Post on : June 16, 2020
Downtown Pedestrian Mall Pilot Project Survey Results & Recommendations
On June 2nd Downtown St. John’s Business Commission began seeking input from its members on the City of St. John’s proposed Downtown Pedestrian Mall Pilot Project for the summer of 2020. A survey was shared with the membership outlining the details of the two proposed options from the City of St. John’s. MQO Research was hired to gather the results and analyze the data from the survey.
Option #1:
Closure of portions of Water Street and/or Duckworth Street, for three consecutive weeks (4 weekends) in July.
Dates: July 3 to July 26 (24 days)
Road Closures:
8am July 3 to 10pm July 26
Event Hours:
Monday to Friday 12pm to 10pm
Saturday 10am to 10pm
Sunday 10am to 8pm
Water Street from Adelaide St. to Prescott St.
Duckworth Street from Cathedral St to King’s Rd.
Option #2:
Closure of portions of Water Street and/or Duckworth Street, every weekend, throughout July and August.
Dates: Friday to Sunday
July 3 to August 30 (27 days)
Road Closures:
8am Friday to 10pm Sunday
Event Hours:
Friday 5pm to 10pm
Saturday 10am to 10pm
Sunday 10am to 8pm
Water Street from Adelaide St. to Prescott St.
Duckworth Street from Cathedral St to King’s Rd.
To ensure no vehicles are parked within the event footprint, thereby reducing the need for towing, the road will be closed as of 8am on Fridays.
Allowance will be made to permit deliveries as well as access to businesses, as needed, until 12pm Friday and until 9am Saturday and Sunday.
For more detailed information on the proposed Pedestrian Mall Pilot Project please visit https://triwarebeta.ca/temp/article/city-of-st-johns-proposes-pedestrian-only-project-for-downtown-st-johns/
Key Findings
The majority of members surveyed are in favor of some form of Downtown Pedestrian Mall pilot project for this summer.
80% of those surveyed supported the Downtown Pedestrian Mall options as presented in the survey.
20% were not in favor of the Downtown Pedestrian Mall concept however 38% of these respondents suggested that changes to the options would garner their support for the pilot project. Changes such as extending the timeframe; restricting Option #2 to just Saturday and Sunday only; decreasing the size of the project area; and moving the pilot project to 2021 post-Covid 19 were suggested.
15% of those in favor of the proposed options support Option #1 – seven days a week for the month of July.
21% of those in favor of the proposed options are in favor of Option #2 – Friday to Sunday for July and August.
43% are in support of BOTH Option #1 or #2.
Members were split in terms of whether the Downtown Pedestrian Mall should include Water Street only or both Water Street and Duckworth Street however it was clear that respondents were not in support of a Pedestrian Mall on Duckworth Street only for either option.
Several main concerns were raised for the proposed pilot project that will need to be considered and include things such as access to parking for staff at private off-street lots, accommodating deliveries & curbside pickup, impact to service-based businesses to name a few.
Key Recommendations.
There is strong support overall for the Downtown Pedestrian Mall concept. The City should continue to develop the plan including communication with businesses on how concerns will be mitigated.
Given there was significant support for both options (43%) it would be beneficial to follow-up with businesses to provide additional detail on the proposal concept and ask them to explicitly indicate which option they would prefer.
Option #1 – Seven days a week for the month of July on Water Street only
OR
Option #2 – Weekends only for July and August on Water Street only.
Should the City of St. John’s seek clarification from the businesses on which option they prefer, Downtown St. John’s can assist with further consultations with the membership to help identify a clear majority for Option #1 or Option #2 of the Downtown Pedestrian Mall Pilot project.
For more information please contact Downtown St. John’s info@downtownstjohns.com