Downtown Vancouver's Granville Street to stay car-free for 7 weeks post

Downtown Vancouver's Granville Street to stay car-free for 7 weeks post-World Cup with $4.75M in city funding

Two councillors opposed the plan, citing transparency concerns

Five blocks of Granville Street in downtown Vancouver will remain a hub of pedestrian activity for seven weeks after the FIFA World Cup leaves town.

City council voted Thursday to extend the pedestrian zone pilot through Labour Day weekend, but one opposed councillor said the price tag of up to $4.75 million amounted to "complete sticker shock."

At a special council meeting Thursday, Mayor Ken Sim said he wanted to address the "urgent need to build on the outstanding success of the Granville Street pedestrian pilot during this World Cup."

"We haven't seen the city this excited and alive since the 2010 Olympics, and we want to keep this energy going throughout the summer," Sim said.

He said the matter was urgent because it impacts the financial health of businesses, and in order to extend the pilot, the city needs time to get provincial approvals.

Province says World Cup is boosting B.C. economy, but some businesses report softer demand

His motion, co-submitted with fellow ABC Party Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung, also directs city staff to keep FIFA-related temporary patios and other allowed uses where possible.

Sim said the cost to extend the pilot is $300,000 per week for sanitation and traffic work and $200,000 per week for security by the Vancouver Police Department. It also includes a grant of up to $1.25 million for the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association (DVBIA).

The grant was initially written as $500,000 in Sim's motion but was raised to $1.25 million through an amendment, as councillors said the lower amount would have set up the DVBIA to fail.

Some councillors expressed frustration at the process of the short-notice special meeting.

Coun. Pete Fry unsuccessfully asked council to delay the matter to their next scheduled meeting on July 14.

He said while he supports a pedestrianized Granville Street, the short notice deprived council and the public of the review period.

Fry said while he supports the plan to pedestrianize five blocks for seven weeks, the special meeting was not an emergency matter.

"Yes, Granville pedestrian zone has been awesome. It's been a fantastic experience," he said.

"But $5 million to keep it going for another month and a half without the benefit of the World Cup excitement … is a different matter altogether," he added.

Restaurants push for Vancouver's Granville Street pedestrian zone to be made permanent

He noted Sim's council approved a "zero-means-zero budget" with a property tax freeze that Fry said has meant "decimated funding for organizations" across the city.

"They're playing fast and loose with how we steward the public purse," Fry said.

OneCity Coun. Lucy Maloney voted in favour of extending the Granville pedestrian pilot, but she noted some transit users have concerns about the impact to TransLink's routes.

Maloney also successfully motioned to ask staff to provide recommendations and cost estimates for a three-year seasonal extension of the Granville Street pedestrian zone pilot program.

More stories from Vancouver-South Coast

Coun. Rebecca Bligh, who voted against the extension, said the cost was "complete sticker shock," and suggested the draw of Granville Street will likely be reduced after the World Cup. She noted the street's business offerings are currently primarily nightlife.

The motion to extend the pilot passed, though Bligh and Fry opposed. Coun. Sean Orr was absent.

The motion also directed staff to investigate the possibility of a temporary Granville pedestrian zone for a Christmas Market in November.

Lauren Vanderdeen is a Vancouver-based reporter for CBC British Columbia. She formerly worked for community newspapers, including the Burnaby Now and New West Record. You can reach her at lauren.vanderdeen@cbc.ca.