OLYMPIA, Wash. — With one of the busiest travel weekends expected this weekend, the Washington State Department of Transportation is sharing traffic data to give drivers an idea of how much congestion is ahead.
“Memorial Day weekend is often the unofficial start of summer, which means that we will likely see increased traffic and congestion on most of our major routes,” said Tina Werner with WSDOT. “From a state perspective, we’ll have most highway maintenance and construction work paused to ease congestion. But what people can do is plan ahead.”
WSDOT traffic analysts gathered data by tracking how many cars were on roads during previous Memorial Day weekends. The historical data was used to project congestion in the upcoming days.
Data was pulled on three of the state’s busiest highways: Interstate 5, Interstate 90, and US 2.
Cross-state travel will have the least amount of congestion on Thursday, but it will also depend on which direction you’re driving.
Here’s when you can expect congestion on the state’s busiest highway, I-5:
I-5 Northbound (Lacey to Tacoma):
- May 25 (Thursday): 5 a.m. - 2 p.m.
- May 26 (Friday): 6 a.m. - 5 p.m.
- May 27 (Saturday): 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
- May 28 (Sunday): 1 p.m. - 8 p.m. (Congestion also likely at 10 a.m.)
- May 29 (Monday): 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.; 8 p.m. - 10 p.m.
- May 30 (Tuesday): 5 a.m. - 5 p.m.
I-5 Southbound (Tacoma to Lacey)
- May 25 (Thursday): 7 a.m. - 7 p.m.
- May 26 (Friday): 7 a.m. - 8 p.m.
- May 27 (Saturday): 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
- May 28 (Sunday): 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
- May 29 (Monday): 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.
- May 30 (Tuesday): 7 a.m. - 6 p.m.
I-5 Northbound (Bellingham to Canada)
- May 25 (Thursday): 1 p.m. - 6 p.m.
- May 26 (Friday): 11 a.m. - 8 p.m.
- May 27 (Saturday): 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
- May 28 (Sunday): 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.
- May 29 (Monday): No heavy congestion expected (Moderate-to-heavy traffic expected from 9 a.m. - 8 p.m.)
- May 30 (Tuesday): 1 p.m. - 6 p.m.
I-5 Southbound (Canada to Bellingham)
- May 25 (Thursday): 7 a.m. - 4 p.m.
- May 26 (Friday): 7 a.m. - 5 p.m.
- May 27 (Saturday): 9 a.m. - 2 p.m.
- May 28 (Sunday): 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
- May 29 (Monday): 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
- May 30 (Tuesday): 7 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Here’s when you can expect congestion for cross-state travel on I-90 and US 2:
I-90 Eastbound (North Bend to Cle Elum)
- May 25 (Thursday): No heavy congestion expected (Moderate-to-heavy traffic expected from 9 a.m. - 7 p.m.)
- May 26 (Friday): 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.
- May 27 (Saturday): 8 a.m. - 1 p.m.
- May 28 (Sunday): No heavy congestion expected (Moderate-to-heavy traffic expected from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.)
- May 29 (Monday): No heavy congestion expected (Moderate-to-heavy traffic expected from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.)
- May 30 (Tuesday): No heavy congestion expected (Moderate-to-heavy traffic expected from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.)
I-90 Westbound (Cle Elum to North Bend)
- May 25 (Thursday): No heavy congestion expected (Moderate to heavy traffic expected from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.)
- May 26 (Friday): No heavy congestion expected (Moderate-to-heavy traffic expected from 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.)
- May 27 (Saturday): No heavy congestion expected (Moderate-to-heavy traffic expected from 9 a.m. - 8 p.m.)
- May 28 (Sunday): 1 p.m. - 6 p.m.
- May 29 (Monday): 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.
- May 30 (Tuesday): No heavy congestion expected (Moderate-to-heavy traffic expected from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.)
US 2 Eastbound (Skykomish to Stevens Pass)
- May 25 (Thursday): No heavy congestion expected
- May 26 (Friday): 12 p.m. - 7 p.m.
- May 27 (Saturday): 10 a.m.
- May 28 (Sunday): No heavy congestion expected
- May 29 (Monday): No heavy congestion expected
- May 30 (Tuesday): No heavy congestion expected
US 2 Westbound (Stevens Pass to Skykomish)
- May 25 (Thursday): No heavy congestion expected
- May 26 (Friday): No heavy congestion expected
- May 27 (Saturday): No heavy congestion expected
- May 28 (Sunday): No heavy congestion expected (Moderate-to-heavy traffic expected from 11 a.m. - 8 p.m.)
- May 29 (Monday): 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
- May 30 (Tuesday): No heavy congestion expected
©2023 Cox Media Group
