Who has priority at the Ballard Locks?

By federal regulation (33 CFR 207.750): US government and City of Seattle vessels and scheduled passenger vessels first, then commercial merchant vessels, then recreational craft in order of arrival, with log tows last.

Do commercial and recreational boats share the Ballard Locks?

Not the small lock — commercial vessels take a cycle to themselves there. In practice that means a commercial arrival ahead of you costs one full cycle, roughly 22 minutes.

What time does the Goodtime III go through the locks?

Like a train: toward the lakes about 11:24 and toward the Sound about 13:59, daily, within ±6 minutes — measured across 29 of 31 days of Corps records.

Is there commercial traffic at the locks on weekends?

About half the weekday level: 14 commercial lockages/day on weekdays vs 8 on weekends. The working tugs (Wasp, Island Chief, the gravel fleet) run Monday–Friday; the daily tour boats run all week.

Why did that tug take so long in the lock?

Barge tows need the large chamber and careful line work: measured median 29-minute chamber time vs 17 for everyone else, plus waiting for that specific chamber.

Commercial traffic at the Ballard Locks: who goes first, and when

Last updated 2026-08-29 · 395 commercial lockages analyzed, Jul 30 – Aug 28, 2026

Commercial priority is the single biggest surprise in recreational wait times. It isn't a courtesy — it's federal regulation (33 CFR 207.750): government and scheduled passenger vessels, then commercial merchant vessels, then recreational craft in arrival order. And in the small lock, commercial vessels don't share the chamber with recreational boats at all: one commercial arrival ahead of you costs one full cycle.

The one vessel that runs on a timetable

Across a month of Corps records, exactly one vessel behaves like a scheduled service: the Goodtime III tour boat — toward the lakes at ~11:24 and toward the Sound at ~13:59, daily, with a ±6-minute interquartile spread, on 29 of 31 days. Those twenty-minute windows are the most predictable commercial-priority events of the day, and the live forecast flags them automatically.

Everyone else runs on jobs and tides

Vessel	Lockages/mo	Median queue	Median chamber	Pattern
Goodtime III (tour)	56	12 min	18 min	Daily timetable
Island Chief (tug)	29	19 min	26 min	Weekday, irregular
Wasp (tug)	22	30 min	32 min	Weekday only, any hour
Lola M (tug)	12	4 min	17 min	Night/dawn runs
Soundguardian (research)	10	16 min	18 min	Mon–Tue ~07:00

The barge tows (Wasp, Island Chief, the Coastal gravel fleet) are the slow movers — they need the large chamber and heavy line work, hence 26–32-minute chamber times. They are also strictly Monday–Friday: weekend commercial traffic halves (14/day → 8/day), leaving mostly the tour boats.

What LockPush does with this

The forecast detects timetabled vessels automatically from the rolling records (so a winter schedule change tracks itself), watches approaching commercial traffic live by AIS on the Sound side, and adds one full cycle to your expected wait when one is inbound — because that's what the no-sharing rule costs you. The commercial arrival histograms on the Data analysis tab show the full hour-by-hour pattern.

Common questions

Who has priority at the Ballard Locks?: By federal regulation (33 CFR 207.750): US government and City of Seattle vessels and scheduled passenger vessels first, then commercial merchant vessels, then recreational craft in order of arrival, with log tows last.
Do commercial and recreational boats share the Ballard Locks?: Not the small lock — commercial vessels take a cycle to themselves there. In practice that means a commercial arrival ahead of you costs one full cycle, roughly 22 minutes.
What time does the Goodtime III go through the locks?: Like a train: toward the lakes about 11:24 and toward the Sound about 13:59, daily, within ±6 minutes — measured across 29 of 31 days of Corps records.
Is there commercial traffic at the locks on weekends?: About half the weekday level: 14 commercial lockages/day on weekdays vs 8 on weekends. The working tugs (Wasp, Island Chief, the gravel fleet) run Monday–Friday; the daily tour boats run all week.
Why did that tug take so long in the lock?: Barge tows need the large chamber and careful line work: measured median 29-minute chamber time vs 17 for everyone else, plus waiting for that specific chamber.