Friends of Waterfront Park collaborates with the City of Seattle and other partners to support an accessible and welcoming environment. While Friends doesn’t manage the park’s permanent infrastructure (such as built pathways, elevators, sidewalk maintenance, or lighting), we coordinate accessibility for temporary amenities, activations, programs, and select facilities (Pier 62 restrooms).

For more information on the permanent park infrastructure, visit the City of Seattle’s website on the project.

Friends provides accessibility resources to ensure any guest has the necessary accommodations when attending any of our free public programming events. Our list of resources is available on our website and we frequently share about them on our social media channels.

In addition, Friends integrates meetings and collaboration with the Accessibility Advisory Committee to listen to real-time feedback and incorporate into our long-term plans.

The park is ADA accessible with mostly flat, paved sidewalks connecting along the Waterfront. Access to Waterfront Park includes a variety of elevators. The City provides an access map to help navigate the most accessible pathway for you HERE.

New on-street accessible loading zones and ADA parking stalls provide easier access to the Colman Dock ferry terminal transit hub. Between Marion and Columbia Streets, you’ll find established loading and unloading zone. This zone includes two (2) ADA stalls for loading and unloading—not for parking.

Note: The accessible drop-off area is located in the loading zone in front of the Seattle Aquarium on the west (southbound) side of Alaskan Way.

There are four elevators that can connect you to the waterfront:

1. Union Street, connecting Western Avenue and Alaskan Way
2. MarketFront, connecting Western Avenue and Alaskan Way
3. Pike Place Market Garage, connecting Western Avenue and Alaskan Way (great option if you’re visiting Pike Place Market)
4. Seattle Aquarium Ocean Pavilion, connecting the Park Promenade to Overlook Walk (great option if you’re visiting Pike Place Market)

Use the Seattle Accessible Route Planner to locate these elevators.

Any closure or maintenance of the Ocean Pavilion elevators are managed to the Seattle Aquarium. If you need immediate support, email at [email protected] or call them at (206) 693-6139.

Yes. There are two public restrooms with ADA stalls available at Pier 62 and Pier 58.

There is a variety of seating available along Waterfront Park. Seating with back support and wheelchair-friendly tables are available at key gathering spaces throughout the park. These are located at Pier 62, certain intersections such as Spring and Seneca streets, Molly Moon’s Ice Cream, and Overlook Walk.

During Friends of Waterfront Park events, we also provide additional priority seating and shaded rest areas whenever possible. Locations of movable benches may change through each season to disperse crowds or for events happening throughout the year.

Yes. Animals are welcome at Waterfront Park. Service animals are always welcome at Waterfront Park and events in accordance with ADA guidelines. See the Park Rules by Seattle Center for more information.

At select Friends hosted events, we aim to provide ASL interpretation, closed captions, or written materials upon request. Please visit each event webpage to see which resources will be available at a given event or please contact us [email protected]with questions or specific accommodation requests.

Friends offers courtesy wheelchairs during our hosted events (e.g. Indigiqueer Festival, Waterfront Block Park, Salmon Homecoming). Email us at [email protected] to request this accommodation with a week in advance.

While we do not currently have designated quiet zones, there are certain areas of the park that are less busy. Habitat Beach, Railroad Way South, and Pier 62 have areas that may offer some quiet along the Park.

At select events, we also offer free sensory kits for rent (noise cancelling headphones, fidget toys, etc.) and a dedicated sensory tent that is shielded from view and mitigates some sound. Please visit our event webpages to see which resources will be available at a given event or please contact us [email protected] with questions or specific accommodation requests.

Friends-led events (e.g. Indigiqueer Festival, Waterfront Block Party) are ADA accessible and we provide a range of dedicated resources to ensure everyone can enjoy happenings on Waterfront Park. Please see our full list of accessibility resources offered at events above. Please visit the specific event webpage from our calendar to see which resources will be offered at select events.

As the nonprofit activating Waterfront Park, we often partner with community organizations and companies who put on their own events. Those entities are responsible for the experience of their event or activation.

You can email us at [email protected] and we will try our best to provide you with appropriate accommodation solutions. We appreciate advance notice (ideally 7–10 days) to best meet your needs.

Yes. While we’ll do our very best to meet most requests we receive, there might be occasions in which we don’t currently have a resource or accommodation. If that’s the case, we might connect you with our City partners.

We’re actively researching and staying in the know about new accessibility resources that we might need to invest or purchase if our budget allows.

Friends of Waterfront Park primarily focuses on making public programs and non-permanent park structures accessible to all visitors. Since 2024, Friends has partnered with an Accessibility Advisory Committee and engaged an accessibility consultant to guide ongoing improvements. Accessibility priorities are also informed by public feedback gathered through community surveys.

We welcome your feedback! Please share your thoughts about Waterfront Park through our annual guest experience survey where we ask dedicated questions about accessibility! Click HERE. (link changes each year)

Since our 2023 audit, the Accessibility Advisory Committee has helped us build on our commitment to accessibility, keeping it central to our work and ensuring we stay ahead of needs rather than simply reacting to them. Highlights include offering ASL interpretation, wheelchairs, sensory tents, and assisted listening devices at events; making park furniture wheelchair accessible; and creating more inclusive digital content through alt-text and accessible social media and newsletters.