“Evenings on Park Lane” to Support Businesses During Pandemic

Published on June 30, 2020

Media Contact:
Kellie Stickney
Communications Program Manager
kstickney@kirklandwa.gov
(425) 979-6562

KIRKLAND, Wash. – In an effort to support downtown businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, the City will begin closing the west end of Park Lane between Lake Street and Main Street to vehicles from 6 p.m. to 7:00 a.m., seven days a week.

“With the weather getting better and our county slowly reopening, we’ve seen our community members coming out in larger numbers to support our downtown shops and restaurants,” said Mayor Penny Sweet. “By opening ‘Evenings on Park Lane’ to pedestrians, we’re giving our community members space to stay six feet apart to continue to slow the spread of COVID-19.”

The night-time closures of Park Lane to vehicles is set to begin at 6 p.m. on Thursday, July 2, 2020 and last through Labor Day. The City will continue to evaluate all options to support downtown businesses and help keep community members safe.

The decision to close the west end of Park Lane in the evenings to vehicles was informed by considerable outreach to the businesses on Park Lane and collaboration with community groups.

“We want to thank everyone who contributed ideas or feedback about this plan,” said Mayor Sweet. “There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to supporting small businesses during a pandemic. We appreciate everyone’s flexibility, patience, and goodwill as we try our best to support our business community and their patrons during these challenging times.”

The City will post signs indicating that the street is closed to vehicles, as well as parking signs at each parking stall to inform visitors to Park Lane of the overnight closures.

As is available to all Kirkland businesses, several of the restaurants on Park Lane have applied for permits to use the parking stalls directly abutting their storefront as extended food service space. Businesses interested in applying for a parklet permit to use parking stalls in front of their storefront can download the application on the City’s website: http://www.kirklandwa.gov/BusinessSupportCOVID

In addition to the overnight closures, the City is also planning to close Park Lane to vehicles during the day for July 25-26 and August 9. These weekends were previously scheduled to be closed for special events that had been planned on Park Lane.