Vancouver: projets et actualités

Projet de piétonnisation de Gastown pour les mois de juillet et août

Gastown to go car-free this summer

Vancouver City Council has passed a motion to make Gastown car-free this summer. Kate Walker has more on the pilot project, that aims to make the popular Vancouver neighborhood more accessible to tourists.

Vancouver’s Gastown will go car-free this summer

By Sonia Aslam and Cole Schisler
Posted February 7, 2024 7:15 am.
Last Updated February 7, 2024 7:41 pm.

Traffic will look much different this summer in one popular Vancouver neighbourhood.

On Wednesday, city council unanimously passed a motion to make Gastown car-free for the months of July and August.

This will mark the beginning of a pilot project, which will see Water Street, from Richards to Cambie streets, pedestrian-only, and the two interior blocks of Water Street from Cambie through Abbott and Carrall streets “car-light.”

Vancouver City Councillor Sarah Kirby-Yung says the project will come at a perfect time, with Vancouver already in a global spotlight.

“This gives us the chance to have two summers before we literally host the world with FIFA coming,” she said.

After July and August, staff will revisit the pilot project in the fall to figure out next steps. Those would include what other areas of the city could look the same and whether it would be made permanent or kept seasonal.

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“This would create an enhanced pedestrian experience along all blocks of Water Street, while also accommodating access to residential buildings, the Easy Park parkade, tour bus pick up and drop off, and loading and delivery for businesses,” the City of Vancouver staff report explained.

The report notes staff have discussed the plans with the Gastown Business Improvement Society (GBIS).

“The GBIS has expressed concern about the overall duration of the traffic pattern changes in the neighbourhood, which would run from March to early September. Staff have considered alternative approaches to the summer pilot to reduce the closure duration,” the report said.

“In response to a specific request from GBIS, staff considered making the pilot concurrent with construction. Unfortunately, this would mean trying to pilot a pedestrian-first street during off-peak months and while one of the primary public spaces, Maple Tree Square, is under construction. Staff do not believe this would set the pilot up for success.”

This is the next phase in a larger multi-year $10 million plan which also includes repairs, maintenance and increasing the heritage look of the neighbourhood to make it, what the city describes as, vibrant.

Gastown business community split on project

Wally Wargolet, executive director of the Gastown Business Improvement Association, is raising concerns about the plan on behalf of his association, which represents 564 members.

Wargolet says while he’s appreciative of the investment, he doesn’t think the car-free pilot project is a good idea.

“We’re concerned about the fiscal responsibility of taking $10 million dollars, and taking 45 per cent of that to invest in infrastructure — which is why this conversation started — we started because we were concerned about the decay of our neighbourhood,” he said.

“To say we’re now going to spend 55 per cent on a study and a pilot, doesn’t make good fiscal sense.”

Wargolet added that the report from staff doesn’t paint a clear picture of concerns from the business community.

“We don’t have clear metrics of how we’re going to measure success,” he said. “More people on the streets is awesome, but in our conversations with San Diego and with Montreal, yes, they have seen more people on the streets, but that does not equate to more dollars at our businesses.”

Multiple business owners expressed concerns about access to their businesses, parking, public safety and public washrooms.

But David Jones, owner of Vinyl Records on Water Street, says he welcomes the move.

“I’m really happy about it. It’s finally forward thinking in Vancouver, like many other big cities in the world that have done this and been successful with it,” he told CityNews.

Jones says he’s not concerned about access for delivery vehicles because they will have alternative routes to get into the neighbourhood. He adds that the pilot project will take place at the busiest time of year, so even if it doesn’t increase business, it will definitely improve the community feel.

“I already was thinking about getting a busking license for out front so we can have performances,” he said. “If they are closing the road down, that’s meaningful to me. It’ll make it more of a community, make it safe for families and children.”

John Bucan, district manager for Maison & Café Kitsuné, says he’s also excited to participate.

“Because during the summertime, we get a lot of tourists in this area. Cruise ship docks, like three of them come at the same time,” he said.

“The more people the merrier for the businesses. I’m really excited about it.”

-With files from Kate Walker

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“We don’t have clear metrics of how we’re going to measure success,” he said. “More people on the streets is awesome, but in our conversations with San Diego and with Montreal, yes, they have seen more people on the streets, but that does not equate to more dollars at our businesses.”

Je pensais que la SDC Mont-Royal a toujours dit que l’achalandage dû à la piétonnisation faisait bonne affaire?

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Reportage radio sur le projet de la nation Squamish

Le texte

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Dans la dernière vidéo de la chaîne Oh The Urbanity! : entrevue avec le ministre de l’Habitation de la Colombie-Britannique sur la réforme législative qui va faciliter la construction de projets résidentiels. Les municipalités n’auront pas le choix de respecter les minimum requis par la Loi… et tant pis pour les NIMBYs

Solving The Biggest Housing Crisis in North America

Vancouver is maybe the biggest housing affordability disaster in North America. Fortunately, over the past year, the government of BC just decided to become the most ambitious province or state in North America on housing reform.

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Sad, they are doing a video about the skytrain extension, but not about the REM. Feels like the REM had many challenges that would have been interesting for them to cover.

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Yeah well Vancouver manages to dig 5km, 6 station of twin-tunnelers for 2B$!!!.

I like the REM and all, but dayum this eclipses it financially, and it’s not even close. With this type of project budget, I would even want Translink to operate our public transports…

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The video is actually wrong. The real price of the project is 2.83 Billion and it’ll probably go up. Approximately 500m/km which is far better than the PSE or Blue line but nothing crazy special. The REM de l’est was budgeted as approx. 300m/km.

You’re comparing an ongoing project with a hypothetical, and abandoned, one. There’s a clear winner on that fact alone.

Blue line extension would be more apt, and there lies that 2:1 (or closer to 3:1 or even 4:1 with that double-bore) special.

Excellente vidéo. Elle démontre l’ambition du gouvernement de s’attaquer sur le fond du problème, notamment les pilules empoisonnés dans la règlementation municipale.

C’est peut-être parce qu’ils en ont plus besoin, mais au moins ils changent de cap, et ce structurellement.

Necessity is the mother of invention.

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Ivanhoé Cambridge (CDPQ) souhaite redévelopper le centre commercial Metropolis at Metrotown qui fait partie de son portfolio.

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Incroyable comment en 2 ans on a perdu tout momentum en développement des TeC. Vancouver met le fer sur la plaie:

Félicitations pour eux.

Ivanhoe Cambridge previously told Daily Hive Urbanized their mall redevelopment would generate at least 15,000 homes.

Pendant ce temps-là, Blue Bonnets: 0. Bridge-Bonaventure: 2,800, Royalmount: 0.

Ce ne sont pas des équivalents non plus. Si on parle de redéveloppement de centres commerciaux à Montréal, les intentions sont aussi de plusieurs milliers de logement.

Et dans les deux villes, ce sont encore des intentions. Comme les quartiers que tu nommes.

Here’s another update on the Broadway street extension. We can see very well a lot of the construction techniques that are being used in this video.

The University of British Columbia (UBC) appears to have big ambitions for establishing its presence in Surrey City Centre.

Based on highly preliminary visuals, the campus’s scope could potentially rival the size of Simon Fraser University’s existing Surrey campus floor area.

image

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Gastown pedestrian pilot project begins

After months of construction, the Water Street Pedestrian Pilot Project in Gastown has kicked off just in time for the Canada Day long-weekend.

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