Seattle Times Editorial Board: Time for Pike Place Market to Go Car-Free

The Seattle Times Editorial Board has picked a side in one of the most heated urbanism debates to emerge from Seattle's pandemic experience: whether to block cars from accessing the streets in front of the Pike Place Market.

"City and Pike Place Market officials should make a priority of getting cars off the three blocks of Pike Place fronting the market, and the block of Pike Street that connects the market to the city," according to the editorial board.

A news article by David Kroman for The Seattle Times, published earlier in December, documents the growing public and political support for the change after the pandemic created an opening for a conversation about an idea that had previously been considered a political third rail.

Now The Seattle Times editorial board is willing to say what only the most ardent multi-modal advocates have been saying for years: it's probably not a good idea to allow cars and people to mix in one of the most visited corners of the city.

"If it was ever a good idea to allow motorists to drive through the crowds jostling along the brick street to browse market wares or stage selfies, that day has long passed. It shouldn’t take a heroic civic effort to block traffic from a minuscule fraction of downtown streets to benefit pedestrians who flock to the market by the millions each year," according to the editorial.

Any potential car-free future for the market is still a long way off, however. So far city officials with the power to expedite the car-free changes are only promising meetings—which could take a long time in a city famous for the 'Seattle Process,' which the editorial describes as "endless conversations and stalled progress."