Route to/from Seattle and Olympic Penninsula
 

On a late July Tuesday, we will be arriving at SeaTac at 2pm, and heading out to Sequim. What will be our best route at that time of day? We don't mind a little more of a scenic route if it gets us around some traffic, which I hear gets bad around that time of day?

On the following Sunday, we will be heading from Sequim to Seattle with the hopes of catching the Red Sox/Mariners game at 1:05pm. Which is the best route for this, and appx. how much time do we need to allow? We will be staying in Seattle starting Sunday night...perhaps at the Silver Cloud Broadway, from which we could get a shuttle to the game if we have the time.

Thanks in advance for your help!

I think that you could get a number of different opinions on this; from SeaTac, I would choose to not take a ferry route, and instead drive south on I-5 to Tacoma, and then take State Route 16 northward to Route 3, then past Bremerton to the Hood Canal Bridge (Route 104). On the other side of Hood Canal, pick up Route 101 to Port Angeles and Sequim.

On your return, I would go back across the Hood Canal Bridge, back south on Route 3, then take Route 305 onto Bainbridge Island. On Bainbridge, take the ferry to Seattle. The ferry dock in Seattle is literally walking distance to Safeco Field. I'd suggest finding a parking spot anywhere near the ferry dock, then walk the 8-10 blocks from there. Alternatively, drive and park at one of the lots near Safeco, or park in the Safeco parking garage. Personally, I'm too cheap for that, so I park farther away for less and walk.

From Sequim to Safeco could take quite a while. The ferry crossing takes about 40 minutes, and ferries leave about every 45 minutes. During the summertime, you cannot count on getting on the first ferry, so you should plan on arriving at the Bainbridge terminal with enough time to allow missing one ferry and getting on the next. Here is the schedule: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/sche...m?route=sea-bi

From Sequim to the Bainbridge dock should take about 1.5 hours, but I'd allow a little more, in case there is bad traffic (much of the route is on two-lane roads).

Thanks, ALF. Sounds like a plan!

IMO it's the wrong time of day to drive via ALF's route. If you arrive at the airport at 2, by the time you get bags and car it's likely to be around 3 or a bit after, which would put you right into the start of the Tacoma/Ft. Lewis/Narrows Bridge crunch when you get down to central/south Tacoma.

While they're building the second Tacoma Narrows span, the combo of construction plus heavy commuter traffic across the old bridge (SR 16) is a real bottleneck. Then on the Kitsap side (SR 16 - SR 3) you'll be in the big commuter crunches around the Bremerton and Hoodsport naval facilities, which have also grown in recent years to be local jam-ups without a lot of new highway capacity to accommodate the traffic.

Better IMO to take the Bainbridge route as described by ALF, both going and coming. From the airport to the downtown ferry dock is around 25 minutes, and if you're there before 4 you shouldn't have a terrible wait for a boat. A lot of the peak commuter traffic on the ferries is from foot passengers.

Be sure you take the Bainbridge ferry from Seattle, and not the Bremerton ferry (same terminal). Otherwise you'll get to Bremerton just in time for the traffic you're trying to avoid.

I haven't done this at rush hour, so hopefully someone can else can comment on this idea, but would it make sense for them to take the West Seattle-Vashon-Southworth ferry TO the Olympic Peninsula coming from the airport? It's closer to the airport and that way they avoid having to negotiate downtown and that traffic during rush hour.

The Southworth dock puts you into the same traffic business around Bremerton and Silverdale that taking the land route would. I think going straight for the Hood Canal Bridge via Seattle (or possibly Edmonds) is the best bet. There's more capacity on the Bainbridge boats (bigger vessels, more sailings) than on any of the other routes.

Here's a simplified route map FWIW. http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/info_desk/route-maps/

I've only done it as a pleasure trip on weekends and never at rush hour, but much prefer the Bainbridge ferry routing, as the better way to get between Sequim and Seattle.

bkm,

Like I said, you will get different opinions on this. It is definitely true that traffic will be awful on the route I suggested, but I still maintain that it will be faster than trying take the Southworth, Bainbridge, or Edmonds ferries. At 3-4pm, you are going to catch bad traffic trying to get to any of those ferries too. Of course, if you are looking for a more scenic route, a ferry is always nicer.

I certainly appreciate all of your advice. Thanks for your thoughts.

bkm10fl,

i'd be interested in knowing what route you decided. i'm arriving at 4:30pm and need to get to port angeles. the alternate flight gets in at 9:30pm.

corwin

Corwin, I haven't decided yet. If we had more time to meander, I think I'd choose to go the Tacoma route, as I kind of wanted to see Gig Harbor and a little more of Kitsap. But we will have been traveling all day (from Florida) and I'm not sure we will want to do much but get to our rental and rest up a bit before dinner.