On-Street Parking Swapped for Pavement Park – Seattle

  • Posted on: 23 November 2017
  • By: Susanne Wrighton

In Downtown Seattle the conversion of the on-street parking in Pine Street – between Third and Fourth Avenue, has long been on top of the list for many safe streets and street activation advocates.
The reasons for the conversion include:

  • The function as a connector of the Third avenue – a very busy corridor – and the Westlake Plaza
  • The retail core – an entrance of the transit tunnel
  • Elevated levels of foot traffic

Therefore, The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has planned to transform the on-street parking into a new pavement park in November 2017. As a first step, the on-street parking possibilities were removed and the space was painted in a new blue and yellow design, to mark and beautify the new pavement park.

The pavement park provides a place to sit, a protected bike lane and furthermore a sidewalk food vending zone. The tables, chairs, planter boxes and the bathroom access agreements for the park, were provided by The Downtown Seattle Association (DSA), who was responsible for programming the pavement park and funding the street painting.

The new sidewalk food vending zone offers space for up to two food trucks and can be used as a vending zone the whole week from 10am to 2pm. To use the vending zone the food vendors need to own a city business license, a health department permit and an insurance. Moreover, the food trucks must serve the food from the left side of the vehicle and need a special permit from the SDOT.

In Depth

https://www.theurbanist.org/2017/11/13/downtown-seattle-street-parking-swapped-pavement-park-food-trucks/