(WSB photos by Tracy Record and Patrick Sand unless otherwise credited)
10:42 AM: After receiving a photo from the bus-chartering moms in Gatewood (shown atop our daily-preview list), we decided to head to The Junction to check out people catching buses to head to the march starting point in the Central District. And we found lots of them, of all ages!
The buses were jammed – even with Metro adding more, in the 9 am hour, they were leaving full, with some having to wait for the next one. This photo was texted from aboard a Route 21 bus caught along Avalon:
As we headed back south to WSB headquarters on the Gatewood/Upper Fauntleroy line, we saw an obviously march-bound group waiting at Westside Unitarian Universalist Congregation, so we pulled over for this photo:
They told us they were awaiting rideshare vehicles – and that the group was twice this size but the others had already left.
IF YOU’RE MARCHING: Please send a photo – we will have a separate report later with photos from the march. editor@westseattleblog.com or text to 206-293-6302 (our 24/7 round-the-clock number) – thank you!
IF YOU’RE NOT MARCHING: As added to our daily preview list, a local family is organizing a small solidarity march around The Junction – meet at Uptown Espresso (California/Edmunds/Erskine) at 12:30 pm.
ABOUT THE HATS: If you don’t know the background of the pink hats many are wearing … go here.
11:30 AM: As of a minutes ago, the march is officially on the move, having left Judkins Park (and all the overflow spots where people are waiting along the route to Seattle Center). If you are headed downtown for some other reason – keep in mind that traffic/access will be affected for hours. TV helicopters are over the crowd; this is the most reliable feed we’ve found so far.
12:28 PM: After more than an hour, SPD says the march has now spread almost entirely across the full official route of more than 3 miles – as the front of the march approaches the end of the route at Seattle Center, some have yet to leave Judkins Park at the start of the route.
2:45 PM: The march is in its fourth hour and some are still on the route to Seattle Center – just passing Spring Street, according to the latest police-radio update, plus SPD via Twitter:
Incident Commander McDonagh took this picture from the end of #WomensMarchSeattle We're going the distance with you. pic.twitter.com/CiWgTRGLPq
— Seattle Police Dept. (@SeattlePD) January 21, 2017
All the estimates we’ve seen so far have participation at more than 100,000 people. Again, we’ll have a separate report later with the photos we’ve received (thank you!) and summary details.
3:04 PM: Some buses are still on reroutes – be aware of this if you’re trying to get home. For the C Line, we checked with Metro: “The C Line has been rerouted further west on Mercer to Queen Anne Ave. It is traveling south on QA to turn left on Denny Way, then right on 1st, left on Broad and right onto 3rd Ave.” We don’t know how much longer this will last, though.
3:29 PM: Metro also now has a free shuttle running “on 5th Ave between Mercer and Broad Streets” to go south back into downtown from Seattle Center to catch buses back this way.
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