The stairway on the Pine Street Hill Climb will be closed around-the-clock until the goats have completed clearing the hillside late Friday afternoon.
What would be dangerous drudgery for a human is delicious delight for the goats.
If you ‘re traveling on Alaskan Way by the steep Pine Street hill don’t be surprised to see a herd of goats happily munching their way up the slope. Aptly called the Pine Street Hill Climb, it is quite a climb to make it up the incline, and too steep a hill for human workers or equipment to safely tackle the removal of the overgrowth of vegetation. SDOT hired the herd of 60 goats from Rent-a-Ruminant to clear the overgrowth from the slope on both sides of the long stairway on the Pine Street Hill Climb that connects Alaskan Way to Western Avenue and the north side of the Pike Place Market parking lot. Last week, in preparation for the four-legged diners, SDOT workers had to carefully remove a few hemlock plants on the hill as the 3-6 foot herb (member of the parsley family) is not only poisonous to humans, but also to goats! This morning the herd owner, who says every goat has a name, set up a fence to contain the goats, but the stairway will not be available to pedestrians during the work. The work is expected to take five days, lasting through Friday afternoon. The Pine Street Hill Climb stairway will be closed throughout the five day operation.
For more information about Rent-a-Ruminant see