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Kim Briscoe said retail business fell 32 per cent after the City of Vancouver closed three blocks of Water Street in Gastown to vehicles this summer.

But things returned to normal when the Water Street pedestrian zone pilot project ended and traffic returned to normal on September 5.

“They reopened on Thursday,” said Briscoe, who has operated the Kimprints frame store on the main floor of Hotel Europe for four decades. “I had a record day on Saturday. “I had a record day here.”

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But others liked the pedestrian zone pilot. So on October 24, the city council voted to bring this street back for summer 2025 with one big change: Water Street will be closed to traffic only on weekends.

Jackie Haliburton of Angel clothing company at 2 Powell Street is a little relieved.

“As long as they do (special) events, put some energy into the weekends and do special things, it might be okay,” said Haliburton, whose business fell 20 percent last summer.

Closing the street to traffic for three months is “much better than the alternative,” he said. “It would be very scary if they did this again.”

Pedestrian zone support varied by business type and location of businesses.

In a survey, the city found that 63 percent of food and beverage establishments, such as bars, were “more supportive of the pilot returning.” That’s nine percentage points higher than the 54 percent of retailers who wanted the experiment to continue.

Forty-five percent of food and beverage businesses reported revenue growth, compared to 39 percent at retailers.

The city found there was a “strong divide between those who support (the pedestrian zone) and those who do not.”

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“Some destination businesses that rely on customers seeking their own unique product offerings or experiences (e.g., high-end retailers, fine restaurants, specialty services) did not feel they benefited from increased foot volumes during the pilot,” according to a news release. from the city

“These businesses also serve customers who rely more on vehicle access, and as a result, these businesses have been more impacted by the loss of on-street parking and changes in traffic flow.”

Briscoe’s frame store was one of the “target” businesses.

“In my business, people can’t go out with their framed hockey jerseys and walk two blocks to find parking,” he said. “There was a parking problem. A big problem.”

What really pissed off his customers was that the council was issuing tickets and towing vehicles to the off-limits but not clearly marked block of Powell Street.

“Withdrawn, that’s $300 to $400, right there,” he said.

But city research found that many people liked the pedestrian zone.

Lee Haber lives near Gastown and found Water Street busy when he went there.

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News speculates that the trouble some retailers are experiencing may be due to construction, which took four months before the pedestrian pilot started.

He wants the pedestrian zone to be expanded, getting rid of the “car light” area on Water Street where there is some traffic, and making it completely pedestrian.

“Then you can do some of the really cool things that are being done in other cities,” he said.

“For example, when they pedestrianize in Montreal, they don’t just put up barriers and call it a day, they set up things like mini golf courses, playgrounds, places where children can draw and paint. “There are all kinds of things that will liven up the space.”

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