This weekend, many will fill venues throughout the city of Seattle for commencement ceremonies and baseball games, and the Washington State Department of Transportation is advising drivers to add extra time for their trips.
The University of Washington will have a massive graduation ceremony Saturday at CenturyLink Field, where up to 50,000 people are expected to be in attendance. Commencement starts at 1:30 p.m.
The UW commencement is at the stadium this year because Husky Stadium, the typical site of the ceremonies, is under construction. The stadium is set to open in for the 2013 football season and the graduation ceremony will return in 2014.
Another graduation ceremony will be at the Key Arena for Seattle Pacific University, starting at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday. Traffic is anticipated to be heavy on Interstate 5. About 10,000 people are expected to attend.
Around the ending time of the UW graduation, the Seattle Mariners game will start at 4:15 p.m. at Safeco Field, with a projected crowd of 29,000.
According to the Washington State Department of Transportation, the city is helping ease traffic by postponing a construction closure on the Spokane Street Viaduct. This closure is now scheduled for 6 p.m., after the UW commencement is over.
On Sunday, Seattle University will hold its commencement ceremony at Key Arena at 9:30 a.m., and 11,000 people are expected to attend. The university will have graduate level ceremonies at 3 p.m. with a crowd of 6,000 people. Drivers should anticipate heavy traffic on I-5 near Mercer Street.
The Mariners will have a 1:10 p.m. start on Sunday.
KIRO-TV.com;
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