UW Huskies' Thursday rush-hour game: gridlock to gridiron?

Anyone planning to drive a car or take a bus through the University District — or anywhere near it — on Thursday afternoon should be prepared for traffic delays as the Huskies take on UCLA in a rare weeknight football game.

About 60,000 fans are expected for an ESPN nationally televised game against the Bruins at 5 p.m., and traffic tie-ups in Montlake could cause a ripple effect, snarling traffic on major routes throughout the region.

"It's going to be a very challenging evening commute," said Morgan Balogh, traffic engineer for the Washington State Department of Transportation.

"My gut feeling is I think it's going to be pretty ugly," echoed Mark Hallenbeck, director of the Washington State Transportation Center, located at the University of Washington.

Then again, if people heed the advice and commute early or late, take a bus or bike, or telecommute, traffic may not be significantly worse than on any other mid-November evening, the experts say.

UW is encouraging fans to arrive at Husky Stadium well before 5 p.m. and is asking employees and students not to drive to campus that day. Many students and faculty who hold parking passes won't be able to park in their spaces — those spots are reserved for the fans. A UW employee/student ID will be good for a free ride on Metro all day, and a game-day ticket also will be good for a free ride on Metro that day.

Twelve Metro bus routes and one Sound Transit route are being moved away from campus or away from Husky Stadium between 2:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. Metro is providing free shuttle service, which will circle through campus between 2:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., to get people to bus stops on 15th Avenue Northeast.

Because Metro buses are tied up with the commute Thursday afternoon, the UW athletic department has chartered 340 private buses to move about 20,000 fans to the stadium from parking lots in Ballard, Northgate, Renton, Redmond, at Qwest and Safeco fields and at Seattle Center and the Washington State Convention Center.

Montlake Boulevard will be closed from 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., and charter buses will park along Montlake starting at 6:30. No other roads will be closed.

UW has offered two complimentary tickets to the game to people living at 5,151 addresses near Husky Stadium, as a kind of thank-you for putting up with Thursday's traffic disruptions. The university doesn't know how many people will take advantage of the free tickets.

Hallenbeck speculated that traffic backups on 520 could make things worse on Interstate 90 as people look for another way across Lake Washington. He said he believes traffic will be lousy on I-5 between downtown and the university as people make their way to the game. And while I-405 is on the other side of the lake, the backups on 520 and I-90 probably will slow down I-405 through downtown Bellevue as well, he said.

Balogh, with the state Department of Transportation, said the Washington State Patrol will have extra incident-response trucks ready if there's an accident or a breakdown on the bridges.

Hallenbeck said he expects traffic volumes will resemble the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, when many people try to get home early and rush hour starts well before 5 p.m.

So here's a counterintuitive strategy: Start work late, and leave late. "If you can stay at work until 5:45, it will be a breeze," he said.

Katherine Long: 206-464-2219 or klong@seattletimes.com