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If you missed the webcast, watch a recording: CLICK HERE (closed captioned)

You live here, you work over there. On Friday night, Jan. 11, 2019, State Route 99/Alaskan Way Viaduct in Seattle from the south end of the Battery Street Tunnel to the stadiums will close for good. That will kick off three weeks of construction to move the roadway into the new SR 99 tunnel, aka #Realign99. Click here to see the map and other details of the closure on the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT)'s website.

Getting through downtown Seattle in a car is not going to be fun. More than 90,000 vehicles travel this stretch of SR 99 each day, and history shows congestion worsens during a viaduct closure no matter which roads you travel on near Seattle.

Big changes in Seattle will affect commute times. Our friends at WSDOT expect big backups and long traffic delays throughout the Seattle area from Jan. 11 through Feb. 3. 

Know what will work best for you on both sides of the water. Track your bus or ferry in real-time using a mobile app like DoubleMap (Kitsap side), VesselWatch (WSF) and One Bus Away (Seattle side). 

Learn how to safely navigate the area around Colman Dock when you walk or bike off the ferry. And thanks to priority lanes for buses in Kitsap County and Seattle, and separate areas for vanpools waiting in line at Washington State Ferries’ terminals, you’re more likely to avoid lengthy traffic snarls. So, what’s your plan? 

Kitsap Transit and Washington State Ferries have partnered to provide you with information on the transportation alternatives you have to driving alone onto a ferry during #Realign99.  If you cannot find the information you need here, feel free to contact us.

KITSAP SIDE

		​
Ferries ​	Park / Ride a Bus	Vanpool / Flex Commute

SEATTLE SIDE

		​​
Bus Service	Bike Share / Ride Share	Rail

KITSAP SIDE

Ferries 

KNOW WHEN YOUR FERRY DEPARTS AND ARRIVES

Click on the link in the table for the specific Washington State Ferries or Kitsap Fast Ferries schedule.

Incentive: When you pay your Kitsap Transit bus fare with ORCA E-purse, you can ride our fast ferries to Seattle within the next two hours at no charge!

Park & Ride 

PARK YOUR CAR FREE FOR THE DAY BY RIDING THE BUS

Once you know which ferry terminal you need to use, choose a park & ride lot from the table below. Click here for the Park & Ride lot's address and other details.

Bus Service 

RIDE TO A FERRY TERMINAL ON A BUS

Walk or bike onto a ferry! Buses are timed to match ferry schedules on the Kitsap side. Find the bus route in the table that serves the ferry terminal you plan to use. Click on a bus service to open its schedule, route map, and service information. 

Vanpools

• Visit Kitsap Transit's vanpool page to search for a vanpool in your area or start your own with as few as 5 people!
• Only vanpools registered with WSF receive benefits. Visit WSF's vanpool page for details on how to register.

Preferred access for registered vanpools include: 

• Priority lane at Bainbridge Island and Bremerton ferry terminals.
• Guaranteed access to sailings in both directions when the driver arrives in time for the sailing. 
• Priority access to Colman Dock toll plaza with priority loading on most sailings, when the driver arrives in time for the sailing.

SEATTLE SIDE

Bus Service

• Public buses to and from Seattle, King and Snohomish counties operate all day long, with several routes offering late-night service. 
• Bus stops are located within two blocks of the Seattle ferry terminal at Colman Dock. 
• Go to Trip Planner to plan your trip to anywhere in the region: www.Tripplanner.kingcounty.gov

Free Seattle Waterfront Shuttle

• This is a hop-on, hop-off shuttle van that operates as far south as King Street Station in Pioneer Square and as far north as the Space Needle. It makes stops along the Alaskan Way waterfront, including a stop at Pier 52 (Colman D. 
• More information:  https://downtownseattle.org/parking

Bicycle-Sharing/Rental 

• Bike share lets you borrow a bike for a quick trip to the bus stop, light rail or anywhere else you want to go.
• You can pick up a bike share bicycle on the sidewalk in front of Colman Dock, between Madison and Columbia streets. 
• Bike share in Seattle is run by two private vendors: Lime and Jump
  • Lime (green): 1.888.546.3345; support@limebike.com 
  • JUMP (red): 1.833.300.6106; support@jump.com  

Car-Sharing

• Car-sharing companies are offering reduced fares and discounts between the upcoming closure of the SR 99 Viaduct and the opening of the new tunnel. 
  For more information:
  • Lyft – www.lyft.com/i/realign99 
  • Uber – www.uber.com; use promotional code: COMMUTESMART

Rail Travel 

• You can bike, walk or bus to train stops in downtown Seattle.
• There are a variety of rail options to get you where you need to go:
  • Link light rail – travels between the University of Washington/Husky Stadium and Angle Lake. Makes stops along the way, including Sea-Tac airport. More information: www.soundtransit.org. 
  • Sounder train - Sounder trains travel between Lakewood and Seattle (making stops in Tacoma, Puyallup, Sumner, Auburn, Kent and Tukwila) and between Everett and Seattle (making stops in Mukilteo and Edmonds). Sounder regularly runs weekday mornings and afternoons only. More information: www.soundtransit.org. 
  • Seattle Streetcar – The streetcar offers two lines, traveling between downtown Seattle, South Lake Union, First Hill and Capitol Hill. 

Walking

The Seattle ferry terminal building at Colman Dock will remain open throughout the SR 99 Viaduct closure and demolition. CLICK HERE to learn more about the Colman Dock Project. Dowload WADOT's PDF.

• The Marion Street pedestrian bridge remains open.
• Both elevators remain open.
• Alaskan Way entrance to the terminal building remains open.
• Sidewalks along the eastern edge (water side) of the entire Seattle waterfront, from South Jackson Street to Pike Street, remains open. 

This summer: A temporary pedestrian bridge along Western Avenue will connect First Avenue to the terminal:

• When? The temporary pedestrian bridge will be built this spring and opened in summer 2019, when all operations move into a section of the new terminal building now under construction. 
• Where? Pedestrians will enter at First Ave. and Marion Street (same as today), however instead of heading due west, the temporary bridge will turn left (south) at Western Ave. then turn right (west) at Columbia Street to connect with the new terminal building.
• Why? The temporary pedestrian bridge is needed because the existing terminal building (the one in use today) that the bridge connects to will be torn down shortly after ferry operations moves into the new terminal building this summer.
• Elevator access: When the temporary bridge opens, the passenger elevators on Alaskan Way in front of today’s terminal building will permanently close, and a new elevator will open on the southwest side of the dock, accessible from a walkway near Yesler Way. 

Bicycles

• Bicycles receive priority access to all sailings, and pay the round-trip passenger fare on the Seattle-side at Colman Dock only.
• If paying WITHOUT an ORCA card, bicycles must wait in line with vehicles at the Colman Dock toll plaza and pay the round-trip passenger fare plus $1 bicycle surcharge.
• ORCA card benefits:
  • The surcharge of $1 is waived 
  • There are two ORCA card bicycle-only entrances at Colman Dock.
    • Bremerton: north side of the toll plaza
    • Bainbridge Island: south side of the toll plaza
• View bicycle map of Colman Dock to see how to enter at Colman Dock and where to wait for the ferry
•  Space on the dock is less than half the capacity as it was before construction to replace the dock began in summer 2017. 
  • All modes are experiencing the squeeze, including people who commute by bicycle. 
  • There is not enough room on the dock to add a weather shelter for Bainbridge Island bicycle commuters waiting to board the ferry. 
  • This configuration remains in effect until summer 2019, when the existing terminal building is torn down and all service moves into the first section of the new terminal building.
• Mopeds and scooters are not considered bicycles, by WA State law. Any bicycle with a speedometer, including e-bikes that are able to reach 28 mph, may not use the sidewalk or bicycle trails and are considered motorized vehicles. 

Motorcycles & Scooters

• All riders must use the South Jackson Street entrance to enter the toll plaza, the same as any other vehicle. 
  • NO ENTRANCE AT YESLER WAY. Yesler Way is now a one-way street heading west (away from the water) only. 
• Motorcycles and scooters pay a one-way fare in both directions.
  • Mopeds are considered motorcycles/scooters on WSF because they have a motor, a speedometer, and can reach 28 mph (Reference: SB 6434, passed by the Washington State Legislature in 2018.) 
• Riders may not use the bicycle-only entrances at Colman Dock because:
  • Bicycle-only entrances are for passenger-only ORCA e-purse fares; motorcycles also must pay a vehicle surcharge to ride the ferry. 
  • The north entrance is only accessible by sidewalk. Motorcycles are not permitted to ride on the sidewalk. 
• During busy times, motorcycles and vanpools may use the far right lane to bypass other vehicles waiting on Pier 48. This will get riders into the toll plaza queue faster. 
• Once through the toll plaza, riders go to the front of the line to receive priority boarding behind the bicycles. 

Additional Resources

• Commute Seattle -- Alaskan Way Viaduct
• King County Metro – Get Ready
• WSDOT – Travel Times
• Seattle Department of Transportation – Travel Information Map

Contact Us

Kitsap Transit

• Questions about Kitsap bus service, fast ferries, and vanpools -- Phone: 800-501-RIDE | Email: kitsapride@kitsaptransit.com
• Reach out on Twitter

Washington State Ferries

• Questions about access to and from Colman Dock -- Washington State Ferries: Phone: 206-464-6400 | Email: wsfinfo@wsdot.wa.gov
• Questions about the Viaduct closure -- SR 99 Alaskan Way Viaduct Program: Phone: 1-888-AWV-LINE (298-5463) | Email: viaduct@wsdot.wa.gov | WSDOT Twitter