Reminder: It’ll be tough to get around Seattle this weekend

UPDATE Saturday evening: The Alaskan Way Viaduct is open. Inspection crews completed their work a day earlier than expected. However, there are other closures on Hwy 99 in Seattle that are still in effect.

—Original story—

You better have your backup plan ready to go. Major construction closures are expected to jam up the drive around Seattle this weekend.

The Washington State Department of Transportation is closing portions of Highway 99 through Seattle and closing all westbound lanes of I-90 between Mercer Island and Seattle.

Related: Emerald City Comicon fans feel slighted by WSDOT’s road closures

“We’ve got to get ready,” said WSDOT spokesperson Travis Phelps. “This is the first big weekend event we have coming out of the winter months. This is the time to really stay engaged over the weekend. Check those traffic patterns before you leave the house, extra caution, plan ahead and you should be OK.”

Highway 99:

The Alaskan Way Viaduct will be closed between Spokane Street and the Battery Street Tunnel from 6 a.m to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

There will also be lane closures on SR 99 north of the Battery Street tunnel to Valley Street from Friday night through Monday morning. Crews working on the SR 99 Tunnel Project, the Mercer Corridor Project, and Seattle Public Utilities plan to complete utility and sign bridge installation work.

Lanes on the Aurora Bridge will also be shut down on Saturday.

Check the full closure details.

Westbound I-90:

Drivers will have to squeeze into the Express Lanes from Friday night through Monday morning. The closure is expected to cause significant issues for drivers who want to access Mercer Island from Bellevue. They’re going to have to get off at East Mercer Way because there are no exits to the island from the Express Lanes. The only other option is to make an entire loop over Lake Washington.

Check the full closure details.

“You’re going to want to take East Mercer Way to get into Mercer Island,” Phelps said. “If you miss that, you’re going to be heading all the way into Seattle – you’re going to be pretty grumpy.”

While thousands of people are streaming into Seattle this weekend for Comicon, Taste Washington, and the PBR Rodeo, Phelps said they decided it was a better weekend than most for the closures.

“We’re trying to squeeze stuff in to those places where it fits the best, given that we’ll never win. Anytime we take out one of these highways for any stretch of time, it has a huge ripple effect across the Sound.”