I-90 Traffic Reminder: Blue Angels Soar Over Seattle Area From Thursday to Sunday

The U.S. Navy's elite demonstration team - the Blue Angels - takes to the air beginning Thursday morning for a four-day run of dazzling aeronautical maneuvers in the Seattle area.

Seafair is here. So, too, is summer in Sammamish and the region.

The blue-and-yellow F/A-18 Hornet jets will streak, arc, corkscrew and climb over Seattle-area cities and Lake Washington.

Don't blink too long. If you do, come back for another show.

Motorists should take note that Interstate 90 will be closed from Interstate 5 in Seattle to Island Crest Way on Mercer Island periodically for practice runs on Thursday and Friday. The Seafair air shows over the weekend will prompt Interstate 90 closures in the afternoons.

For motorists, here are the scheduled closure times for the Interstate 90 bridge:

• Thursday: 9:45 a.m. - noon and 1:15 - 2:30 p.m.
• Friday: 12:45 p.m. - 2:40 p.m.
• Saturday: 12:45 p.m. - 2:40 p.m.
• Sunday: 12:45 p.m. - 2:40 p.m.

Pedestrians and bicyclists should be aware that the bridge will be off limits to them 30 minutes before the full road closure.

The State Route 520 bridge will be open - but motorists should expect heavy traffic. The Washington State Department of Transportation has issued full traffic details related to the closures.

So, what to expect besides the need to time a crossing just right to avoid getting delayed and a thunderous jet roar?

For starters, crowds.

People enjoy standing on or near either end of the closed portion of Interstate 90 - in Seattle and Mercer Island - to watch the air team.

There is another question, too, for those who enjoy the Blue Angels: Where is the best place to see the jets in the sky?

Mercer Island Patch asked that .

For Sammamish residents, what's it like using as a perch? Are binoculars needed?

Is the on Mercer Island the best place? Or how about standing on top of the Mount Baker Tunnel in Seattle? Or on Interstate 90?

Some fans of the air team actually head to Boeing Field in Seattle, where the pilots take off and land, and park along Airport Way South for a full tarmac view.

In 2008, the Oberto family of the Oberto Sausage Co. opened up their waterfront home on Lake Washington in Seattle to about 100 senior citizens to watch the jets blast by and hydros move across the water.

That year, Dorothy Oberto explained why she invited strangers to her house for the annual event: "How could you not? People are so happy."