Vancouver's Water Street to go car-free on Sundays this summer

Akshay Kulkarni · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 15, 2025 7:02 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

Water Street successful Vancouver's Gastown volition beryllium closed to vehicles connected Sundays until the extremity of August, successful the city's latest effort to pedestrianize the fashionable tourer area.

Last year, the bosom of the Gastown neighbourhood astatine Maple Tree Square was closed to cars from July until mid-August, and Water Street was partially closed — with the metropolis aiming to boost ft postulation successful the country and amended the pedestrian experience.

This year, Water Street volition beryllium closed to cars connected Sundays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., from Richards Street to Columbia Street, until the extremity of August.

Meanwhile, adjacent Cordova Street volition unfastened to two-way postulation betwixt Gore and Richards streets, and aggregate events volition beryllium held successful the country each summertime by the section concern betterment society.

City planners accidental the program is portion of a aviator task and the ongoing Gastown Public Spaces Plan, and businesses accidental they're cautiously optimistic for the summertime ahead.

"This isn't conscionable astir 1 thoroughfare oregon 1 season," Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim told a Sunday quality conference. 

"It's astir shaping the aboriginal of Gastown and nationalist spaces crossed our full city." 

WATCH | Businesses were optimistic astir past year's aviator program: 

A metropolis unit report last twelvemonth recovered that ft postulation had accrued by 35 per cent successful Gastown, compared to the play earlier the summertime aviator task began.

Gastown is simply a fashionable tourer country with cobblestone streets and a steam clock.

CBC News spoke to radical walking successful Gastown connected Sunday. Vancouver nonmigratory Michelle Arthur said the thought of pedestrianizing the country was large for her, saying she wouldn't person to interest astir postulation and parking.

"I ne'er travel to Gastown. So [the pedestrian zone] brought maine down present today, and I've been surviving successful Vancouver since COVID," she told CBC News. "So, you know, I deliberation it's fantastic."

Businesses cautiously enactment idea

The plans to pedestrianize Water Street person been ongoing for decades, and the 2024 aviator task came aft months of operation and roadwork in the area.

This year, however, the car-free aviator is lone moving connected Sundays, arsenic opposed to past summer's 7 days a week.

WATCH | Construction deals a deed to Gastown businesses: 

Walley Wargolet, the enforcement manager of the Gastown Business Improvement Society, said that businesses suffered owed to the operation enactment past twelvemonth and immoderate mislaid concern from locals during the mostly car-free summer.

"Certainly the tourism postulation was here, visitant postulation was ... actually beauteous solid," helium said. "So I deliberation if you came down here, things looked good.

"But from a gross perspective, a batch of those businesses were negatively impacted, and we saw revenues that did spell down."

Emiliano Orozco, the supervisor astatine the Kit and Ace covering store connected Water Street, said that car-free days would beryllium large for the store successful presumption of tourer ft traffic.

"But connected the different hand, I mightiness beryllium disquieted due to the fact that galore of our regular customers travel present by car, right?" helium said. "So I deliberation that tin impact america a bit. We'll conscionable person to spot however it goes."