A $10-million facelift and pedestrianization plan for the historic Gastown neighbourhood got the green light from Vancouver councillors on Wednesday.
City staff will now begin planning a car-free pilot program for the main strip, Water Street, for a one-month period or on select weekends this summer, next summer or both, in collaboration with Gastown businesses and stakeholders.
“That would give people a chance to feel what it’s like, get a sense of the benefits, any issues or challenges to work out,” Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung, who proposed the motion, told Global News.
“We’re no presupposing. There will be a planning process and an engagement process — perhaps it’s car-light in the summer time and not, kind of during the wet weather that we did get in Vancouver, so it might be seasonal.”
The motion also directs staff to urgently begin patching Water Street, without a larger asphalt treatment plan, and address other obvious and potentially risky deficiencies.
It acknowledges the possibility of changing Cordova Street from a one-way to a two-way, further down the road, in order to support traffic needs while accommodating more foot traffic on Water Street as well.
Wednesday’s approval signals the start of a new urban planning process for the aging neighbourhood, whose overarching goal is to turn it into a “more vibrant, people-friendly destination” that enables more patios, music, events, festivals and active transportation opportunities, according to the city.
The city has set aside $10 million in the 2023 to 2026 capital plan for Gastown, but may amend the funding mid-plan to accommodate the new vision it develops.
Kirby-Yung said there’s a “huge opportunity” to improve and develop the valued neighbourhood, designated a national historic site of Canada in 2009.
“Gastown could become much more of a tourism draw,” she said. “As long as we could provide access that people would be able to easily walk in, I definitely think it’s worth looking at.”
According to the Gastown Business Improvement Association, the neighbourhood encompasses 18.2 hectares of land and houses 137 retail shops, 73 restaurants and bars, seven galleries, and 10 schools and colleges.
The revitalization plan is getting mixed reviews from some of its businesses, with the most polarizing element of the proposal being the possibility of going “car-free” on Water Street.
“We do take our tours through Gastown, so where are we going to take our tours now?” asked VanCity Tours tour guide Dominique Champagne.
“It’s a big part of the tour. It’s the oldest part of Vancouver and lots of people come down on a tour bus.”
Champagne applauded the plans commitment to urgent road repairs, but suggested that a “car-light” Gastown would make more sense on a permanent basis, perhaps with exceptions for tour buses.
It’s a sentiment shared by Nancy Bendtson of Inform Interiors, which has been in Gastown for more than 50 years. She said closing Water Street to traffic would be great, on Sundays for example, but shops rely on vehicle access to the street for deliveries of goods and services.
“Most of the businesses get their deliveries in the front because the lanes are highly compromised, and the lanes can’t be blocked by trucks because people are accessing their homes from their parkades on the lane,” she explained.
“So the beer truck, the food truck — all the trucks are on the street. How does that work?”
Eduardo Bilardello, chef and owner of Brioche Ristorante, said he uses his vehicle to deliver food throughout the city but would happily “work around” a car-free or car-light Gastown.
“There will always be a solution to that,” he told Global News. “I believe it’s a great idea. I come from Europe where lots of the streets are that way, where people walk in there, there is plants, there is life, there is tables, people eat on the streets, they have conversations, they stop they meet with everybody and I think it will be a great idea for Vancouver as well.”
He suggested Vancouver councillors consider an exception to the car-free pilot program during certain hours of the day that would allow businesses to arrange deliveries and drop-offs.
Majid Shekarchi of World Wrap Place also approved of the plan in theory, but said staff would need to iron out the kinks.
“It’s a great idea, but at the same time I guess lots of things have to be done … lots of challenges with all the deliveries, they have to be scheduled.”
Gastown is Vancouver’s oldest commercial district, with many of its current buildings have been built in the 1890s.
Construction to improve Blood Alley Square is already underway and restoration work for Trounce Alley is scheduled next year.
Wednesday’s motion also directs staff to engage with TransLink on any bus infrastructure needs connected to turning Cordova into a two-way street by the end of 2023.