SEATTLE — Seattle is preparing for a sports weekend that the city has not experienced in years.

Mariners, Seahawks, and Sounders fans will all be heading downtown. King County Metro, Sound Transit, and SDOT say they are ready. Longtime Mariners fan Al Sanders, who is also helping plan the response, says this is exactly the kind of challenge he enjoys.

He was in the stands in 1995 when the Mariners made their first divisional playoff appearance.

“I was here for the first game in the Kingdome when they played the Yankees and all the years of frustration,” said Al Sanders. “It’s great to be a Mariners fan right now.”

But this weekend, his job isn’t just cheering; it’s moving tens of thousands of fans through downtown.

“We’ve had large crowds here and as well as playoff games for the Seahawks,” said Sanders. “But the idea of close to 100,000 people at the two stadiums, that’s going to be the biggest since 2019, 2020.”

King County Metro will have standby buses ready if needed.

Sanders says that past events, such as the Taylor Swift concert, the All-Star Game, and Beyoncé’s shows, have helped Metro prepare for this scale.

“This may be a little bigger than usual,” Sanders said, “But we get people away from games 81 times a year and 8 times a year for the Seahawks, so we’re prepared.”

On the rails, Sound Transit is adding special Sounder service and extra light rail trains to accommodate postgame surges.

Check the Sound Transit schedule here.

SDOT Interim Director Adiam Emery emphasized the importance of using transit whenever possible.

“Plan ahead, know your bus routes, and leverage transit as much as possible. Don’t leave home without your ORCA card,” said Emery.

Emery also highlighted walking, biking, and using scooters as great alternatives.

Engineers at the city’s 24/7 traffic command center will monitor congestion in real time, adjust signal timing, and deploy incident response teams as needed.

Emery explained that staggered game start times will help distribute demand, but Sunday will be the busiest day. “We anticipate people exiting the Seahawks game and people going to the Mariners. There will be a flux of traffic demand,” said Emery.

SDOT is coordinating with the Seattle Police and Fire Departments to implement barriers and traffic control plans around stadiums. Emery says no major road closures are planned.

Fans are encouraged to use King County Metro Wayfinder maps and SDOT traffic maps to avoid crowded stops and streets.

“There’ll be a lot of folks who are not here to watch baseball, football, or soccer; they’ll be at the aquarium, Pike Place Market, or going to work,” said Sanders. “We want them to be able to get around easily.”