Seattle, WA
‘Months of Hell’ return to I-5 around Seattle
We survived it last year, barely, but now we’re in for several “months of Hell” as closures of northbound I-5 across the Ship Canal Bridge return.
You deserve a pat on the back if you survived the “month of Hell” between July and August last summer.
You might need therapy to survive what’s about to happen.
Four ‘months of hell’ inbound
Four “months of Hell” will start this weekend with a full closure of northbound I-5 from downtown Seattle to University District. The Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT) needs the weekend to set up a work zone across the Ship Canal Bridge.
Come next Monday, the two left lanes of the northbound Ship Canal Bridge will be closed 24/7, and this is going to last for four months.
I spoke with Tom Pearce, a communications specialist for WSDOT, about the upcoming work last year.
“We will work for about four months, and then we will pause and pick everything up when the World Cup comes to town,” Pearce said. “When the World Cup ends, we will have another weekend-long closure, reset the work zone, and then we’ll start to work on the right lanes of the northbound Ship Canal Bridge.”
And that will come with a second four-month chunk of lane closures.
I’m not sure if you remember just how bad these similar closures were for that one month last summer, but it was absolutely brutal.
To help with the traffic flow, WSDOT kept the I-5 express lanes open in the northbound direction the entire time. The rationale is that it is the direction of travel of the closures.
What that created was a daily one-hour delay, or more, for southbound I-5 drivers. Tens of thousands of southbound drivers use those express lanes every morning, and with that option gone, they had to stay in the main line, creating a daily five-mile backup to the Edmonds exit down to Northgate.
“We know that it was difficult for travelers, particularly for southbound in the morning on I-5,” Pearce said. “People did well at adapting and using other transportation methods and adjusting their schedules. It went relatively well.”
WSDOT is using all the data it collected during that month of closures and is using to help with congestion this time around.
Here’s the setup going forward
Northbound I-5 will be closed through the downtown corridor all weekend. When it reopens on Monday, only the right two lanes will be open until June 5. That weekend, the entire northbound freeway will be closed to remove the work zone.
The work will take a break during the World Cup until July 10. Then, northbound I-5 will be reduced to just two left lanes until the end of the year. The end date hasn’t been released. It was originally scheduled to wrap up in November.
This is going to cause significant delays around Seattle. My best advice is to alter your schedule and get on the road at least an hour earlier than normal.
And if you think you’ll just jump on the light rail out of Lynnwood to avoid the backup, you’re going to need a plan. That parking lot is full by 7 a.m. most mornings. It will likely be filled earlier than that going forward.
Chris Sullivan is a traffic reporter for KIRO Newsradio. Read more of his stories here. Follow KIRO Newsradio traffic on X.
Follow @https://twitter.com/newsguysully
During the pandemic, fares were suspended on a number of transit agencies in Washington State including Metro and Sound Transit for public health reasons. While transit was free for part of 2020, Metro and Sound Transit suspended fare enforcement until Spring 2025 and Fall 2023 respectively.
On Seattle’s buses and trains (and Snohomish’s, Spokane’s, and Vancouver’s BRTs), agencies employ a “Proof of Payment” system. Common in Northern Europe, fares are not enforced by turnstiles or bus drivers but by transit employees who randomly board transit vehicles and check that riders have proof of payment. Turnstiles prevent the possibility of unique fare media (a free bus ticket with a hotel or, as in Seattle, arena ticket) and barrier-less Youth Ride Free. They also save on capital costs associated with fare gates and operational costs by enabling shorter bus dwell times with all door boarding.
One downside of proof of payment systems is that fare enforcement is more complex. In Washington State, most agencies with off-board fare payment also have a fare enforcement program to issue fines or citations to riders who illegally boarded without paying.
Youth Ride Free
In 2022, youth began riding transit for free across Washington State. In that year’s transportation budget, Olympia began funding local transit operations for local agencies (except Sound Transit) and in return demanded agencies adopt “low-barrier, zero-fare policies for youth”. That forbids checking IDs, mandating Youth ORCA cards, or even filling out a form. WSDOT indicates that any rider who “identifies oneself as 18 years of age and under” can’t be denied service due to lack of fare media.
Youth Ride Free has been a huge win for parents and children but for transit agencies it’s added complexity to fare enforcement. Today, a large contingent of riders legally ride for free with no identification or fare media making enforcement and calculating a fare evasion rate difficult.
Outside Seattle, no tracking
Outside of Seattle, Community Transit (in Snohomish County), C-TRAN (in Vancouver), and Spokane Transit operate proof of payment BRT systems. We reached out to those agencies to understand their fare evasion rate and all three said fare evasion was not a metric they tracked. Spokane Transit does not have a fare enforcement program. Both Community Transit and C-TRAN cited Youth Ride Free as a reason why their agency is unable to track a fare evasion rate.
King County Metro
In 2019, King County Metro estimated that between 2.7% and 4.5% of riders weren’t paying on proof of payment routes (i.e RapidRides). Last month, the Urbanist broke that King County Metro issued zero citations for fare evasion in 2025 despite Metro estimating a systemwide 35% “nonpayment rate”.
With Youth Ride Free, “nonpayment” and “evasion” aren’t really synonyms anymore so we reached out to Metro for more clarity. Metro spokesperson Jeff Switzer clarified that “the systemwide non-payment rate of 35 percent does exclude youth ridership, based on our best estimates” (emphasis mine).
Coverage of this story in the Seattle Times also indicated that routes with fare enforcement (i.e. the 7, 36, 40, 106, and RapidRides A-F) now have just a 3% evasion rate, an almost 30 percentage point reduction since enforcement began. Metro clarified that they do not actually track fare evasion by route and the 3% figure cited by the Seattle Times is the percentage of fare checks in which riders had not paid, not the percentage of boardings in which riders had not paid.
Sound Transit
In 2019, fare evasion on Link was 2.4% of riders. After a brief hiatus for the pandemic, in Fall 2023 Sound Transit began enforcing fares again (with Fare Ambassadors instead of security).
In early May, staff gave an update to the Sound Transit Board on the Fare Engagement Program. Notably, only 63% of boardings have valid fare media (i.e. paid), a rate somewhat higher than the 56% in 2022. Youth (and those attesting to be youth) are included in the 37% of riders that do not pay. Before Youth Ride Free, youth represented roughly 6% of ridership.
In 2018, Fare Inspectors checked roughly 2.5M fares or 8.76% of riders. In 2025, Fare Ambassadors checked 986,304 fares, roughly 2.5% of riders and a far cry from Sound Transit’s goal of checking 10% of riders.
Of those checked by Fare Ambassadors in 2025, 15% did not have a valid fare. 7.5% were youth legally riding free. 7.8% were not youth and did not have a valid fare and of that number, 60% refused to show ID and were thus not issued a warning.
It is difficult to reconcile the discrepancy between only 63% of riders having paid but 85% of riders checked by Fare Ambassadors having a valid fare. Perhaps 20% of riders dodge the Fare Ambassadors? Or 20% of riders are on crushed trains Fare Ambassadors cannot check? Regardless, it is obvious that Fare Ambassadors are not checking a representative sample of riders.
In 2024, staff estimated that due to fare evasion, the agency lost $15M annually and is losing $30M annually now that ST2 is completed. Over the course of the 50 year ST3 program, that represents roughly $1.5 billion, or 10% of the cost overrun for the Ballard Link. The agency is now piloting “entrance inspections” (i.e. human fare gates), which do increase compliance but only when the inspections are active.
The Sound Transit board obviously sees fare evasion as a problem as they investigate fare gates. But BART, a fully gated system, had a 5% evasion rate in 2017 and has a 10% evasion rate now, both far higher than Sound Transit’s own fare gate-less 2.4% evasion rate from 2019 when over 2.5x more checks were happening.
Editor’s Note: Uncivil comments, especially those which make unsubstantiated claims about riders who do or do not pay fare, will be moderated in accordance with our Comment Policy.
SEATTLE — City leaders are considering a one-year ban on new data centers in Seattle, and many residents are overwhelmingly on board.
Councilmembers Debora Juarez, Eddie Lin, and Council President Joy Hollingsworth introduced the year-long moratorium after reports that four companies have gone to Seattle City Light with proposals to build five large-scale data centers in the Seattle area.
Along with the legislation, councilmembers are also weighing a resolution that would require the city to study how these data centers impact city infrastructure, water usage, utility rates, public health, and more.
The drafted resolution defines data centers as “facilities consisting of housing and infrastructure (heating, cooling, lighting, offices) to support servers (computers), data storage systems, networking equipment, uninterruptible power supply batteries, or backup power generators.” Demand for the centers is growing as the AI industry expands, sponsors said.
On Wednesday, the city’s Land Use and Sustainability Committee was briefed on the proposed ban, and the Parks and City Light Committee discussed the resolution. Neither committee took a vote. However, dozens of people voiced support for the moratorium during public comment periods.
“Public utilities should prioritize public needs, including climate, over the profit interests of big tech,” Rebecca Wood said.
Residents’ concerns about data centers ranged from rising utility rates to increased pressure on the city’s power grid and environmental harms across the Seattle region.
“We are in a climate crisis. We know this, and it is time for us to act urgently. Building data centers is the exact opposite of what we need to be doing,” Alecia Gaussoin said.
Seattle already has roughly 30 small data centers. The large-scale centers in question would be the first of their size in the region, and they would have a combined maximum demand of 369 megawatts — enough to power about 300,000 homes — according to city officials.
“Comparing the 30 that we have in Seattle to the ones they are trying to build here is like saying my bearded dragon is the same as Godzilla,” Evan Sutton said during public comment.
The resolution also calls for cooperation from the mayor’s office in creating policies to guide future legislation and budget appropriations.
Both city committees are expected to vote on the proposed one-year ban and resolution June 3. If passed, the moratorium would take effect immediately.
This is a developing story that will be updated.
By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium
ARTE NOIR’s Central District Legacy: Black. Power. Black Panthers., now on view through Aug. 2, explores the history, cultural influence, and enduring legacy of Seattle’s Black Panther Party through visual art, community memory, and the lived experiences that shaped the Central District.
Rooted in history and cultural power, the exhibition celebrates the impact of the Black Panther Party in Seattle while recognizing the Central District as a vital center of Black life, culture, and resilience.
As the first Black Panther Party chapter established outside California, the Seattle chapter, founded in spring 1968, worked to protect, preserve, activate, and sustain revolutionary resolve in pursuit of resources, dignity, and self-determination for Black communities. The chapter remained active until 1978, leaving an imprint that continues to shape civic life, cultural memory, and community care in Seattle and beyond.
“There are so many myths, truths, lies, and demonizing that have gone on about who we were, and who we are today,” said Elmer Dixon, co-founder of the Seattle chapter of the Black Panther Party. “We’re going to right that wrong, and we’re also going to make sure that we inspire the young people and people of all ages to stand up for freedom and fight a good fight.”
Created by a coalition of Seattle activists, the Seattle Black Panther Party advanced community justice efforts and built models of mutual aid that raised political consciousness throughout the Central District.
The exhibition reflects that legacy through works that explore Black identity, collective power, activism, and community care while inviting visitors to engage with the history and cultural significance of the Black Panthers in Seattle.
Featured artists include Achille “AJ” Barbel, Jonathan Brickous, Charles Connor, Tasannee Durrett, Serron Green, Thaddeus Hunnicutt, Tafy LaPlanche, Crystal Noir, and Ed-Lamarr Petion.
Collectively, the works present visual narratives centered on youth solidarity, activism, the symbolism of the raised Black Power fist, the vibrancy of color, and the panther itself, an enduring symbol of protection, strength, and Black identity.
For ARTE NOIR Curatorial Manager Hassan Kirkland, the exhibition extends beyond art into broader conversations about culture, memory, and community.
“The inspiration behind the exhibit was to capture the depth from blackness as a cultural moniker related to the Black community, the element of power, and its diversity of what power can connote,” said Kirkland. “Because we can find power not so much just in direct examples like the Black Panther Party, but the power of community, the power of church, the power of education, the power of Black businesses, and the power of just knowing that your history came from a legacy.”
Kirkland said education is central to the exhibition experience, which incorporates voices, reflections, and lived experiences alongside the visual works to deepen visitors’ understanding of the history being presented.
“The voices offer a different form of learning or education, because it invokes a kind of oratorical, kind of historically African method of griot, which is usually an elder or teacher or some form of position of a person who has historical knowledge, sharing by word,” said Kirkland. “So, when you’re reading some of the texts in the space, you’re getting this kind of symbolic narrative of this elder or this real individual that’s sharing with their lived experience and what they observed, and how we can digest that in this current state.”
Kirkland said the exhibition also highlights the cultural vibrancy and creative expression rooted in the Central District.
“The work that is there, they hold a certain element of blackness due to the context and cultural narratives that are provided,” said Kirkland. “Education is wrapped into it, culture is wrapped into it, expression and creativity are wrapped into it, and that’s a part of the vibrancy that comes from the Central District legacy that we’re trying to showcase and capture in this particular exhibit.”
For those who attend, Kirkland hopes visitors leave with a stronger sense of community and historical context, understanding that if the community could endure what it faced in the past, it can continue moving forward and overcoming future challenges. The goal, he said, is to recognize and honor the power, Black identity, and collective strength within the community.
“I hope that they take away the gems from the voices that have been shared about those kinds of reflective years. I hope they take away just the encouragement and inspiration of what creativity and visual art can provide, as far as ideas and the imagination for the younger generations who may come and see the show,” said Kirkland. “Within this particular gallery, we are showcasing Black vibrancy, so that you can walk away knowing that even though the exhibit may come down, this history is in your community, and while the exhibit is up, you can come here learn, celebrate, and become educated even more as you pursue through your own life.”
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