Pedestrians strolling Pike Place Market Wednesday—the first day of it being temporarily closed to public car traffic through the summer—say shopping and hanging out there just isn’t the same without the constant threat of being run over by frustrated drivers.
“The walk from the flower stands to Le Panier for a croissant just isn’t going to be the same without a Tesla or BMW trying to take out my knees,” said shopper Mary Gleason. “Oh, and the way the children used to almost be turned into a pancake under an impatient tourist’s SUV before a mother plucked them from the jaws of death—I’m just really gonna miss that.”
Just as the Pike Place PDA and Market Historical Commission feared, shoppers say they’re also struggling to find their way into shops without car bumpers nudging them off the Market’s cobblestone streets.
“Usually it’s fine to wander in here like a brainless pinball because the grills of several cars desperate to get out of here end up shoving me into the cider stand, 60-foot-long Starbucks line or Sur la Table,” said Terry Jepson. “I spent all day in the empty car-free street today like a lost child just waiting for a single pick-up truck to send me running into the Market toward the arts and crafts booths.”
Fortunately, Market officials say Pike Place shoppers will only have to wait until this fall for the return of the spark that can only come from walking around several out-of-town drivers boiling over with road rage.
