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Week of July 31, 2006
Savor the summer at Seafair this weekend
The King County Department of Transportation (KCDOT) is playing a big supporting role behind the scenes this week at Seafair, the region’s premier summer festival of fun.
Whether it’s hosting the Blue Angels flying team at Boeing Field, or busing folks from venue to venue on Metro Transit, KCDOT knows how to make the good times roll during Seafair.
Here’s an overview of the services the department is offering this week for Seafair events:
 Seafair Airshow – Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 5-6
For more than 30 years, with only a few brief interruptions, the U.S. Navy Blue Angels have flown in and out of King County International Airport at Boeing Field (KCIA). It’s one of the only shows that the Blues do almost every year.
KCIA’s 10,000-foot runway is more than long enough to accommodate the pilots and their F/A-18 Hornets. Making KCIA the base of operations also fits perfectly into the Angels’ flight plans because the airport is less than five nautical miles from the show site, and the tower crew can give the team personalized attention during takeoffs and landings.
As in past years, the Blue Angel pilots and support crew will make time in their busy schedules on Friday to talk to students enrolled at the Aviation High School and in KCIA’s “Opportunity Skyway” program. These visits always excite the students about their aviation studies.
The public can see the planes from the Museum of Flight parking lot on the west side of Boeing Field, and watch the pilots do the "walk-down" as they get into their planes each day.
The Blue Angels will arrive in town on Wednesday, and practice Thursday and Friday over the course on Lake Washington south of Interstate 90. The big Seafair Airshow is set for 1:30 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. There will be several other high-flying acts in addition to the Angels. One big addition is a nighttime flying fireworks show on Saturday at 9 p.m. featuring Pilot Bill Leff and his T-6 Texan.
 Hydro races – Friday through Sunday, Aug. 4-6
Metro is teaming up with Seafair and Sound Transit to provide special shuttle service to the Seafair hydroplane races this weekend on Lake Washington. This year, the service is provided from the Eastgate Park-and-Ride and the Oxbow Lot near Boeing Field in Tukwila. The shuttles are non-stop to the hydro pits at Stan Sayres Pit Area near Genesee Park in Seattle.
The shuttles will operate from both locations on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, the shuttles will leave for the pits between 9:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. On Sunday, they start around 7:30 a.m. They run until about one hour after the last race, except on Saturday when there will be some later shuttles for those staying for the fireworks and nighttime aerial show. The roundtrip fare is $3, and will be collected by Seafair staff in the parking lots when you board.
Also, on Friday there will be shuttle service from the Oxbow Lot to the hydro pits for all the preliminary action. See Metro Online for all the details on hydro shuttle service.
During the Seafair Airshow practices and performances, the floating bridge on Interstate 90 between Seattle and Mercer Island will be closed to traffic. All I-90 buses will be rerouted to State Route 520 during the closures. Motorists and bus passengers should note that the I-90 bridge will be closed during the following times: - Thursday – 10 a.m. to noon; and 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
- Friday – 12:45 p.m. to 2:40 p.m.
- Saturday – 12:45 p.m. to 2:40 p.m.
- Sunday – 12:45 p.m. to 2:40 p.m.
The express lanes will close at 9:45 a.m. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday |
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A section of Reinig Road north of Snoqualmie and North Bend will be closed for four weeks, while the King County Road Services Division replaces a failing culvert underneath the roadway. The road will be closed just west of Southeast 79th Street from Monday, Aug. 7 through Friday, Sept. 1. Because there are few cross streets along Reinig Road, the detour will be lengthy. Motorists can detour via Meadowbrook Way Southeast, State Route 202, and 428th Avenue Southeast. During the closure, Road Division crews will be replacing an aging and undersized culvert that conveys a tributary of the Snoqualmie River under the roadway. Total closure of Reinig Road is necessary due to the size of the new culvert and the amount of heavy equipment moving around the site. |
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