Pedestrian-friendly zone approved for section of Vancouver's Granville Street
City councillors in Vancouver have approved a plan to turn part of Granville Street into a pedestrian-friendly promenade.
The program was approved this week as a pilot project for the summer between Smithe and Helmcken streets
Specific details on the plan haven't been confirmed, but the proposal envisions a promenade with more greenery and room for restaurants to expand their patios.
The dates also haven't been announced but the original motion put forward by Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung hoped to have part of the street closed to vehicle traffic on Friday nights and on weekends.
When she first presented the motion, Kirby-Yung said the change would give restaurants hard hit by the pandemic a chance to expand their outdoor patio space.
"Granville Street has been one of the worst impacted areas and when you have more people in an area that's good for business, that's good for everybody, it brings some life and some positive energy back to the street," she told CTV News Vancouver last month.
It's not the first time a section of Granville Street has been pedestrianized. From 2009 to 2014, several summer events were held as part of Viva Vancouver, an annual initiative meant to reallocate street space to public gathering space.
That program typically ran from late June to early September and saw blocks of the street closed on weekends. Buses were rerouted to Seymour and Howe streets.
With files from CTV News Vancouver's St. John Alexander
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Video shows suspect setting Toronto-area barbershop on fire
Video of a suspect lighting a Richmond Hill barbershop on fire earlier this week has been released by police.
'I have the will to live': N.B. woman needs double lung transplant
A New Brunswick woman suffering from sarcoidosis, a disease that limits your lung capacity, is in need of a double lung transplant.
The kids from 'Mrs. Doubtfire are all SUPER grown up now, and we're not OK
The adorable trio of child actors from the 1993 classic comedy 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' which starred the late and great Robin Williams, are all grown up and looking back on their seminal time together.
Police officer hit by driver of fleeing vehicle in Toronto
York Regional Police say they are continuing to search for a suspect in an auto theft investigation who was captured on video running over a police officer in Toronto last month.
Boeing is on the verge of launching astronauts aboard new capsule, the newest entry to space travel
It’s the first flight of Boeing’s Starliner capsule with a crew on board, a pair of NASA pilots who will check out the spacecraft during the test drive and a weeklong stay at the space station.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
Suter scores late goal, clinches series for Canucks
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
TD worst-case scenario more likely after drug money laundering allegations: analyst
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.