SEATTLE — From Wednesday to next Monday, there's expected to be more traffic than normal on Washington's major roadways as people hit the road for the Thanksgiving holiday.
The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) compiled travel charts to show what times of day traffic is expected to be the most and least congested on Interstate 90 and Interstate 5 from Wednesday next week to the Monday after the holiday.
Here are the travel charts to make planning your Thanksgiving road trip easier. During red hours, traffic analysts predict travel will reach roadway capacity, which means any small incident can cause a significant backup, according to WSDOT.
I-90 North Bend to Cle Elum
The busiest days on I-90 are expected to be eastbound on Wednesday and westbound on Sunday when traffic will be more congested than normal nearly all day.
I-90 will begin to see heavy congestion as early as 11 a.m. Wednesday. You can expect heavy congestion Wednesday between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., Friday between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., Saturday between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., Sunday between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.
The best times to be on the roadway are before 8 a.m. or after 8 p.m.
WSDOT I-90 Thanksgiving travel
I-5 Lacey to Tacoma
I-5 will begin to see heavy congestion as early as 9 a.m. Wednesday. You can expect heavy congestion Wednesday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Thursday between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., Friday between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., Saturday between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., Sunday between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. and Monday between 6 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Northbound I-5 will see the worst traffic on Wednesday, Friday and Monday. Southbound I-5 traffic will be the worst on Wednesday, Friday and Monday.
