Where to expect back-to-school traffic in King County

KING COUNTY, Wash. — Kids are heading back to school all across our area. So to help you prepare, I took a look at the traffic you can expect around King County.

Drivers in South King County see an 8% increase in traffic when school starts, and the area around Federal Way’s Wildwood Elementary School is just one hot spot.

According to the traffic experts at Inrix, King County and South King County don’t see much of an increase in traffic on the highways, but around schools, they warn drivers to expect anywhere between a 6% to 9% increase.

Bear Creek Elementary in Redmond took the top spot for traffic.

“Unsurprisingly to those who have to drive this stretch of road in Redmond, Avondale Road gets a lot of backups,” said Bob Pishue with Inrix. “There is a pretty good increase in traffic, about 9%.”

Pishue says there’s been a lot of growth in that area, and Avondale Road sees congestion between its regular traffic and freight deliveries, but adding on school traffic means more drivers, more buses on the road, and more congestion.

He also mentioned that bell changes won’t affect drivers in the morning, but for the schools that get out later, expect increased traffic and congestion in the afternoon.

For more back-to-school stories, visit our special section.

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