Hamilton to study closing streets to vehicles to create short-term pedestrian-only malls
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Pittsburgh, Toronto and Bogota, Colombia allow it.
And St. Catharines has seen an economic benefit after it shut down its main downtown streets to traffic for the last two years to encourage pedestrians to shop and eat at local restaurants.
Now Mayor Fred Eisenberger wants Hamilton to close streets in the downtown, and possibly other business improvement areas across the city to traffic, to “pedestrianize” those roadways, if only for a weekend.
“I have long said it has been (a) desire to create a circumstance where we can pedestrianize streets in our city,” said Eisenberger. “I have witnessed the impacts and the effects of that in various streets around the world.”
He said that in Bogota, Columbia, during the weekends, the city closes down its streets to traffic and allows the public to swarm the downtown corridor. Bogota popularized the open streets idea in 1974 by closing down 76 miles of streets on Sundays to vehicles to allow walkers, runners and cyclists room to roam. The idea has spread to about 400 cities worldwide.
Toronto created ActiveTO in 2020 to allow the public to use the roadways for running, walking and cycling during summer weekends as COVID-19 restrictions kept people indoors.
St. Catharines officials closed down its main downtown streets in 2020 to create pedestrian-only malls and allow businesses to expand their patios so they could accommodate customers during the provincial COVID-19 restrictions. In 2021, the idea has seen pop-up vendors, musical entertainment and other attractions appear for the public to enjoy. The initiative has proved popular, with the streets closed to traffic on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Eisenberger suggested that Hamilton can look at shutting down either Main or King streets from Victoria to Dundurn to traffic on weekends during the spring and summer seasons. He also had other areas in mind, including Concession Street on the Mountain and downtown Waterdown.
“There are a number of areas where we could give back to people these streets for a limited period of time. It would reanimate and reinvigorate these spaces, provide more activity for the businesses,” said Eisenberger. “I think now is an appropriate time. There is an opportunity here.”
Hamilton already has streets that allow for pedestrians to stroll about, such as along King William Street, the so-called “restaurant row,” and during Art Crawl, said Ward 2 Coun. Jason Farr.
He suggested that the Piers 5, 6 and 7 boardwalk, as part of the city’s $140-million West Harbour Development — once it's open to the public — possibly in the spring of 2022, could prohibit vehicles.
Mountain Coun. Esther Pauls was excited about the possibilities of closing off traffic during short periods of time within BIAs.
“This is a great, great initiative,” said Pauls, chair of the BIA advisory committee. “I can’t wait to go to the next meeting to get them excited.”
But Ancaster Coun. Lloyd Ferguson was the lone councillor who opposed the idea. He said blocking off downtown streets would prevent people from the suburban areas from driving into the core to eat and shop. He said for most people living in the suburbs, the only transportation option to travel to the downtown is by vehicle.
“You can’t ride a bike down the 403,” he said.
“My community loves restaurant row. But if you make it impossible to come, they won’t come. If you chase the suburban people away, (it makes) it impossible for people to get down there.”
At their Oct. 20 general issues committee meeting, councillors recommended in a 11-to-1 vote that staff study how to close off various city streets during the weekends.