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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 the traditional opening day of boating season, there are a ton of marches happening, and it’s Cinco de Mayo on Saturday.
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: Marches, museums, and Cinco de Mayo
Khalid performs at Wamu Theater on Thursday night at 8 p.m. Follow stadium instructions to get there: 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.
The March of Dimes March for Babies starts at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning and runs from Seattle Center to downtown and back, mostly on Fourth Avenue. Specifically, walkers will head east on Mercer from Second, then south on Fifth, south on Cedar, then south on Fourth Avenue until University Street before coming back. on largely the same route, only turning on Denny instead of Mercer. Transit is plentiful to Seattle Center, but the 8, 3, and 4 will get you closest to the start at Fisher Pavilion, though.
The annual Fiesta 5K Olé and Taco Truck Challenge takes over Volunteer Park on Saturday morning starting at 9:30 a.m., with the taco festivities running until 5 p.m. Metro route 49 and 10 get you right there. If you prefer light rail, Capitol Hill Station is about three-quarters of a mile away.
Meanwhile, in other Saturday marches, the Cannabis Freedom March will start at 10 a.m. with a rally at Westlake and have a short, police-escorted march along downtown streets around 1 p.m., likely causing some short road closures. Pretty much any bus that goes downtown will get you to Westlake Center, plus light rail (predictably, Westlake Station) and the South Lake Union streetcar.
Saturday starting about noon, the Cinco de Mayo Block Party is happening outside the Green Lake location of Tacos Guaymas, with a jalapeño-eating contest, food, margaritas, and music. Metro routes 26 and 62 will take you there.
The brand-new Nordic Museum is having its grand opening ceremony at noon on Saturday, followed by a concert and other cultural celebrations all weekend long. The 17, 29, and 44 will take you right there.
Another taco truck event—Taco Libre Truck Showdown—is happening on Sunday in Fremont, with 40 food trucks competing for the best taco-inspired dishes in Fremont along North Canal Street between Phinney and First from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The 40 will take you right there; the 28, 31, 32, and 62 will get you close; and the 5 will get you within walking distance.
A march to commemorate WWII veterans and celebrate the Allied Victory, the WWII Immortal Regiment Memorial Walk, will rally at 12:30 p.m. in Occidental Park, then march down Fourth Avenue to Seattle Center along Fourth Avenue. A festival continues at Seattle Center’s Mural Amphitheater from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Lots of options will get you to the starting line, including the First Hill Streetcar, Link Light Rail (Pioneer Square station), and a bunch of buses that come close.
Boating season opening day
Saturday is a big day for boatpeople—it’s “opening day” of boat season, which doesn’t mean anything actually opens as much as a lot of people get on boats and the Seattle Yacht Club has a parade.
The Windermere Cup Crew Races in the Montlake Cut run from 10:20 a.m. to 11:40 a.m. Then, a parade of boats will close the Montlake Bridge off to everyone starting around noon, when the bridge will open to allow a whopping 900 boats through the cut. It’ll stay closed until 2:30 or 3:30. Best to avoid Montlake unless you’re on a boat or part of the celebration.
If you are headed to watch the boats, you can get to a Montlake Cut vantage point via Link Light Rail (the University of Washington stop lets off by Husky Stadium), or the 43, 44, 45, 48, or 73.
Sports: Mariners and Sounders
In addition to the Huskies, which have the crew races on Saturday as part of all the festivities in the Montlake Cut mentioned above, we have a whole bunch of pro sports happening this weekend.
The Mariners play the As on Thursday night at 7:10 p.m., then the Angels at 7:10 p.m. Friday and 1:10 p.m. Sunday. The Seattle Sounders play Columbus Crew at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
The Sounder train is running for the Saturday and Sunday games, leaving Lakewood at 10:10 a.m. and Everett at 10:45 a.m. both days and departing 35 minutes after the game, serving all stops along the route.
If you’re coming in from closer—or you’re not going to one of the games served by the Sounder—you can board Link Light Rail to the stadium station (if it’s an M’s game, your ticket is your fare), or ride the First Hill Streetcar, or ride one of a bunch of bus routes from Metro, Community Transit, and Sound Transit.
Road work and bus service changes
Through Friday morning, southbound lanes and a sidewalk are still closed every night 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 Saturday morning, the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11, 21, 24, 26, 28, 33, 40, 47, 49, 62, 70, 131, C-Line, D Line, and E Line, plus Sound Transit routes 522, 545, and 554, will all be rerouted from 7:30 a.m. to noon for the March of Dimes.
Also on Saturday morning, the 43, 44, and 48 will be rerouted for Boating Season Opening Day.
The 44 gets rerouted again up in Ballard from 10:45 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., missing one stop on Market, for the Nordic Museum grand opening.
The 26 also gets rerouted again farther up, missing two stops to skirt the edge of the Cinco de Mayo Block Party.
The 522, 545, and 554 same buses will be rerouted again on Sunday for the Immortal Regiment march from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
In road work that doesn’t cause bus reroutes: Crews will be closing southbound lanes at Lake City Way Northeast just south of NE 125th Street from 7 p.m. Friday through 6 a.m. Monday. Everyone will be detoured with the assistance of police officers.
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.