(Scroll down for updates, and use the comment section to let us know how your commute goes/is going!)

(Refresh for latest pic from WS Bridge; more on the WSB Traffic page)
4:16 PM: As promised, we are tracking the commute home, given the morning gridlock blamed mostly on the “Get Motivated” event at KeyArena, and the city’s warning of a possible rerun-in-reverse since that event gets out just before 5. No problems so far. This will stay atop the home page till we’re sure the commute’ s no worse than usual, so scroll down as we continue to add new news BELOW this story.

4:44 PM: Some trouble spots – in red – are starting to show up on the city Travelers’ Info Map, which you can also use to check the travel times you see on those overhead signs. Find the map here. We have multiple reports that southbound 99 is backed up – all the way past the Battery Street Tunnel, according to a text we just received.

(Refresh for latest pic from 11th/Spokane, low-bridge-bound; more on the WSB Traffic page)
4:56 PM: The low bridge opened during this past half-hour – if you don’t usually go that way, do note that it DOES open for vessels during commute periods. A possible alternative for getting out of downtown is 4th Avenue South, which you can use to get to the 1st Avenue South Bridge, which in turn will take you to exits you can use to get into West Seattle via Highland Park Way, or Myers Way up to Roxbury.

5:45 PM: No news is good news – so far still no major problems reported. Slow, but not catastrophic. We’re continuing to monitor scanner, TV, radio, maps, Twitter, Facebook, comments, e-mail for anything to pass along.

6:42 PM: Looks like the commute has passed without anything resembling this morning. Not great, but not horrific. Nothing on the radar for tomorrow morning … so far!

12:46 PM: Following up on this morning’s traffic nightmare (see our coverage and dozens of reader comments here), the city has issued this advisory for the afternoon/evening:

With major events occurring around Seattle Center, to include the Get Motivated Seminar at KeyArena, the City of Seattle warns travelers to expect higher traffic volumes around the campus area, and on nearby streets and highways from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Commuters are advised to consider an early departure or to delay their trip to avoid traffic related impacts.

Prior to departing their office or home, drivers are advised to check the Travelers Information Map for up-to-date information on citywide traffic flows and to view traffic camera images. If possible, the City recommends using alternate forms of transportation, such as light rail or commuter rail, to avoid roadway-related issues.

Here’s today’s entire Seattle Center calendar – in case you wondered about that first line.

ADDED 2:22 PM: SDOT often issues special alerts about traffic-intensifying events; in summer, they publish one before every weekend. So how did this not wind up on their advance-warning radar? we asked. Spokesperson Rick Sheridan explains:

The City of Seattle has a Special Events Committee that meets to review events that will impact city facilities, services and right of way. That body does take into consideration both large and small scale construction projects, and the scheduling of special events.

However, except for very large events like Bumbershoot, Seattle Center’s activities fall outside of this committee’s work and the center is responsible for them.

SDOT was not aware of the combined magnitude of this and other nearby events. But we will work with the center to ensure their events are appropriately announced to the traveling public.

(Photo taken around 9:20 am, looking north on 35th SW by the Golf Course)
8:42 AM: More than a few WSB’ers have sent word it’s impossible out there this morning. There’s nothing on the West Seattle Bridge and no new closures, but apparently there is a problem somewhere north of on I-5 that has backed things up badly, and this is believed to be a spillover effect. 8:49 AM: Tracy Taylor from KING 5 is blaming – at least in part – the mega-celebrity motivational-speaker event at KeyArena for backing up the Mercer exit on I-5 but that may not be the only factor. So all we can say for now is, if you don’t know this already, it’s a snail’s pace out there. Seattle Times transportation reporter Mike Lindblom, a West Seattleite, tweeted that the signboard on Admiral said “45 minutes (to) I-5” as of about 15 minutes ago. 9:21 AM: Everything with motors and wheels is caught in the gridlock, though Water Taxi and bicycling are touted as running smoothly. Otherwise – Mike J says via Twitter that it took him an hour from WS to SODO, and that’s sounding fairly typical. We have an inquiry out to SDOT to see what the monitors in their traffic center are blaming for the reported mega-gridlock.

9:41 AM: And another potential wrinkle from the KeyArena event: Via Twitter, Joelle reported spotting a motorcade in the Seattle Center vicinity. Potentially for former First Lady Laura Bush, one of the participants? Seattle PD media unit’s Det. Mark Jamieson is checking but says she would definitely merit one (Secret Service protection). And the commute-nightmare stories keep pouring in, both via comments here and other channels like Facebook (facebook.com/westseattleblog) and Twitter, where Travis cites 1 hour, 13 minutes from Our Lady of Guadalupe to Chelan Café (by the low bridge).

10:22 AM: Cameras suggest that it’s finally eased. (Let us know if you experience otherwise.) We took a photo along 35th by the Golf Course after 9 am to capture some of the backup, and that is now atop this story, with the “live” (if you refresh) traffic cams moved down here in case you need a quick reference. No word yet from SDOT on analysis of this morning’s trafficmare. The KeyArena event is scheduled to end at 4:45 pm – so beware the EVENING commute.

(Refresh for latest pic from WS Bridge & eastbound Fauntleroy Way cams, more on the WSB Traffic page)