Mariners playoff games will create a full count of traffic challenges

By winning their first division title in 24 years, the Seattle Mariners are also adding commotion to the busy Sodo neighborhood, where sports fans will navigate a double doubleheader of weekend ballgames.

However, the regional supply of mass transit and freeway lanes will be more plentiful than an ordinary fall weekend. (Knock on wood.)

The Washington State Department of Transportation balked at its customary schedule to block traffic in Renton for more toll-lane construction. With more than 100,000 people going to the Seahawks and the Mariners, this would not be a great weekend to do any work on I-405," spokesperson Craig Smiley said.

Meanwhile, extra trains, buses and boats will pick up people after the ballgames.

The Mariners host the Detroit Tigers on Saturday at 5:38 p.m., less than two hours before Sounders FC tangle with the Portland Timbers across the street at 7:30 p.m. Parking space will be in short supply.

Traffic conflicts will be dodgier Sunday, because the Seahawks football game at 1:05 p.m., against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, will end as Mariners fans arrive for the 5:03 p.m. baseball game. Sellout crowds will total 117,000 fans, not including hundreds who'll party at Pioneer Square pubs or visit the central waterfront. Two miles away, Climate Pledge Arena will host a sold-out Sunday night concert by Benson Boone at 8 p.m., following a Saturday evening show by Laufey.

To claim the title of Mr. October, your best stance will be leaving home early, to cushion against traffic snarls or train disruptions.

"Don't miss a second of the action, plan ahead, go downtown. It's a fun place to hang out anyway," advises Sound Transit spokesperson Henry Bendon.

A week ago, the light rail 1 Line worked some Sodo mojo by nimbly moving Huskies, Mariners and Sounders crowds without significant delays, last Saturday. That's a bounce-back from Sept. 20, when a ventilation fan failure blocked light rail at UW Station, including families headed for the Savannah Bananas baseball exhibition.

Last Saturday, light rail dispatchers sent four extra trains from the Sodo maintenance yard to serve postgame crowds, in addition to spare trains staged at Lynnwood City Center and Northgate stations. This boosted the fleet from 20 to 26 four-car trains, which carry 150 to 180 passengers per railcar.

Trains can normally move more than 4,000 fans per hour from Sodo in each direction, when trains go every 10 minutes. But with the extra trains, they can arrive every five minutes for a while and double the line's capacity, Bendon said.

Only a couple of "crush loads" were called in last weekend. A dispatcher guided train operators at overflowing Stadium and UW Stations to close their doors and get moving, so an emptier train could roll forward and fetch the leftover passengers.

"They crushed it out of the park," Bendon said.

This weekend, Sound Transit will again send four extra trains onto the 1 Line, instead of the usual three for Mariners nights, he said. Work will be suspended at the nearly finished Pinehurst Station, so trains shave off a couple of minutes between Shoreline and Seattle.

Big sports weekends are a prelude to 2026, when Sound Transit is supposed to constantly run trains every five minutes, after the overdue I-90 connection opens and the Eastside's 2 Line trains continue toward UW and Lynnwood.

Sounder trains will go to the 1:05 p.m. Seahawks game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as on a usual Sunday. The N Line leaves Everett at 10:45 a.m., while the S Line leaves Lakewood at 9:51 a.m. and 10:11 a.m. Full schedules are at www.soundtransit.org.

The first morning S Line train skips Auburn, Kent and Tukwila stations, because it's already full before reaching Auburn. An average 1,100 people ride fan trains to King Street Station, filling the aisles, Bendon said. "That's a party train.

In a special addition, Sounder will add Mariners gameday trains both Saturday and Sunday. The specific Saturday timetable isn't published yet, while Sunday afternoon Mariners trains leave Everett Station at 2:45 p.m. and Lakewood Station at 2:11 p.m.

King County Water Taxi will extend its Saturday evening service to Sunday, so the last boat departs Pier 50 to West Seattle at 10:45 p.m. both nights.

Extra buses will pick up fans postgame on Metro's C and H lines to West Seattle, D to Ballard, Sound Transit Route 545 to Redmond via Highway 520, Route 550 via I-90 to South Bellevue and downtown Bellevue and 554 to Eastgate and Issaquah Highlands.

Some tips:

* Download the Transit GO app to buy tickets by cellphone.

* If you buy tickets at a train station machine, get a round-trip ticket, or an ORCA fare card.

* Park at the big Eastgate or South Bellevue commuter garages next to I-90, and ride a bus across Lake Washington to downtown Seattle.

* Arrive early to claim one of 1,900 stalls at Lynnwood City Center Station, the 1,160 spaces at Angle Lake Station, or park at stations in between.

* Let others step off trains before entering. Then take a few steps inside to avoid clogging the doorways, which slows the entire 33-mile line.

For motorists, WSDOT is pausing roadwork where possible, so there are only two hot spots with reduced lanes, instead of last weekend's six clogs.

Bridge resurfacing on I-90, which blocked three westbound lanes in Issaquah, won't resume this weekend because of prior commitments to avoid conflicts with the Issaquah Salmon Days festival.

I-5 will stay open south of SeaTac, except for brief overnight lane reductions. That's a respite compared to last weekend's total southbound closure that caused one-hour delays or worse while crews replaced 60 broken concrete panels.

Eastbound I-90 at Mercer Island is on track to fully reopen by 7 a.m. Sunday, or sooner, said project spokesperson Elizabeth Mount. The left lane has been closed during an expansion-joint replacement on the East Channel Bridge, causing traffic jams.

Two bottlenecks persist in South King County. In downtown Auburn, Highway 18 eastbound will close from 9 p.m. Friday until 2 p.m. Sunday, for expansion joint replacement. And Highway 167 northbound in Pacific provides only one lane because of girder damage by an overheight truck.

For bicyclists, the Elliott Bay Trail next to Magnolia Bridge reopened Thursday morning, when an obsolete bridge was replaced by a wider surface path. T-Mobile Park garage offers 150 free, secured bike-parking spots, as well as racks outside.

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