While unclogging the 8 on Denny Way, Mayor Wilson is also opening Bicycle Weekends in full glory on Lake WA Blvd

(Image: City of Seattle)

As Seattle transit and safe streets advocates are celebrating Mayor Katie Wilson’s $ 4 million plan for a new bus-only lane on Denny Way, the urbanist-leaning mayor is also scoring points with the city’s cyclists and those who love them.

Earlier this month, the mayor cleared away years of bureaucratic paralysis and restored Lake Washington Boulevard’s Bicycle Weekends to full glory:

Seattle Mayor Katie B. Wilson announced today that Lake Washington Boulevard will open for Bicycle Weekends every weekend from Memorial Day through Labor Day.

“Seattle summers are beautiful, and everyone should be able to enjoy them,” said Mayor Katie B. Wilson. “We’re opening Lake Washington Boulevard every weekend to make more space for people to bike, walk, roll, and be outside. This is your city, and it should be easy to get out and enjoy our sunny days.”

Beginning Memorial Day weekend and every weekend through Labor Day, a portion of Lake Washington Boulevard will be closed to motorized vehicles, creating safe, car-free space along the waterfront for people to walk, bike, and roll. The route offers a continuous stretch for biking, jogging, and walking throughout the summer.

On holiday weekends, closures will be extended an additional day to include the holiday:

• Monday, May 25 (Memorial Day)
• Friday, July 3 (Fourth of July)
• Monday, September 7 (Labor Day)

As The Urbanist notes, “Bicycle Weekends had been dramatically scaled back under former Mayor Bruce Harrell to just ten weekends across the summer, with no extended holiday weekends in 2025.”

“This storied open streets event formerly known as Bicycle Sunday has been held on Lake Washington Boulevard since 1968, and the 2026 schedule expands it from 10 to 15 weekends and includes three extended holiday weekends for a total of 33 days, more than any year prior (except for maybe during COVID shutdown times, but those felt a bit less celebratory),” the Seattle Bike Blog reports.

You can find the full schedule for the 2026 Bicycle Weekends here.

$5 A MONTH TO HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE

Subscribe to CHS to help us hire writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. To stay that way, we need you. Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for $5 a month — or choose your level of support