Cars not welcome: How to navigate Seattle on World Cup game days

We’re just a few days from the first 2026 FIFA World Cup match in Seattle.

If you like driving, you should probably just avoid Seattle. Using your car is not going to be easy on game days. As King County executive Girmay Zahilay said during preparations, “for visitors and residents, our message is simple: leave the driving to us.”

Transit is really going to be the only way to get near the stadium district on those six match days.

Seattle has created an exclusion or no-go zone from Yesler south through the stadiums on those days. The southern border of the exclusion zone is Edgar Martinez Drive. You will only be able to drive southbound on 1st Avenue. That’s the only street available to cars from about four hours before matches until the traffic has cleared.

Alaskan Way will remain open. So will 4th Avenue.

Pioneer Square will be off-limits to almost all car traffic. Street parking is also a casualty. Those spots will go away as early as 2 a.m. on game days. There is no drive-up lot parking on match days. Those parking passes for lots outside the exclusion zone must be purchased in advance.

Sound Transit is the best way to get to the matches

CEO Dow Constantine shared this piece of advice.

“From the north, we’re going to encourage you to use Pioneer Square Station,” he said. “If you’re coming from the east, we’re going to encourage you to use the International District Chinatown Station. If you’re coming from the south, we’re going to encourage you to use the Stadium Station. All of these give you ready access to Seattle Stadium and to all the festivities around the matches.”

And Sound Transit has increased train frequency to move as many people as possible.

“Operationally, on game days, we will increase service on the 1 and 2 Lines, so we’ll be running eight-minute service on all the lines all evening long,” Constantine said. “That means four-minute service all day long from the International District to Lynnwood.”

The ferry service is maxing its capacity to meet demand. So is King County Metro.

Here are the dates you want to avoid being in downtown Seattle if you’re not going to games.

June 15. June 19. June 24. June 26. July 1. July 6.

Most construction is taking this time off to provide as much space as possible during the event.

You can ride bikes and scooters through the exclusion zone, but you will be subject to an 8 mph speed limit.

Chris Sullivan is a traffic reporter for KIRO Newsradio. Read more of his stories here. Follow KIRO Newsradio traffic on X.

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