In late April, Pike Place Market started a partial car-free pilot program on the streets outside the iconic Seattle landmark, something many locals have been advocating for years. The temporary street closure still allows vendors, those with handicap placards, and curbside pickups, to drive along Pike Place. The vendors I spoke with, including Troy Terry, who makes a daily delivery stop at the market for Ocean Beauty Seafoods, like the change, but have complained that they have to approach Pike Street from the north under the new program rather than turning left from 1st Avenue to enter the market. “So far it’s easier,” he said of the program, “There’s a place to park [a large delivery truck].” Since the start of the program (and after these photos in the first days of the pilot), the market has installed more picnic tables and seating on the street, and pedestrians seem to be taking the cue.
