Downtown Pedestrian Mall 2021
The City of St. John's opened the Downtown Pedestrian Mall (the Mall) on July 2, 2021. The Mall ran every day during the summer from 12 to 10 p.m. with the area inside the footprint closed to traffic. Based on the success of the 2020 Pedestrian Mall and feedback from the public and the business community, several changes were put in place for 2021. These included:
- the inclusion of sections of Duckworth Street and George Street in the Pedestrian Mall footprint
- changes to outdoor decks and patios to improve sidewalk accessibility
- animation within the footprint including performers and organizations with pop up events
The Mall was open from July 2 to Sept. 6 with many businesses making changes to their outdoor spaces to accommodate increased foot traffic/patrons.
There are many stakeholders who will be consulted throughout this engagement process. This page is primarily designed to solicit feedback and perspective from consumers -- people who visited the Mall or those who chose not to visit the Mall. Take a few minutes to review the content on this page and provide your input.
Businesses, property owners, and other stakeholders in the Downtown will be consulted via survey and stakeholder meetings as well. A final report with recommendations will be shared with Council later in the fall.
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Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linkedin Email this linkView All Ideas8 months ago
Nothing about the Mall worked well for Duckworth. Business was reduced same as last year.Signs, art, music all didn't happen.Empty promises
Duckworth Needs its own different but equal event. The Mall does not help all of downtown, only Water Street. This doesn't have to be the case, but it has been now for two years in a row. Stop hurting our businesses, come up with a well planned event for Duckworth. Start now.
8 months ago
Just a really great public space
I think we need to take a second to reflect on how something that people dismissed as impossible 2 years ago (and resisted, hard) is now a treasure for the city that draws people downtown in droves. I live in the area and spend a ton of time just meandering around, especially with my 2-year-old, who loves the freedom of it.
8 months ago
Helps reduce traffic noise for downtown residents
The mall, esp. the Duckworth closure, really helped reduce the otherwise incessant noise from loud motorists that can make the summer so difficult to live through in the downtown core. PLEASE keep the Duckworth closure. Maybe modify it to make it more successful next year. But this can actually help with a chronic and serious problem of Ward 2.
8 months ago
From pedestrian mall to pedestrian deathtrap
I love the mall, and I think that the city should have it for as long as possible. There should not be parking patios for restaurants when the pedestrian mall is not in effect. There is no room for people to walk, often there is accessibility concerns. There is a bad spot by the celtic hearth where there is less that 1 metre of sidewalk when they have their shutters open. When Yellowbelly had a line up outside there was no where for people to walk on the sidewalk. The construction on the corner of bishops cove and waterstreet has a large fence that takes up the entire sidewalk, and at one point forces pedestrians from the parking lane, all the way into traffic. I have seen multiple people walking into the road because there is no place for them on the sidewalk.
8 months ago
Permanent Pedestrian Zone
I think some consideration should be given to making a section of Water Street fully pedestrian. This works in many other cities throughout the world, including in cold climate zones (Sparks Street in Ottawa for example). If that section from the intersection of George Street to Adelaide street were converted, for instance, which already includes a high ratio of restaurants, it would enlarge and create synergies with the existing entertainment district.
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Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linkedin Email this linkView All Ideas8 months ago
Make all of Duckworth one-way and close only half of the street!
The Duckworth pedestrian mall wasn't connected. Would have been better to close the side closest to Water Street so people could walk a loop around both streets. And permit parklets on the other side where it's desired by businesses.
8 months ago
Duckworth was a dead zone
It's understandable this route was the only option due to emergency routes, it wasn't worth the bother altogether. Nothing to offer besides a couple of restuarants with patios and a gaming store run by a crank. See what you can do between Prescott and The Sheraton, even if it's the most minor effort.
8 months ago
Safety and Parking on Queen's Rd
I live on Queen's Rd and the extra traffic due to Duckworth St inclusion in the Pedestrian Mall was horrible. There are not many crosswalks in the first stretch of Queen's Rd and a lot of people walking cross the road near Bates Hill. If Duckworth St is included again, there should be provisions in place for pedestrians to safely cross the road. This could be a pedestrian activated light or even a crosswalk with an amber light. Parking was also a major issue for my household, everyday there were 3, 4 or 5 cars parked in the first block of Queen's Rd without parking passes. Some people seemed to be picking up food at a restaurant and were only there a short time, while others would park and be ticketed day after day. I would suggest that there be temporary 10-15 min parking provided for "Skip the Dishes" and other pickup/delivery services. These spaces should be in existing paid parking designated spots, modified for shorter parking requirements.
8 months ago
Accessibility
Continue to improve accessibility! I noticed some improvements this year (especially ramps), but many spaces were still not wheelchair-friendly.
8 months ago
Accessibility
Please seek outside consultation for accessibility issues. I know you have an inclusion committee but one person representing everyone with a certain disability or race cannot know it all. I would like to see you do engagement specifically on accessibility and how to improve it in the downtown area. Cities much older than St. John's in Europe manage to make themselves accessible, it is not fair to throw your hands up and say we just cannot do it.
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Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linkedin Email this linkView All Ideas8 months ago
Extend the season - June 1 to Jan 1 to start
The pedestrian mall is one of the most wildly successful public space initiatives we've ever had in this city and deserves to be active for much longer. A huge amount of planning and investment goes into it from all sides and a longer season would be a more efficient investment. I think we could safely move to a June 1st start - the weather is generally patio-possible by then - and I would suggest a January 1st closure, allowing it to be a destination for both holiday season activities/shopping and New Year's Eve, both of which fall before *most* of our winter snow. A slightly more conservative option might be to have it open daily until Thanksgiving weekend or Remembrance Day and then weekends to New Year's , but I think that would be a big missed opportunity. The City has often highlighted its goal to become more of a "winter city" and this is the lowest of the low-hanging fruit in that regard. It would be excellent to look at what other cities have done - Edmonton has year-round patios in -30!. Specifically, some really creative things could be done with heating - it'd be great to see some public firepits, as other cities do in winter.
8 months ago
Busker/Street Performer (festival or support)
There were a number of pop-up events and local street performers this year, but they were not highlighted or advertised effectively. It may have been because of COVID restrictions. In the future, I think street performers and buskers should be better supported, possibly with a festival of sorts. I know this happens in other cities waterfronts (Halifax)
8 months ago
Close Duckworth past Prescott where the shops actually are
The Duckworth closure this year didn't make much sense because there aren't very many shops south of Prescott. All the lively activity is north of it, seems to me it would make a lot more sense to close Duckworth on that side. And food trucks please!
8 months ago
Unique Duckworth event: Murals+art installations+decorative lighting the LENGTH OF DUCKWORTH.Music performances.Organized by a pro not city.
City needs professional help to undo damage to Duckworth caused by Mall project. No more empty promises and last minute ineffectual, false "inclusion". REAL SIGNS, at least 2 big ones located within Water Street Mall that NAME businesses in Duckworth area and display info about their services/products/menus, and location of Duckworth art installations and murals, and a MAP of all this. Please don't fail us again, contract this out. You have $180, 000 for it (which was used to create unhelpful random road blocks on Duckworth this year, instead of a well planned successful event) PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HELP!
8 months ago
Hop-on Hop-off transportation
While I recognize the length of the pedestrian mall is less than 1km, I feel like some sort of Hop-on Hop-off transportation that would drive back & forth at a low speed, through the centre of the mall would be attractive to anyone who has mobility issues, young children, etc. I don't necessarily mean a large bus either, I see something smaller, similar to an old street car where stepping on/off might be quick and easy.
Public Survey
Downtown Business Survey
Who's Listening
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Supervisor, Events and Services
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Phone 576-8219 Email dhanlon@stjohns.ca