Seattle weekend traffic and transit: March for Science

Another weekend, another whole list of things that could disrupt getting around. Some of these events might be things you’re doing, too—there’s a March for Science on, plus a few Mariners games.

We’ve combed through the alerts and advisories from both the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) and the Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to deliver transit-friendly solutions for your weekend outings.

Some of this weekend’s advisories—and transit-oriented alternate routes to events—are listed below.

Weekend events: March for Science route, street closures, and more

This Saturday, the biggest event is probably the second go-round of the March for Science, a local edition of a national march which “champion[s] robustly funded and publicly communicated science and evidence-based policy.”

In Seattle, the rally starts at Cal Anderson Park at 10:00 a.m., and the march starts marchin’ at 11:30 a.m. and concludes at Seattle Center. The route winds down Pike Street to Fourth Avenue, then heads north, pivoting to Fifth Avenue North around Cedar Street before heading into the Seattle Center—very similar to the March for Our Lives route. Expect rolling closures of these streets during the march.

March for Science Seattle

Link Light Rail goes directly to Cal Anderson Park—one exit is literally in the park—and won’t get stuck in traffic, so your best bet might be getting to a light rail stop. The best buses for getting directly to the starting line are the 8, 10, 11, 43, 49, and 60. (Note: The march’s website says the 8 is not running that day, although there are no Metro alerts to that effect. Still, it’s a route that’s frequently delayed on, say, a normal Tuesday, and probably moreso on march day.)

Like with March for Our Lives, Metro and Sound Transit are running additional bus service for the march to address overcrowding, but you’ll have to just happen across them. From Metro:

Metro will operate on a normal Saturday schedule and will have additional buses as needed on routes 8, 41, 44, 101, 150, 255 and RapidRide C, D, and E Lines. ST Express Routes 550 and 554 will operate extra service; additional service on ST Express Route 594 may run if needed.

Extra Metro buses do not have schedules, will not appear in Metro’s online Trip Planner or One Bus Away, and will be dispatched based on demand. Riders should prepare for overcrowding and for some buses that may be too full to accommodate all passengers.

Road work and bus service changes

First, Saturday march closures: Metro routes 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11, 24, 26, 27, 28, 31, 40, 47, 49, 62, 70, the C Line, and the E Line will be rerouted in some capacity or another to accommodate the march, plus any Sound Transit buses that run on Fourth Avenue (the 522, 545, and 554).

The 31, 32, 75, and 372 will all be rerouted off part of the UW campus from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday for construction work.

The 2 will be rerouted off Spring and Hubbell all weekend for construction.

Fairview Avenue North will be closed between Republican and Harrison streets will be fully closed from 10 p.m. Friday to 2 a.m. Monday for a crane removal. The 70 will be rerouted off the street during this time.

Depending on the weather, the University Street onramp to northbound I-5 could be closed from late Friday night to early Monday morning.

Note: We put immediate and new closures in this section, but not every single planned street closure appears here. Explore all 100 active SDOT projects, many of which involve street and lane closures, here. Here are Sound Transit rider alerts; here are King County Metro rider alerts.

Sports: Mariners and Halo

There is literally a Mariners and a Halo game every day this weekend—Friday, Saturday, and Sunday—at Safeco Field and Centurylink Events Center, respectively. We debated whether to include Halo in this section or other events, but hey, esports.

The Mariners play the As at 7:10 p.m. on Friday, 6:10 p.m. on Saturday, and 1:10 p.m. on Sunday. The Halo World Championship Finals run pretty much all day (through 6 p.m.) each day.

To get to the stadiums, take Link Light Rail (your ticket is your fare, and the Stadium station is what it says on the label) the First Hill Streetcar, or one of a ton of bus routes from Metro, Community Transit, and Sound Transit.