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Council backs staff outreach on weekend ‘festival street’ plan for downtown; expects MOU with Metro/Sound Transit next
Summary
Federal Way — City public‑works staff sketched a plan to close a downtown block on weekends to host an expanded farmers market and other street events, and council authorized staff to begin MOU and transit‑reroute conversations.
Federal Way — Public Works Director EJ (last name on file) presented a feasibility sketch for a downtown “festival street” that would close the section between Townsquare Park and the Performing Arts Center on weekends to host a larger farmers market, holiday or cultural markets and other street events.
EJ said the block could accommodate vendor spaces on both sides of the center travel lane, allow pedestrian circulation in the middle, and host food trucks or vendor tents if Metro and Sound Transit rerouted weekend bus service. He told councilors the city would need temporary crash‑barrier protection, robust crowd control and a plan for emergency‑vehicle access; he proposed pursuing a memorandum of understanding with Sound Transit to preserve city influence over the space.
Why it matters: The location sits adjacent to the planned downtown station and the park and would leverage nearby parking and foot traffic if the city and transit agencies coordinate. Councilors said the festival street could lift downtown activation and linked events such as a holiday market and tree‑lighting.
Council direction: Council asked staff to open formal conversations with King County Metro and Sound Transit about weekend reroutes; to research crash‑barrier acquisition vs rental and to return with estimates; and to prepare draft MOU terms to take to the Land‑Use/Transportation Committee and later to the full council. Staff noted crash‑barrier purchase would be a capital expense (staff referenced a vendor price in the low‑hundreds of thousands for a full complement) but advised rentals for single events. Staff suggested the earliest operational window if the MOU and Metro reroute can be arranged would be 2026.
Bottom line: The council supported pursuing an MOU and working with Metro on a weekend reroute that would leave the city with the option to close the street for events and markets on Saturdays and Sundays.
Selected quote: “If we are a fifty‑fifty partner with Sound Transit, we become a fifty‑fifty partner in deciding the outcome,” Community Development Director Keith Niven said in the broader downtown conversation; Public Works staff offered the festival‑street concept as a practical next use of the downtown streetscape.
