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Pike People Street tests continue in October with ‘art walk,’ ‘daytime’ editions

In any pilot program, there are winning ideas — and a few losers. The Seattle Department of Transportation is out with its Pike People Street – 2016 Work Plan complete with the framework for three trial dates this October testing further refinements of the original goal: creating a strong pedestrian experience in the middle of Pike/Pine.

Here is the schedule and the description of each of the three variations SDOT will be testing around E Pike next month:

  1. FRIDAY OCTOBER 7, 11 PM – 3 AM Full closure of E Pike St between 10th Ave and 11th Ave. This expanded pedestrian space will relieve pressure on the limited sidewalk space during nightlife hours.screen-shot-2016-09-13-at-6-32-25-am
  2. THURSDAY OCTOBER 13, 4 PM – 10 PM Partial closure of E Pike St and 11th Ave. This test will create generous open space on busy blocks while still providing a flow of vehicle access and room for activity.screen-shot-2016-09-13-at-6-32-38-am
  3. SUNDAY OCTOBER 16, 12 PM – 4 PM Full closure of E Pike St between 10th Ave and 11th Ave. The full width of the block would be open to pedestrian movement, creating the greatest amount of space and potential for community- led activities.screen-shot-2016-09-13-at-6-32-25-am

In the beginning, the project to create a Pike/Pine pedestrian zone created three nights of relatively straightforward street closures along E Pike in the summer of 2015 in an effort to give the entertainment district’s nightlife crowds more space and experiment with an element that could make the area safer for SPD to police. Not everybody was a fan. A few area businesses owners and developer Hunters Capital asked SDOT to reevaluate the initiative to consider a plan that also addressed the neighborhood’s daytime visitors — and customers. This summer, SDOT surveyed the community and area businesses about what should happen next. Some of the feedback is above. The result is a new plan that adds a standalone daytime test to the mix that will try to fill 11th Ave with activity and a Thursday night experiment that will coordinate with the monthly Capitol Hill Art Walk. The full SDOT plan is here: pike-people-street-work-plan (PDF).

SDOT has cited six goals for the pilot tests:

» Provide more and better pedestrian space, especially at congestion points » Encourage community-led programming of the street space » Continue testing options at different times and days » Find a balance for vehicle access, pedestrian mobility, and streetscape activity » Incorporate and address continued community input » Gather experiential information to support future efforts

Following the October tests, another round of feedback will be collected. SDOT planners will be looking at answering the following set of questions:

screen-shot-2016-09-13-at-6-36-45-am

Nobody will ask question 8) — directly, at least: Is this what you wanted in the first place?

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car is king
car is king
7 years ago

Well now – this is an unusually methodical public project. Given that Seattle hasn’t even bothered to close Pike as it travels through the Pike Place Market to cars, I am skeptical this will stick. But maybe? I’d love to direct at least a portion of this effort to getting the Pike Place Market closed to car traffic during the day. Perhaps that’s for another neighborhood blog though….