Strong Towns YXE proposes shutting down Broadway for pedestrian access

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With construction and repairs on the Broadway Bridge slated to begin in May, local group Strong Towns YXE is proposing an idea to keep Broadway Avenue open for pedestrians.

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An exact date for the bridge closure hasn’t been announced yet. The construction is expected to continue until October, creating concerns for local businesses. Derek Cameron, a member of Strong Towns YXE, said the group came up with the idea in January to shut down part of Broadway to make it more pedestrian friendly.

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“The pitch was, between 10th Street and 12th Street, to close that off completely to vehicle traffic and then have 11th Street, that cross-street, stopping at the alleyway,” Cameron said.

He said there will be less traffic in the area due to the bridge closure, and this is an opportunity to think about the space differently.

“We’re an organization that’s really interested in cities, how they can become more fiscally responsible, how they can support productive spaces, how they can create more housing … when we heard about this, it just made sense.”

Cameron said they’ve been reaching out to businesses and residents to get their input, and have had talks with city administration.

Local businesses in the Broadway area were split. Cameron said about 60 per cent of businesses were in favour of this idea, with 30 overall responses.

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Cameron described support from residents as “overwhelmingly positive,” adding that of 613 survey responses, 561 said yes, 40 no and 11 maybe.

He said the survey was posted online in areas where he expected a bit more pushback, but it still resulted in these positive results.

A proposal to the city will first come to the transportation committee next Tuesday.

Residents have shown an appetite to get involved with this project if it gets off the ground, Cameron said, noting they received about 90 emails from people saying they’d be willing to volunteer.

Closing down streets would come at a cost to both the city and the business improvement districts, with a loss of parking revenue due to access being taken away.

While Strong Towns YXE suggested the city could shoulder the cost, there’s also potential for the paid parking area to be expanded temporarily to recoup those funds.

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Jasmin Parker, the city’s Ward 6 councillor, said this is an interesting idea, saying pedestrian streets have been successful in other areas.

“Even Regina has a pedestrian street. Hate for Regina to do something before we do,” Parker said.

She wondered if there was consideration to include bike paths, or if there was a place around Broadway where they could extend paid parking in a non-residential area.

“We really haven’t, as a city, had an opportunity to kind of do the groundwork.”

Parker said they’d need to speak with businesses, the community and the business improvement district.

She said while it may be a boring reason not to go through with an idea like this, they do need to consider the lost revenue that would come from not having those parking spaces, saying that impacts the funding that goes toward the business improvement district.

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“I think there’s some big questions that would be asked at council, and bureaucracy tends to move quite slowly, so I’m not sure if we have the time to work through those,” Parker said, adding that this isn’t just her decision, and all of council would need to weigh in.

Temporary street closures have also been pitched by the Broadway BID on a much smaller scale, with the idea of block parties.

“This would be like a Thursday night, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., come out — there will be buskers, there will be music, there will be sidewalk sales, vendors. We’ll shut down two blocks, not the whole street, and it will be before the weekend,” said Anne-Marie Cey, executive director for Broadway BID.

BID has been trying to promote more people coming out to Broadway with the bridge closure this summer, suggesting alternate forms of transportation like bikes and scooters with warmer weather hitting the Bridge City.

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