How to get to Seattle's World Cup and nearby parties by foot or bike
A sport for the feet, really, should be reached by foot.
In Seattle, it will be - thanks to the large car-free zone surrounding Seattle Stadium during this summer's FIFA Men's World Cup.
The pedestrian- and bike-only area is unique among host cities in this year's soccer competition, a fact driven by the central location of the stadium and the city's robust transit and bicycling networks.
Still, multiple blocks dedicated only to human-powered transportation means that some fans may, at once, feel the thrill of victory and the agony of the feet.
City officials estimate that 100,000 people will descend on the area during matches, and they hope to minimize the discomfort by enlivening the streets and sidewalks, allowing business and vendors to set up sidewalk cafes, merchandise displays and outdoor seating near the stadium.
The city will also place barriers and police officers at every intersection leading to the area, keeping confused or malicious drivers at bay, and providing a safe and comfortable walk to the stadium.
Having the stadium right downtown allows us to really focus on pedestrian access," said Elizabeth Sheldon, the Seattle Department of Transportation's deputy director. "Many of the other stadiums don't have the same access to transit that we do … so we have the luxury of trying some things out that other stadiums don't have the ability to do."
With a broad collection of bikeways, and the fact that half of Seattle households are within a 10-minute walk of transit that runs at least every 10 minutes, the city is well-positioned to help meet FIFA's Seattle-specific goal of having 80% of people reach the stadium without a car.
Walking
Much like the experiment to limit cars at Pike Place Market, the car-free area near the stadium comes with a host of wrinkles and issues.
First of all, while the World Cup runs over six weeks, the pedestrian area is only on the six match days (June 15,19, 24, 26 and July 1, 6), and only for some of the day.
Streets for the first game on Monday will be blocked at 8 a.m. to prepare for the Belgium-Egypt match's noon kickoff, and won't reopen until two hours after the game ends, or the area clears.
The remaining matches will follow a similar plan: The no-car zone will be in place four hours before kickoff and two hours after. Even that comes with an asterisk. For instance, the area will be closed to cars at 8 a.m. during the U.S.-Australia match on June 19, but it won't clear until the first pitch of the day's Mariners-Red Sox game scheduled after 7 p.m.
Parking restrictions on every match day will be in place hours longer. On-street parking in the zone will be barred beginning at 2 a.m. - meaning if you left your car there the night before, a tow truck will have taken it by morning.
The irregular scheduling and resistance to closing the zone for 24 hours, or during the whole competition stem from the fact that the city still has to function somewhat regularly.
That means southbound traffic will still be allowed on First Avenue South, from Columbia to South Dearborn streets, as will on-street parking - surely the prime-est of spots on game day. Ferry traffic coming down First will be allowed to use Jackson and King streets to access Alaskan Way South. The avenue will be the route for emergency vehicles between the stadium and Harborview Medical Center.
Second Avenue Extension South, from Jackson to its connection with Fourth Avenue South, will also allow southbound traffic.
A sole taxi stand is placed at Pier 46 at the west end of Jackson. The city has designated many areas surrounding the pedestrian zone for Uber and Lyft drivers to pick up and drop off passengers.
Bicycling, etc.
Seattle has gotten some plaudits recently for its bike network. Despite the gold stars, the city had some holes to fill before the people of the world came to town.
A north-end completion of the Fourth Avenue bikeway to the foot of the Space Needle wrapped up in recent weeks, allowing cyclists to ride along a protected path for most of the journey between the stadium and Seattle Center, which will host watch parties for matches.
More important, the bikeway gives safe passage through the center of downtown and access to the different neighborhoods, businesses, hotels and more.
A shorter project built a 600-foot protected bike lane on Yesler Way, the northern border of the pedestrian zone. The work closed a notorious gap in the bike network and fused with other relatively new bikeways in the city: the waterfront path and a paved trail running alongside East Marginal Way in Seattle's industrial Sodo District.
Together, these new bikeways connect to other trails leading to nearly every corner of the city and beyond, on city paths, the tri-county Leafline Network, and even the state-spanning Palouse to Cascades and Olympic Discovery trails.
Rentable bikes and scooters - through providers like Lime and Bird - will be around the city for fans. Lime, the city's largest provider of these vehicles, is offering a "new fan pass for people to use over multiple days, and will have people on hand in the pedestrian zone during matches to help park and lock the vehicles.
Bikes will be allowed in the pedestrian zone, as will the rentable vehicles, which will be limited to 8 mph. Officials, however, encourage people to walk their bike or scooter to one of the five designated bike and scooter parking spots in the zone. Three other designated areas are just outside the zone.
Cascade Bicycle Club will offer free bike valet service near the stadium for 10 hours on game days, beginning three hours before kickoff, on Dearborn and First, and about four hours before the match at Downtown Redmond and Rainier Beach light rail stations. Bikes must be retrieved within two hours of the final whistle at the valet near the stadium, and within four hours at the two light rail stations.
Non-foldable bikes will not be allowed on light rail on match days.
Seattle Times transportation reporter Mike Lindblom contributed to this report.
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