TGIF! Weekend Traffic Predicted to be “Particularly Ugly” Saturday

Here’s a short list of what will be clogging streets in Seattle this weekend, June 9 and 10: “races, baseball games, festivals, parades, University of Washington and Seattle University and Seattle Pacific University graduation ceremonies and more.”

If you can avoid the SoDo area on Saturday, the Department of Transportation advises you to do so. The University of Washington’s graduation ceremonies start at noon at Century Link Field, and are set to wrap up just about the time the Mariners take on the Los Angeles Dodgers at SAFECO Field. So at 4:15 p.m., more than 40,000 will be heading one way, while somewhat fewer than that will be heading another. We’ll let you decipher which is which.

Overshadowed by this, but not entirely out of the gridlock-inducing game is the Seattle Pacific University commencement, set for 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday at Key Arena. That’s expected to draw a crowd of just 10,000, but with construction on Mercer and Denny having so little capacity at any time, entering the Seattle Center area should be aggravating. Don’t try to sneak through Eighth Avenue North between Harrison and Republican streets: It’s Glazer’s Camera Annual PhotoFest and that block is closed much of the day.

There’s also a carnival in Georgetown, and a parade in Roosevelt.

Sunday brings yet another Mariners v. Dodgers game (1:10 p.m. at SAFECO), but traffic should be normal there. What will probably require extra time is the confluence of Seattle University graduation attendees (Key Arena, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and the 1 p.m. matinée of Coppélia at PNB.