Seattle Parks announced a scaled-back schedule for Bicycle Weekends on Lake Washington Boulevard (known since 1968 as Bicycle Sunday). The route and number of weekends are the same, but the timeframes have been cut back significantly. The department also removed the July 4 holiday from the schedule.
The lineup is still larger than years before 2020, when the event only lasted for a few hours on select Sundays in the spring and summer. But the 2023 schedule seems to ignore well-reasoned suggestions from Rainier Valley Greenways to make the schedule more predictable by holding the events every weekend and holiday, instead opting to reduce the car-free time compared to 2022 by waiting until 10 a.m. Saturday to put up the road closure barriers rather than putting them in place Friday evening. The department will also remove the barriers at 6 p.m. on Sundays rather than taking them down Monday morning.
It will still be a wonderful time, like it has been for a half century. My kid recently learned how to ride her bike, and she is extremely excited about being able to bike in a big street. Lake Washington Boulevard is such a beautiful place. It’s a shame it is reserved for stressful car traffic the vast majority of the year.
The 2023 schedule (10 a.m. Saturday until 6 p.m. Sunday):
May: 20-21; 27-28
June: 17-18; 24-25
July: 1-2; 15-16
August: 19-20; 26-27
September: 2-3; 16-17
Comments
4 responses to “Parks announces scaled-back schedule for 2023 Bicycle Weekends on Lake Washington Blvd”
This is so disappointing. And they still haven’t managed to add anything about bike or transit access to their map. In fact this map is even more car-centric than previous ones, with the addition of the little notes telling you which street to drive on to access each parking lot. There’s absolutely no recognition that people travel WITHOUT CARS – you don’t need a car in order to go for a walk or a bike ride.
Probably has nothing to do with the fact that our current mayor owns a house on Lake Washington Boulevard.
I love bicycle Sundays. Just enjoy it and stop complaining!
Absolutely…