By Jeff Darwin
This issue of The Echo broadly examines Lowertown automobile traffic, and I cannot think of a more informative measure of the significance of traffic here in Lowertown than this summer’s full closure of William Street to cars and trucks.
We now view our own local street closure as more of an indicator, rather than a temporary process, because it has truly been an unqualified success in the pedestrianization of one of our public spaces this summer–as we knew that it would be–based on more than a year of ByWard Market-specific research.
Early this year, Ottawa Markets formally proposed the closure of the final portion of William Street (the Clarence to York and the George to Rideau segments were closed years ago), based on what we knew had already worked well in Halifax with Argyle Street, in Calgary with Stephen Avenue and in Montreal with an incredible 56 pedestrian-only streets including Rue Ste-Catherine.
What the City of Ottawa eventually accepted from Ottawa Markets, was the ByWard Market’s “William Street Pedestrian Plaza”. This popular plaza has been very well used, universally loved and most importantly the few initial critics were silenced, because it has been good for our local businesses too.
And what’s more, from a traffic perspective, the chaos and increased congestion on Dalhousie and Sussex streets that was predicted by a few from within the car culture never came to pass this summer.
So, how did Ottawa Markets know in advance that the closure of William Street between York and George would be so successful from a traffic perspective? We simply counted the pedestrians and cars on this little stretch of asphalt. We did this because our research on newer pedestrian malls or plazas around the world showed us that there was a popular and growing trend towards turning urban-core streets over to the people, Identifying streets ready to be converted to pedestrian use came down to a simple tipping point of the EXISTING utilization of a given street and its sidewalks between pedestrians and automobiles. Drivers seeking convenient car storage or a commuting shortcut always seem to find another way.
Basically, much of our research suggested that once a street has a year-round ratio of three or more pedestrians on the sidewalks to every one automobile over most time periods, the street is a prime candidate for becoming a public, non-automotive, space.
When Ottawa Markets submitted its February 2019 proposal to the City of Ottawa entitled “Proposal for Implementing Pilot Pedestrian Malls on William Street and ByWard Market Square”, we had already confirmed that on the sidewalks of William Street between York and George specifically, at virtually any time of the day and in any season, there were already five pedestrians for every automobile using that stretch. Further, virtually all the automobiles that were moving on William appeared to be single occupant, and most were either cutting through south-bound, or were circling the block to find the most convenient or least expensive on-street parking space available.
weekends as it threaded its way through the crowds.
At Ottawa Markets, we have been privileged to help demonstrate that – in the summer of 2019 at least – your William Street Pedestrian Plaza enabled a small part of our Lowertown to be compared to some great pedestrian-friendly cities like New York, Santa Monica, Copenhagen, Florence and Paris. Well done Lowertown!
Jeff Darwin is the Executive Director at Marchés d’Ottawa Markets