Link should be able to continue to operate.

      3. Assuming there is still an airshow during Seafair requiring closure of I-90 to motorists it will ultimately be up to the FAA if Link trains will need to stay off the bridge during the airshow as well.

      4. Thankfully, I suppose, we have at least thirteen — count them thirteen! — years to figure out what to do about the Hell’s Angels and East Link.

        Maybe Kemper Freeman will become a title sponsor of the hydroplane races.

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  10. Is operating I-90 buses across 520 during the closure effective? Won’t it take like an hour longer, given the congestion? I wonder why they couldn’t just have a transit only (no HOV) lane that could continue to operate during the performance. With no other vehicles on the bridge, there isn’t a crash risk.

  11. Complete waste of fossil fuels that might be used to build sustainable infrastructure like cycle-tracks or rail tunnels.

    I sure hope this isn’t the year that one of these flying penis-extensions misses a turn or clips a control surface during a pass and then crashes into a densely populated area, most of which Seattle already is.

    And it isn’t a question of if, but when.

    Enjoy the show!

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  13. Good work Sound Transit :-). Big time. No, make that: BIG SUPER WHOPPIN’ TIME :-). Light rail was my conduit to cheap taxi connections to all my Seafair events.

    Also atta-boy to the Water Taxi so I could get some good Seattle skyline pics from West Seattle. Fun little boat they got there.

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