Moncton Street in Steveston will be closed and Bayview Street will be one-way on Canada Day – even though the Steveston Salmon Festival is cancelled.
Richmond city council voted unanimously to try a one-day pilot project to allow more space for pedestrians and cyclists to physically distance.
The motion was passed at Monday’s council meeting. A recent survey of merchants in Steveston showed there was some support for closing Moncton and turning Bayview into a one-way street during the pandemic, but merchants specifically impacted tended to not be supportive.
“It’s challenging but it’s definitely doable,” said Lloyd Bie, director of transportation with the city when asked by council whether it was possible to do the closure with such short notice.
Council also discussed future weekend closures and traffic reduction, but it decided at this point to try the one-day pilot to see how it went.
In response to the survey of closing Moncton and reducing traffic in Bayview, the city received 50 responses from business operators, a response rate of about 20 per cent. The largest number of responses came from businesses on Moncton Street.
The survey showed 66 per cent were opposed to closing Moncton Street, and, while 60 per cent were in favour of turning Bayview into a one-way, three out of the five businesses on the street opposed it.
Alexandra Road is considered another high-volume area because of the number of restaurants between Garden City Road and Hazelbridge Way, but at this point city staff felt there were enough setbacks to allow for expanded patios as well as retail and queuing space.
