Water Street in Vancouver’s Gastown is fully open once again— just not to cars.
Vancouver city council announced the reopening of the pedestrian zone at a news conference In Maple Tree Square on Thursday.
“This really does represent the next step in making Gastown more vibrant and lively and inclusive,” said City of Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim. “Water Street will be the place to be in the city.”
The initiative is a City of Vancouver pilot project to test how well the pedestrian-only area will work.
Since March, much of the street and surrounding area has been under construction as crews repaired brickwork and patched asphalt. Now, planters and patio infrastructure have been installed, cutting off car access.
Owners of nearby businesses said the construction and temporary lack of foot traffic caused them to lose revenue.
“There were businesses that, during this transitional phase, really got punched in the gut,” Sim said. “Thank you for your patience.”
This weekend, the block opened up.
In an interview with CBC’s On the Coast, Matthew Senecal-Junkeer, the owner of the café Birds and the Beets, said it’s been nice to see people walking around in the square. He said he’s seen an uptick in business since the area reopened.
“I’m liking it,” Senecal-Junkeer said. “I was hopeful and optimistic, and seeing it in practice, I think there’s real potential.”
The city has completed a project that will see Water Street go car-free as part of a pilot project. Matthew Senecal-Junkeer, the owner of the nearby Birds and Beets cafe, discusses his observations with the CBC after a weekend of the pilot project being active.
At the news conference on Thursday, Squamish Nation Knowledge Keeper Syexwaliya Ann Whonnock said the project is in an area with historical significance to the Squamish Nation. In the Great Fire of 1886 in Vancouver, she said women from the Nation paddled residents away from the flames.
“Welcome to our area,” she said. “It’s good to be here today.”
She said students from the Capilano Little Ones School helped paint some of the planters along Water Street, and people with the Ta na wa Ns7éyx̱nitm ta Snew̓íyelh, a language school, helped create some of the information signs peppering the street.
Lisa Parker, the City of Vancouver’s director of public space and street use, said the pilot project, which runs through the summer, is a way to study how to keep Water Street for pedestrians permanently.
“I’d like to encourage everyone to come down, experience, shop, dine in Gastown,” she said. “Enjoy walking on Water.”