Traffic Lab is a Seattle Times project that digs into the region’s transportation issues to explore the policies and politics that determine how we get around and how billions of dollars in public money are spent.

Cross-state travelers this Labor Day weekend can expect the usual thick traffic, while people who staycation near Seattle will encounter new Eastside bus routes and slightly higher fares.

The Washington State Department of Transportation announced it will open all four lanes of the I-90 Columbia River bridge in Vantage, from 7 a.m. Friday until 8 a.m. Tuesday. The project to replace the bridge deck has been snarling traffic with a lane closure each way.

Despite a statewide construction pause for the holiday, major freeways will experience congestion of up to nine hours per day

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