Why Seattle is closing down 46 blocks at the center of the city

Depending on your weekend plans, this is either great news or awful news. Seattle is closing-off more than 40 blocks for a summer party on Saturday, Sept. 12.

Seattle is closing the streets and inviting people to walk, run or bike around the Central District where a total of 46 city blocks will be closed to cars.

“We actually call it an open streets event because the whole plan is to open up the streets to the people and let people walk and bike and run an play in the streets and experience their neighborhood in a whole different way,” said Nicole Friedman, chief of active transportation partnerships for the City of Seattle.

From East Columbia Street to Judkins Street, between 20th and 25th Avenues, the streets will be closed between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday.

“What we’ve done is essentially open up in the Central District, three miles of streets that will essentially be car-free except for local access and people can run or bike or on the street,” Friedman said. “What we’ve done in the parks is a tremendous amount of activities, again with active focus.

Activities like skateboarding, Zumba classes, bike polo and Zorba Ball &#8212 that’s where you get inside a giant inflatable ball and roll around.

Friedman says residents can still get inside the no-car zone and park on the streets.

“They’ve been so successful in getting people out and the traffic has been so manageable. What you find is that at least for a day, everyone is outside, and enjoying being outside and active, and maybe people forget about their cars for a little bit,” Friedman said.

This will be the first of two such events. Next week, the city is going to shut down a portion of Ballard, including 15th Avenue.