It’s been a popular place to watch FIFA World Cup matches and to get together with people of all backgrounds to take in the beautiful game. Now, one organization says it would like to see the five-block stretch of Granville Street in downtown Vancouver remain pedestrian-only.
Nav Sharma is with Vision Zero Vancouver, an organization of advocates pushing for street safety.
He tells 1130 NewsRadio they’re on board, but he understands there are mixed opinions with the broader community.
“What we would like to see, if there is a consideration of this pedestrian zone, is that there is transit focus on the side streets.”
Related articles:
That would be to ensure accessibility to the area, but he admits it won’t be easy.
“With buses being separated in direction, there would be some issues with getting transfers. For people who are driving, there may need to be some offloading on side streets.”
“Granville Street should become the city’s iconic featured area for entertainment.”
Sharma says Vancouver is known in North America for being such a walkable city.
“Vancouver is getting a lot of praise right now in terms of how the city feels when people walk around, not just in the FIFA fan areas, but in the rest of the city, where it’s very pedestrian-oriented. Having spaces like this, like the Granville Street pedestrian zone, is really nice for tourism, for encouraging local shopping, and we want to keep stuff like this in the city.”
He has some suggestions to make this car-free area a reality sooner rather than later.
“We can see some near-term improvements and quick-build infrastructure that can maintain what we have today, which is already in place, and we can build from there, rather than tearing down what’s currently in place and then working over 10 years.”
Right now, the five-block stretch is restricted to buses and cabs only, and there are some barriers to prevent vehicles from accessing the area. Sharma wants to see that become permanent.
“Instead of having temporary barriers that are replaceable, it would be something that’s paved in place,” he said.
“There could be more street features like plants, benches that are permanent, and some physical elements, like better crosswalks.”
There may be some businesses that want to keep vehicle traffic in place; however, Sharma believes they’ll eventually come around.
“We know from a lot of studies that there are shopping areas that are pedestrian-oriented that end up doing a lot better than they expect. The Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association (Downtown BIA) was one of those examples, where they were worried about bike lanes before they were introduced, and once the bike lanes were there, they turned around, and they were very happy to have them.”
Sharma goes on to add, “Granville Street should become the city’s iconic featured area for entertainment.”
In an email to 1130 NewsRadio, the City of Vancouver says once the World Cup is over, it will take a look at potentially making the area car-free.
“This summer’s pilot will give us an opportunity to learn about what works well and what doesn’t, which can inform the approach in future years. Learning will include data collection, monitoring, public and business surveys, and economic impact analysis. Staff will report back to Council following this summer.”
The closure on Granville runs from June 11 to July 19.