Motorists should plan ahead to avoid delays
Summer in Seattle and the long Fourth of July weekend gets off to a start tonight with a Sounders match at CenturyLink Field at 7 p.m. and the Firecracker 5000 at the Seattle Center at 11:59 p.m. Thursday packs in numerous Fourth of July events around the City including the Admiral Fourth of July Kids Parade, the start of the four-day Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival, and the ever-popular Seafair Fourth of July Fireworks Celebration. On Saturday, the Seafair Pirates will land at Alki with an audience of 15,000 fans, meanwhile kids will be parading in the Madison Park and Wallingford districts. There’s also a bike race in the University District while bike messengers will begin two days of North American Cycle Couriers Championship races at Fishermen’s Terminal.
Motorists should allow extra time to reach their destinations as there will be heavy traffic associated with many of the events. To help alleviate traffic congestion and reduce pollution, the Seattle Department of Transportation encourages motorists to park their cars and try one of the many other modes of transportation available – Metro Transit, the West Seattle Water Taxi, the South Lake Union Streetcar, the Sounder commuter train, Link light rail, car pool, bicycle or walk, if feasible. For more event and traffic information, please see the following schedule.
Wednesday, July 3
Seattle Sounders vs. DC United: 7 – 8: 45 p.m.
CenturyLink Field
34,000 attending
Anticipate heavy traffic on routes coming into SODO and on streets surrounding the stadium during the latter part of the afternoon peak traffic.
Firecracker 5000: 11:55 p.m.
Seattle Center and surrounding streets
1,500 participants
Run route: Starts on Seattle Center grounds at Second Avenue; north on Second to Mercer Street; east on Mercer to Eighth Avenue N; south on Eighth to John Street; west on John to Dexter Avenue N; north on Dexter to Mercer Street; west on Mercer to Fifth Avenue N; south on Fifth to Broad Street; west on Broad to First Avenue N; north on First to Mercer Street; east on Mercer to Second Avenue N; south on Fourth to finish on the Seattle Center grounds. http://www.promotionevents.com/Firecracker/info.htm
Thursday, July 4
Admiral Fourth of July Kids Parade: 10 a.m.
44th Avenue SW and Sunset Avenue SW – staging
900 participants
Parade route: Starts at 44th Avenue SW and Sunset Avenue SW; heads south on Sunset to SW Atlantic Street; east on Atlantic to Palm Avenue SW; north on Palm into Hamilton View Point Park. http://westseattleblog.com/ai1ec_event/west-seattle-4th-of-july-kids-parade?instance_id=203227
Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival: 10 a.m. – 11 p.m.
Center for Wooden Boats and Lake Union Park
4,000 expected
Expect congestion on streets surrounding the south end of Lake Union area. http://cwb.org/events/2013festival
Seafair Fourth of July Fireworks Celebration: Park opens at 12 Noon; fireworks at 10:20 p.m.
Gas Works Park
50,000 expected
Motorists should arrive prior to 6 p.m. as north of the Park (from N 40th Street south to N Northlake Way) will be closed to all but those needing local access; expect heavy congestion in the neighborhoods surrounding Lake Union. http://www.seafair.com/AnEvent.aspx?ID=24&SecID=1018
Special Note: Additional July 4 traffic info:
Traffic will likely be heavy in neighborhoods around Lake Union and at various city viewing locations. SDOT will set out no-parking barricades in areas around Lake Union where needed to assist with traffic congestion. There will be no parking, chairs of other viewing gear allowed on the Lakeview overpass which crosses I-5.
King County Metro Transit bus routes will operate with a Sunday schedule on Thursday, July 4, for Independence Day, and many routes will be redirected around community celebrations around the county. There will be changes to the water taxi schedules and for the South Lake Union Streetcar.
South Lake Union Streetcar will add evening service before and after the fireworks show on Thursday, July 4th. From 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., service is scheduled every 15 minutes. From about 7:30 p.m. until about 10:15 p.m. (fireworks show time), the streetcar will operate every 10-15 minutes, with service stopping temporarily during the fireworks show to better position streetcars at South Lake Union Park to carry passengers exiting the event. After the fireworks show, southbound streetcars will only travel non-stop to the Westlake hub, and return non-stop to South Lake Union to pick up additional customers exiting the event. Service will conclude by midnight.
I-90 express lanes will have an added westbound service for the 4th of July Holiday.
Lanes will be westbound at 6 a.m. Thursday and remain westbound overnight. Lanes will resume the normal weekday schedule on Friday.
Friday, July 5
Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival: 10 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Center for Wooden Boats and Lake Union Park
3,000 attending
Expect congestion on streets surrounding the south end of Lake Union area. http://cwb.org/events/2013festival
Special Note: Additional July 5 – 8 traffic info:
Full weekend closure of Mercer Street and SR99 to allow for the demolition of the east side of the SR 99 bridge over Mercer Street. SR 99 will close Friday night at 12 Midnight, followed by the closure of Mercer Street between midnight and 2 a.m. Saturday morning. The closures will continue through to 5 a.m. Monday; please see the Mercer Corridor Project website for detours and other details: http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/mercercorridor.htm.
Saturday, July 6
Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival: 10 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Center for Wooden Boats and Lake Union Park
4,000 attending
Expect congestion on streets surrounding the south end of Lake Union area. http://cwb.org/events/2013festival
Seafair Pirates Landing on Alki: 9:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. (landing between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.)
Alki Beach
15,000 attending
There will be no street closures, but motorists should expect congestion in the surrounding area. http://www.seafair.com/AnEvent.aspx?ID=4&SecID=889
Madison Park Kiddies Parade: 12 Noon
Starts at Wells Fargo Bank
800 participants
Parade route: Starts at Wells Fargo Bank at E Madison Street and McGilvra Boulevard E; moves east on E Madison and into Madison Park at 42nd Avenue E. Seattle Police will escort and there will likely be a rolling slowdown in traffic as the children travel along parade route. http://www.madisonparkseattle.com/madisonparkbusinessassociation/
Wallingford Family Festival Parade: 11 a.m.
Lincoln High School – staging area
1,500 attending
Parade starts at Lincoln High School at Interlake Avenue N and N Allen Place; north on Interlake to N 45th Street; east on 45th to Bagley Avenue N; north on Bagley into Meridian Park.
Expect congestion in the surrounding area. http://visitwallingford.org/conference/wallingford-family-parade-festival/
Wallingford Family Festival: 12 Noon – 5 p.m.
Meridian Park
750 attending; event hours
There may be some congestion on NE 50th Avenue and Meridian Avenue N. http://visitwallingford.org/conference/wallingford-family-parade-festival/
North American Cycle Courier Championships: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Industrial area near Fisherman’s Terminal
575 participating
Bike messenger race course on side streets off of W Commodore Way will be closed 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.; no arterial traffic in the surrounding area should be impacted.
http://www.sea-naccc-2013.com/
Sunday, June 7
Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Center for Wooden Boats and Lake Union Park
4,000 attending
Expect congestion on streets surrounding the south end of Lake Union area. http://cwb.org/events/2013festival
Brad Lewis Memorial Criterium: first race starts at 8 a.m.
University District
410 participants
Streets closed at 7:45 a.m. – 7 p.m.: Triangular closed course using NE Pacific Street, Brooklyn Avenue NE, and NE Boat Street (NE Pacific Street will remain open).
Expect congestion in the area surrounding the triangular race course. http://recycledcyclesracing.wordpress.com/2013-blmc/
North American Cycle Courier Championships: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Industrial area near Fisherman’s Terminal
575 participants
Bike messenger race course on side streets off of W Commodore Way will be closed 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.; no arterial traffic in the surrounding area should be impacted.
http://www.sea-naccc-2013.com/
Other traffic information:
For traffic alerts and traveler’s information, please visit the Traveler’s Information Map at: www.seattle.gov/travelers
Real-Time Downtown Parking Information available at: http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/epark
Contact: Peg Nielsen, 206.684.8114
