Motorists should plan ahead

Many celebration marches will take place over the next several days in memory of Martin Luther King Jr and his significant contributions to our history. Motorists need to be aware of the potential for march-related traffic delays.

Several other events are taking place which may impact traffic – in particular, Sunday’s big Seattle Seahawks’ game against the San Francisco 49ers which will determine the team to play in Super Bowl XVIII on February 2.  The 12^th Man – 68,000 fans strong – will be sporting all things green and blue and keeping the noise at an all-time ear-splitting level.  Motorists traveling in the general vicinity of SODO and Downtown Seattle will need to plan ahead. Expect congestion to slow traffic down considerably on all major routes leading into and out of the SODO area.  Watch out for pedestrians and pedestrians need to “Be aware – Walk aware!” The Seattle Department of Transportation encourages motorists to ditch the car for this and other events and consider alternate modes of transportation such as the Seattle Sounder, Link light rail, Metro Transit, vanpooling, bicycling, or walking if feasible.

Friday, January 17
Orca K-8 MLK Celebration March: 10 a.m.
Orca Elementary School (Bowen Place S and S Dawson Street)
650 participants
March begins at Orca Elementary School; heads  north on Bowen Place S to S Hudson Street; west on Hudson to Rainier Avenue S; north on Rainier to S Edmunds Street; west on Edmunds into Columbia Park; makes a turn-around and returns on the same route back to Orca Elementary. Seattle Police will escort the march. Motorists can expect a rolling slowdown along the march route.

Giddens School Student March for Peace and Justice: 10 a.m.
Giddens School (20^th Avenue Street and S. Lane Street)
300 participants
March begins at Giddens School; moves north on 20^th Avenue S to S Washington Street; west through Pratt Park to 17th Avenue S; north on 17^th to Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center at E Yesler Way.  Seattle Police will escort the march. There may be some delays as the march moves along.  http://www.giddensschool.org

Seahawk Playoff Rally: 12 Noon – 1 p.m.
Westlake Park
2,000 expected
Streets closed from 10:30 a.m.to 2 p.m. for set up and take down: Pine Street between Fifth Avenue and Fourth Avenue.
Motorists can expect congestion on the surrounding streets. (Metro buses will reroute accordingly).

Justin Timberlake Concert: 8 p.m.
Key Arena
12,000 attending
Expect congestion on the west side of the Seattle Center.

Saturday, January 18
Rat City Rollergirls Bout #1:  5:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Key Arena, Seattle Center
5,000 attending
Expect heavier traffic on west side of the Seattle Center.

Seattle Opera Performance of Rigoletto:  7:30 – 10:30 p.m.
McCaw Hall, Seattle Center
2900 attending
Expect heavier traffic on Mercer Street.

Sunday, January 19
Seattle University vs Utah Valley Men’s Basketball:  1 – 3 p.m.
Key Arena, Seattle Center
3500 attending
Expect heavier traffic on the west side of the center grounds.

Seattle Seahawks vs. San Francisco 49ers:  3:30 p.m. kickoff
CenturyLink Field
68,000 attending
Expect heavy traffic before and after the game on streets surrounding the stadium and on all major arterials and freeways into and out of the SODO area. Watch out for pedestrians.
Metro Transit will provide cash-only (exact change, no ORCA cards) shuttles ($4 each way) from the Northgate, Eastgate and South Kirkland Park & Rides. Each shuttle will leave as it is filled. The last shuttle leaves for the game about 35 minutes before kickoff. All pre-game shuttles arrive near CenturyLink Field on Fifth Avenue South at South Weller Street. Buses returning to the park and rides leave from the same location.  Sound Transit will also provide Sounder service.                            

Monday, January 20
MLK Jr Committee 32^nd Annual March & Rally: 12:30 p.m.
Garfield High School (23^rd Avenue and E Jefferson Street)
5,000 participating
March begins at Garfield High School; goes north on 23^rd to E Union Street; west on Union to 12^th Avenue; north on 12^th to E Pine Street; west on Pine to Fourth Avenue and into Westlake Park for short rally; Seattle Police will escort. Expect heavy traffic and congestion as the march moves along – particularly in the downtown area.  http://www.mlkseattle.org/index.php

Reminder:  Monday is a City holiday so parking is free.
                                                                         
Contact:  Peg Nielsen, 206.684.8114