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
Police are talking with a person who reported being a victim of a street robbery late tonight at or near California SW and SW Raymond. The initial report was that two Black male juveniles, both in masks and hoodies, held the victim up at gunpoint, stole their phone, and got away in a gray Tesla with no plates.
12:55 PM: Again this year, the West Seattle Junction Association has decked the heart of the business district with rainbow flags to celebrate Pride on the night of June’s WS Art Walk. As featured in our calendar and daily event list, Pride events tonight include a meetup at VAIN (4513 California SW) at 6 pm and then a “dance party” in the Walk All Ways intersection at 6:30; that’ll be followed by a drag show at Jet City Labs (4547 California SW) and the only event on the slate that’ not all-ages, an 8:30 pm afterparty at The Poggie.
ADDED 3:15 PM: Victoria at VAIN sent several reasons to stop there at the start of tonight’s celebration – “We have a limited number of Pride flags to give away before we proceed down to the intersection. We have a small run of West Seattle Pride shirts to sell. PFLAG wil have an info table with some giveaways as well.”
We’re just a few days from the first 2026 FIFA World Cup match in Seattle.
If you like driving, you should probably just avoid Seattle. Using your car is not going to be easy on game days. As King County executive Girmay Zahilay said during preparations, “for visitors and residents, our message is simple: leave the driving to us.”
Transit is really going to be the only way to get near the stadium district on those six match days.
Seattle has created an exclusion or no-go zone from Yesler south through the stadiums on those days. The southern border of the exclusion zone is Edgar Martinez Drive. You will only be able to drive southbound on 1st Avenue. That’s the only street available to cars from about four hours before matches until the traffic has cleared.
Alaskan Way will remain open. So will 4th Avenue.
Pioneer Square will be off-limits to almost all car traffic. Street parking is also a casualty. Those spots will go away as early as 2 a.m. on game days. There is no drive-up lot parking on match days. Those parking passes for lots outside the exclusion zone must be purchased in advance.
Sound Transit is the best way to get to the matches
CEO Dow Constantine shared this piece of advice.
“From the north, we’re going to encourage you to use Pioneer Square Station,” he said. “If you’re coming from the east, we’re going to encourage you to use the International District Chinatown Station. If you’re coming from the south, we’re going to encourage you to use the Stadium Station. All of these give you ready access to Seattle Stadium and to all the festivities around the matches.”
And Sound Transit has increased train frequency to move as many people as possible.
“Operationally, on game days, we will increase service on the 1 and 2 Lines, so we’ll be running eight-minute service on all the lines all evening long,” Constantine said. “That means four-minute service all day long from the International District to Lynnwood.”
The ferry service is maxing its capacity to meet demand. So is King County Metro.
Here are the dates you want to avoid being in downtown Seattle if you’re not going to games.
June 15. June 19. June 24. June 26. July 1. July 6.
Most construction is taking this time off to provide as much space as possible during the event.
You can ride bikes and scooters through the exclusion zone, but you will be subject to an 8 mph speed limit.
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
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