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Seattle boosts police presence at Rock & Roll Marathon

JBLM PAO

Seattle is stepping up its police presence for tomorrow’s Rock and Roll Marathon in the wake of the Boston bombings two months ago. Twenty-thousand runners are expected along a course that snakes through downtown, south along Lake Washington and over to Mercer Island and back.

Renee Witt is a Seattle Police Department detective. She says there will be bomb-sniffing dogs and police on bicycles. And the police department requests that spectators take certain precautions.

"This year we're asking people to be mindful and to leave your coolers and backpacks and boxes at home, and maybe think about bringing your belongings in a clear plastic bag," Witt said. "And I think this will just help lower the collective anxiety for everyone."

The race starts at 7:00 am. Drivers heading downtown or to Mercer Island should expect delays.

North and southbound off-ramps to Dearborn Street, and the Dearborn Street on-ramp to northbound I-5 will close from 5:00 am to 10:00 am. The southbound I-5 express lanes off-ramp to Cherry/Columbia Street will close from 8:00 am to 9:30 am. 

The I-90 express lanes will close from 3:00 am until 2:00 pm. East and westbound off-ramps to Rainier Avenue South and the southbound Rainier Avenue South on-ramp to eastbound I-90 will close from 5:00 am to 10:15 am. 

Northbound State Route 99 will close just south of the West Seattle Bridge to Roy Street just north of the Battery Street Tunnel from 5:00 am to 3:30 pm. 

Drivers should also be aware that the Fremont Solstice Parade will start at 3 pm. 

For traffic updates and closure information, check out the Washington State Department of Transportation's What's Happening Now page. 

In July 2017, Ashley Gross became KNKX's youth and education reporter after years of covering the business and labor beat. She joined the station in May 2012 and previously worked five years at WBEZ in Chicago, where she reported on business and the economy. Her work telling the human side of the mortgage crisis garnered awards from the Illinois Associated Press and the Chicago Headline Club. She's also reported for the Alaska Public Radio Network in Anchorage and for Bloomberg News in San Francisco.