09-22-2020, 07:55 PM
(09-22-2020, 10:15 AM)ijmorlan Wrote: On a related note, does anybody know what traffic is like on King St. in downtown lately, with it closed between Francis and Water?
I ask because one alternative to full closure is to close a block at each end of the proposed closure zone. This eliminates through traffic and therefore has a possibility of enormously reducing motor vehicle traffic without actually banning it. I know that I used to regularly drive on King St.; but now I use Charles. This is somewhat similar to King St. in Toronto, where a long segment through downtown requires non-streetcar motor vehicles to turn at most intersections, eliminating through traffic (and freeing up the street for the streetcars).
As much as I would love pedestrianizing King St (as someone who lives on it), I think this is the better solution for now. Or a hybrid were the roads belong to the pedestrians (make it visual with some cobblestone looking road and a 15kph limit), but cars are allowed for 5-10 minute stops.
Outside of the pandemic I've noticed a number of restaurants here that are 50%+ delivery by food couriers, and during the pandemic some are closer to 90%. Until the downtown population can sustain these places, removing car access may very well kill these businesses (I'm not sure if the delivery apps would delist them for being inaccessible?).
I'm also dependant on grocery delivery since I don't have a car, which would become way more complicated if King was closed. Of course, if this building has a grocery store like it seems so perfectly designed for it would solve that problem. But otherwise losing delivery would probably push me over the edge and I'd purchase a car, and if I have one, I'm going to use it for other trips too... So at least for me, closing King would add another car to downtown.