CHOKEPOINTS

Driver ‘blues’ for our roads this week

Aug 1, 2017, 6:28 AM | Updated: Aug 4, 2017, 8:30 am

(KIRO 7 image) (KIRO 7 image) (KIRO 7 image) (KIRO 7 image) (KIRO 7 image) (KIRO 7 image) (KIRO 7 image) (KIRO 7 image) (KIRO 7 image) (KIRO 7 image) (KIRO 7 image) (KIRO 7 image) (KIRO 7 image) (KIRO 7 image) (KIRO 7 image) (KIRO 7 image) (KIRO 7 image) (KIRO 7 image) (KIRO 7 image) (KIRO 7 image) (KIRO 7 image) (KIRO 7 image) (KIRO 7 image) (KIRO 7 image) Spectators watch as four members of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels flight team take off, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017, from Boeing Field in Seattle. The Angels were headed to practice for their weekend performances in the Seafair Air Show. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) Stunt pilot Sean D. Tucker, right, flies his Team Oracle Extra 300L in formation with U.S. Navy Blue Angels' Lt. Tyler Davies, left, and Cmdr. Frank Weisser, center, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017, above CenturyLink Field in Seattle in preparation for their weekend performances in the Seafair Air Show on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 5-6, 2017. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) Stunt pilot Sean D. Tucker, in the rear seat of the plane at right, flies his red Team Oracle Extra 300L with Grant Matthews, 16, who is a student at Raisbeck Aviation High School and a member of the EAA Young Eagles program, in the front seat as they fly in formation with U.S. Navy Blue Angels' Lt. Tyler Davies, left, and Cmdr. Frank Weisser, center, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017, near Seattle in preparation for their weekend performances in the Seafair Air Show on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 5-6, 2017. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) Stunt pilot Sean D. Tucker, right, flies his Team Oracle Extra 300L in formation with U.S. Navy Blue Angels' Lt. Tyler Davies, left, and Cmdr. Frank Weisser, center, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017, above CenturyLink Field and downtown Seattle in preparation for their weekend performances in the Seafair Air Show on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 5-6, 2017. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) U.S. Navy Blue Angels' Lt. Tyler Davies flies over a section of Interstate 90 that was temporarily closed Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017, near Seattle, so the Angels could practice for their weekend performances in the Seafair Air Show Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 5-6, 2017. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) U.S. Navy Blue Angels fly during a practice session over boats lined-up along a log boom on Lake Washington, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017, in Seattle. The team will perform Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the annual Seafair Air Show. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson) U.S. Navy Blue Angels practice formation flying over Lake Washington for their weekend performances in the Seafair Air Show, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017, in Seattle. The team will perform Friday, Saturday and Sunday. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson) U.S. Navy Blue Angels practice formation flying over Lake Washington for their weekend performances in the Seafair Air Show, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017, in Seattle. The team will perform Friday, Saturday and Sunday. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson) Stunt pilot Sean D. Tucker, center, flies his Team Oracle Extra 300L in formation with U.S. Navy Blue Angels' Lt. Tyler Davies, left, and Cmdr. Frank Weisser, top, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017, near downtown Seattle in preparation for their weekend performances in the Seafair Air Show on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 5-6, 2017. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

The end of this week is going to be unbearable through Seattle as the Blue Angels visit for their annual Seafair performances.

RELATED: Where to watch the Blue Angels

The best advice for Thursday through Sunday is to just avoid being anywhere near downtown during the early afternoons because I-90 will be closed for each session.

PHOTOS: Blue Angels take practice flights over Lake Washington

The worst day is usually Thursday when the Blue Angels have two practice sessions. The first is from 9:45 a.m.  to 12:15 p.m.  The second goes from 1 p.m. to 2:40 p.m. The roads never really get a chance to clear out from that morning practice before the afternoon session. I-5, I-90, 520 and I-405, and their alternates, are pretty much parking lots.  You can also expect the ramps on I-90 to start closing up to 30 minutes before the Blue Angels take flight.

Friday is also tough for drivers because the one session from 12:55 p.m. to 2:40 p.m. creates a jam that runs right into the normal Friday nightmare. You can get around on the weekend during 12:55 p.m. to 2:40 p.m. sessions with a little bit of planning.

Most people assume the bridge must close for the Blue Angels’ practice for safety, should a pilot have a problem in flight.  A Blues pilot told me years ago it’s actually for the pilots’ safety. They don’t want any distractions on the bridge. They don’t want anything that will send a sudden glare into their eyes. When you’re 18 inches apart at 360 knots, that’s not what you want, and they use points on the bridge to set their flight paths.

“We have a basic kitchen timer in the jet, a stopwatch, and we’ll fly at 360 knots ground speed so every 10-seconds is a mile,” the pilot said.  “We’ll call-out what we see.  It could be the right side of a bridge or a house with a red roof and we’ll transpose that to essentially Google Earth imagery and study that chart before we go flying.”

This is the first Blue Angels show with Sound Transit in charge of the center roadway on the I-90 bridge.  The agency said its contractor will not be doing any work on the floating bridge during the practice or show sessions.

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Driver ‘blues’ for our roads this week