Worst times to travel in western Washington: Christmas weekend

SEATTLE — Here are the best and worst times to hit the road over the Christmas weekend in western Washington, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT).

WSDOT shared travel charts last week for Interstate 5 between Lacey and Tacoma, Interstate 90 between Northbend and Cle Elum and US 2 between Stevens Pass and Skykomish.

WSDOT traffic analysts look at traffic trends over the previous Christmas weekend as the basis for traffic charts.

WSDOT says when the graph turns from green to yellow, drivers may experience some congestion, but once it turns red, the road is already operating at full capacity, meaning any minor breakdown is possible. cause significant redundancy. The black line on each chart is the average traffic on that particular day.

I-5 riders will face severe traffic congestion throughout the Christmas weekend, excluding Christmas Holidays.

I-5 will begin to become severely congested as early as 7 a.m. Thursday. You may experience severe congestion on Thursday from 7am to 5pm, Friday from 10am to 5pm, Saturday from 10am to 1pm, Sunday from 12pm noon to 1 p.m., Mondays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 5 p.m

The most severe traffic congestion is expected south of I-5 between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Thursday, Monday, and Tuesday.

If you’re traveling on I-90 between North Bend and Cle Elum, you can expect mostly light to moderate to heavy traffic throughout and through the weekend.

The heaviest traffic congestion is expected on Monday eastbound from 10am to 1pm and westbound from 12pm to 4pm

People traveling between Stevens Pass and Skykomish on US 2 could face the first severe congestion starting at 8 a.m. eastbound and 3 p.m. westbound on Friday.

The heaviest traffic congestion is expected on Monday from 7am to 4pm east and 11am to 7pm west.

WSDOT is asking travelers to plan ahead to save time and frustration.

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