Car-free street in Gastown this summer approved by Vancouver City Council

Water Street closure to vehicles for Meet Me In Gastown. (City of Vancouver)

The pilot project of providing a pedestrianized street experience in Gastown throughout most of Summer 2024 is going ahead.

Vancouver City Council unanimously approved City staff’s plan for changing the area’s traffic pattern to create temporary car-free spaces on the one city block of Water Street between West Cordova Street and Cambie Street (Gastown Steam Clock) and at Maple Tree Square (intersection of Water Street and Carrall Street). The two-city block stretch of Water Street between the Steam Clock and Maple Tree Square will be a car-light area.

This pilot project will begin in early July 2024 and run until the end of August 2024.

On select dates or weekends during this two-month-long pilot project period, the entire span of Water Street between West Cordova Street and Maple Tree Square will be fully closed to vehicles for events and festivals.

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Prior to the start of the pilot project, further interim repairs will be made to Water Street’s dilapidated pavers, specifically repairs to Maple Tree Square between March 2024 and mid-June 2024.

The results of the seasonal car-free pilot project during the peak season for tourism will be used to further develop the City’s Gastown Public Spaces Plan to improve the street for pedestrians, businesses, and events over the longer term. If successful and additional funding is made available, the pilot project could return in Summer 2025, with the master plan ready for City Council’s consideration soon after in Fall 2025.

gastown water street car free pilot project summer 2024

Water Street concept for Gastown’s Summer 2024 pilot project, with dark blue indicating car-free areas and light blue indicating car-light areas. (City of Vancouver)

According to City staff, during public consultation, the concerns expressed over the pilot project include business loading and access considerations, tour bus pick-up and drop-off, cleanliness and sense of safety, and the combined length of the street closures for paver repairs and the pilot project.

There are some concerns that the area’s social issues could spill over into the temporary car-free public spaces.

At the same time, according to City staff, at least 27 restaurants and about 16 retailers on Water Street in the impacted area have already expressed interest in creating new or expanded patios or merchandise displays. City staff have also stated they will produce a simplified permitting process to enable businesses to take advantage of the pilot project in a timely manner.

Other mitigation measures include developing an “enhanced sanitation and stewardship plan” to keep the street clean, including increasing micro-cleaning, litter pick up, and power washing, as well as maintaining tour bus access on Water Street between Cambie and Abbott streets and activating the space with street furniture, activations, and large-scale events.

Water Street closure to vehicles for Meet Me In Gastown. (City of Vancouver)

The entire capital plan budget to provide Gastown with an uplift is $10 million, including $4.5 million for paver repairs on both the roadway and sidewalks and $5.5 million for the master planning process, with about $1.2 million going towards the Summer 2024 pilot project.

This spending plan and the pilot project are opposed by the Gastown Business Improvement Association (BIA).

Walley Wargolet, the Executive Director of the Gastown BIA, told City Council today during the public meeting that he is concerned about the municipal government’s “fiscal responsibility” of spending 45% on the Gastown capital plan budget on infrastructure and the remaining 55% on the master planning process and pilot project.

With the pilot project, he says his organization does not have a clear picture of what it is attempting to solve, as there are no metrics to measure success. Based on his conversations with the BIAs representing the retail districts of Gaslamp in San Diego and Mont Royal in Montreal, more people on the street does not always necessarily translate into a business bump.

“More people in the streets does not equate to dollars in the tills for our businesses. It will also have a negative impact on the 300 businesses above ground whose folks rely on to get to work, and having a place for their clients to park. There’s a lot of work to be done here before we can move forward,” said Wargolet, who also accused City staff of not providing City Council with an accurate picture of the concerns expressed by businesses.

gastown steam clock water street vancouver

Gastown Steam Clock on Water Street. (viewfinder/Shutterstock)

Meet Me in Gastown. (Submitted)

The master planning process and pilot project were triggered by ABC Mayor Ken Sim and City Councillor Sarah Kirby-Yung’s Spring 2023 member motion directing City staff to explore ways to improve Gastown’s public realm.

“Let’s just call it what it is. The neighbourhood is amazing, but we do have some challenges right now. One of the situations we’re dealing with is when tourists on cruise ships are told not to walk past the Clock. We know that. So we already have a big hole in Gastown that’s affecting a lot of our businesses there. Forget about the merits about why that’s happening, we just know it’s happening,” said Sim today.

The Mayor asserted this is a case of “the perfect being the enemy of the good,” before adding, “I don’t think any plan that we can come up between now and forever will ever be perfect, but we have a pretty good plan here. He also suggested the pilot project will provide some public space activations learnings for the City when the area is inundated with tourists for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The Mayor and several City Councillors promised Wargolet that they will be reactive to any concerns and issues as they arise.

Before this summer, the busy intersection of Granville Street and Robson Street will also be transformed into a six-way, all-walk signalized crossing to test the function of a pedestrian scramble.

Example of asphalt-covered utility cuts on the brick-and-mortar pavers on Water Street in Gastown. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

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