In a bid to become the world’s greenest city, Vancouver is looking to turn several popular streets into ‘pedestrian-only’ zones.
It’s already been done on the 800 block of Robson St.
Now the city’s prime candidates for car-free zones include Gastown’s historic Water Street from Carrall to Cordova, Hamilton and Mainland Streets in Yaletown, and Robson Street from Downtown to the West End area.
While the city stresses it’s in very early stages of consultation, locals don’t seem to be opposed to the idea.
Everybody CKNW spoke to was supportive of the plan.
One, only known as Sid, says, “You want to make the place beautiful, and you want to make it more user friendly too right. For tourism, it’s safer, more aesthetic, everything.”
Another says, “I think it’s important to be safe in your city, so it’s good to have space for walking. It can get pretty busy and crowded, and a lot of cars don’t follow the rules as they should.”
The idea falls under the city’s Transportation 2040 plan.
Other options for the Gastown neighborhood include a so-called ‘car-light’ plan, and increased cycling areas.