“Evenings on Park Lane” Return This Month

Published on May 20, 2021

Photo of flowers in flower pot on Park Lane

Media Contact:
Joy Johnston
Interim Communications Program Manager
jjohnston@kirklandwa.gov
(425) 979-6562

Kirkland’s Park Lane to Open Nightly for People Walking and Biking

KIRKLAND, Wash. – The City of Kirkland announced the return of “Evenings on Park Lane,” starting on May 24 and running through October 1, 2021. This initiative is meant to expand outdoor capacity for businesses and increase foot traffic in the downtown core by closing the west end of Park Lane to vehicles nightly from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m.

“Evenings on Park Lane expands opportunities for people walking and biking to enjoy our downtown businesses,” said Kirkland City Councilmember Jon Pascal. “We invite you to rediscover this vibrant corridor and support our business community.”

The program encompasses Park Lane between Lake Street and Main Street. The 2021 framework for the traffic alteration emulates last year's "Evenings on Park Lane," but instead of an overnight closure, the street will be open to people walking and wheeling every evening from 6 p.m. until the Park Lane restaurants close for the night. Once the restaurants close, the street will be reopened to normal traffic flow.  Signs indicating that the street is closed to vehicles will be positioned at each end of the block and there will be parking signs to inform Park Lane visitors of the closures.

“This has been a challenging time for small businesses, and we thank our community for supporting our economic recovery,” said Deputy City Manager for External Affairs Jim Lopez. “Evenings on Park Lane goes hand in hand with our digital main street, ShopLocalKirkland.com, both powerful strategies to help our businesses survive and thrive.”

Evenings on Park Lane was first implemented in 2020 to help support downtown businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. In April 2021, the City launched a broad engagement effort to collect feedback on opening Park Lane to people walking and wheeling during specific days and times. For more information, visit www.kirklandwa.gov/ParkLane2021.

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