Thursday afternoon the City of Seattle announced that the major city parks will be completely closed this weekend. The closure begins Friday, April 10th at 11 pm. The parks will open again Monday, April 13th at 4:30 am.
social distancing
April 9th Update: More Parking Lots Close at Popular Seattle Parks
Yesterday Seattle Parks & Rec announced additional parking lot closures at popular Seattle parks because too many people are crowding too closely together.
They are encouraging people to take walks or throw a ball around at parks closer to home rather than heading for the big attractions.
Also, keep at least six feet of space between you and all others, including family members or roommates you are sheltering at home with. You know the person you are hiking a trail with lives with you, but observers can’t tell. When the police and parks department staff see people clumped together it raises alarms and prompts further drastic actions.
Snohomish County Parks Update
Today the Snohomish County Executive made a decision to partially close Snohomish County parks to reduce the recent crowding at many of them. Previously just the playgrounds were closed.
All restroom facilities are being closed.
Parks that have parking lots with a gate will have the gates shut and locked. Such parks are still open for use, but you need to be able to walk or bicycle to the park. This will cut down on the number of people in the parks.
This means crowds may increase at parks without gates. Be responsible and keep your distance or more draconian measures will be taken.
Keep your distance at parks! Don’t give the city an excuse to shut them down!
Too many people who are flocking to Seattle area parks and other places like Snoqualmie Falls to avoid going stir crazy are ignoring social distancing precautions.
Police have been forced to disband large groups at places like Cal Anderson Park on Capitol Hill and Alki Beach. People are also ignoring the closure of all active recreation facilities like playgrounds and basketball courts.
The city is already discussing the possibility of completely closing all parks if people continue to disregard distancing safety measures. Stiff fines and potentially jail time would be imposed on anyone ignoring park closures if they are shut down.
We need to maintain access to parks so we have a place to get outside in these stressful times! Don’t ruin it for everyone. Keep your distance from other people at all times.
What you can do:
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