Seattle weekend traffic and transit: Sumo, donuts, and tulips

Another weekend, another whole list of things that could disrupt getting around. Some of these events might be things you’re doing, too—it’s a pretty light weekend, but there’s still some fun stuff to do, like a Greenlake food festival and a 5K with donuts.

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: Lots of food, including a donut 5K

On Saturday, the Green Lake Food Walk, a street fair with samples neighborhood food purveyors, will close NE 72nd Street between East Green Lake Drive N and Woodlawn Avenue NE from 12:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Get there using Metro route 26, 45, or 62.

On Sunday, the Top Pot Doughnut Dash, a 5K run and kids dash, is also happening in Green Lake—both on roads and the trail—from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Parts of East Green Lake Drive N could be closed. Bus routes should be the same as for the Food Walk.

It’s the last weekend of the Tulip Festival, and WSDOT would like to remind you that you can take the Amtrak Cascades up to Skagit County to tiptoe through. (Here’s some other WSDOT tips for festival-goers, including bathroom guidance.)

Sports: Sumo, more food, and Huskies

Saturday and Sunday, Sumo + Sushi combines watching sumo wrestling and eating sushi from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. both days. The venue, Wamu Theater, is near the stadiums. Take Link Light Rail (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.

All weekend long, the Apple Cup Series of Baseball—that’s the University of Washington at Washington State University—is happening at Husky Ballpark right by Husky Stadium at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.

Also all weekend long, UW softball is hosting a series against the Oregon Ducks at 5 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Husky Softball Stadium, right in the same college stadium cluster.

Husky Stadium is one of the few places in the U District that Link Light Rail goes directly to. It’s also served by Metro routes 44, 45, 71, and 73.

Road work and bus service changes

Starting earlier this week and continuing into next—including this weekend—two southbound lanes and a sidewalk will be closed every night, continuing into next week, on Boren Avenue between Howell and Olive for a vault installation. Sound Transit northbound 512 and eastbound 545 are rerouted from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. to a stop at Eighth and Olive.

On Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., the eastbound stop on Blanchard Street and Fourth Avenue will be closed, affecting Metro routes 40 and 62. There’s a temporary stop on Blanchard just east of Third.

Because of the run on Sunday, Metro route 45 is being rerouted off East Green Lake Drive N between Fourth Avenue NE and Wallingford Avenue N.

On Sunday, First Avenue will be closed in both directions between University and Seneca for private construction crane work. This also means route 125 will be routed off First, missing the First and University stop.

Also on Sunday, Westlake Avenue N will be closed in both directions between Republican and Mercer for work on a water main.

Planned Interstate 5 closures this weekend are postponed, but there will be some lane reductions two weekends in May to watch out for.

Note: We put immediate and new closures in this section, but not every single planned street closure appears here. Explore all 98 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.