Streets for People
With a goal of reallocating 10% of the city’s road space to sustainable modes of transportation by 2030, the City of New Westminster has initiated a number of city-wide projects to support walking, wheeling and biking. These initiatives will support and facilitate healthy active living as part of daily life, improve access to local businesses, provide safe access to sustainable transportation infrastructure and support physical distancing.
In order to make safe transportation easier, the city has implemented a number of traffic calming and space reallocation measures including:
Reprogramming of traffic lights to prioritize and facilitate pedestrian crossings
Closure of the Northbound vehicle lane on the McInnes Overpass to allow more room for walking and cycling
Identification of areas for reallocation of space once resources become available
Cool Streets
This pilot project will initially target four local streets with quick and cheap interventions from August to the end of September 2020. The changes will not affect vehicle traffic directly, but rather encourage other modes of transportation to be prioritized. The proposed streets form a connected network that link open space in high density, low income and park deficient neighbourhoods while capitalizing on streets with a large, existing tree canopy. Read More>>
The initiatives being put in place by the City of New Westminster are valuable in giving pedestrians a safe and desirable network of places to walk. Activating streets as places, building a community around these places and encouraging residents to be members of this community is evident in the changes being put in place in New Westminster.
As a dense city with a small geographical area and a rich history, the changes being put in place will define the city as a walking destination and encourage individuals to explore its diverse urban area.
Enjoying one of New Westminster’s self-guided walking tours is a great way to observe, reflect, share, question and re-imagine the city and celebrate the urban environment.
Check them out:
Queens Park Walking Tour [3.3km]
Port Royal, Queensborough [6km]
Listen to two-term New Westminster councillor Patrick Johnstone talk about Streets for People with Dean Murdock on Episode 8 of the Amazing Places podcast.
New temporary guidelines for expanded sidewalk and on-street patios
In June 2020, New Westminster City Council endorsed an initiative that allows for an expedited process for restaurant and pub patio extensions which will provide businesses with the ability to increase their footprint to meet occupancy loads and serve patrons safely, while also activating the City’s commercial districts and streets. More >>
