Traffic Gardens
Traffic Gardens: Where Play Meets Planning
A traffic garden (also known as a bicycle playground) is a fun, play-focused learning space consisting of reduced-sized streets and scaled-down traffic elements assembled into a network. It is a traffic world scaled to and designed for a developing child to learn bicycling skills and roadway safety through active play. Traffic gardens not only introduce kids to traffic rules and interactions but also, through the knowledge and self-awareness developed, invite them to question why roads are built the way they are.
White Center Bike Playground
Thanks to a partnership with King County Parks and other essential community organizations like the YES! Foundation and the White Center Community Development Association (CDA), the White Center Bike Playground became a reality for kids of all ages and abilities in 2016.
Located in Dick Thurnau Park, the White Center Bike Playground is a great example of a traffic garden. Located on disused tennis courts, it features a small-scale colorful streetscape complete with realistic road markings and obstacles. Bicyclists of all ages come to have fun riding bikes and learn about roadway safety in a safe, comfortable setting. Cascade and its partners have made use of the park to offer bicycling camps, community riding events, and more.
Traffic Gardens at Seattle Public Schools
Leveraging the Let’s Go walking and rolling program in Seattle elementary schools, Cascade worked closely with stakeholders at Seattle Public Schools (SPS), Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), and Fionnuala Quinn at Discover Traffic Gardens to bring traffic gardens to students across the city.
West Seattle Elementary School Traffic Garden
We are happy to share the Seattle Traffic Garden Handbook, a guide for the creation of school traffic gardens, tailored to Seattle schools. This guide was created by Discover Traffic Gardens with input from SPS, SDOT, Cascade Bicycle Club, and Outdoors for All.
Installed SPS Traffic Gardens:
- James Baldwin Elementary School
- Kimball Elementary School
- Viewlands Elementary School
- West Seattle Elementary School
SPS Traffic Gardens in the works:
- John Muir Elementary School
- Mercer Middle School Traffic Garden
- Montlake Elementary School
This page was updated on December 5, 2023.