'A non-starter for me': Partridge opposed to temporary street closures in Waterdown

After Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger floated the idea of closing downtown streets to temporarily pedestrianize" the roadways, potentially including Waterdown, Ward 15 Coun. Judi Partridge said she has not had any kind of a conversation with staff about it.

In fact, I think staff would be quite surprised to hear that was even being considered," she said of Waterdown, which was mentioned by Eisenberger. There's just no way you could shut down Dundas Street in Waterdown - not with the volume of traffic and all the other construction we've got going on."

However, Dundas Street has been closed in the core for weekend events in the recent past, including for Waterdown ArtsFest in 2018 and the Waterdown Arts and Music Streetfest in 2014.

Partridge said she doesn't think the closures were very popular with retailers in the core.

Parking is already at a minimum and to make it tougher for customers to get to the stores in downtown Waterdown, that's just a non-starter for me, absolutely."

Partridge said she thinks the mention of Waterdown was made to include the community in overall city plans.

I think the reality of it is pretty slim to none."

Speaking at the Oct. 20 general issues committee meeting, Eisenberger said it has long been his desire to create a circumstance where we can pedestrianize streets in our city for a period of time."

Eisenberger asked staff to come back with a recommendation on where a street or collection of streets might be pedestrianized" temporarily - primarily on weekends - to provide more activity for businesses in the surrounding area.

I'm thinking of Concession Street, I'm thinking of downtown Waterdown, potentially - a number of areas where we could give people back those streets for a limited period of time," he said.

The motion passed 11-1 with Ward 12 Coun. Lloyd Ferguson strongly opposed."

Flamborough Chamber of Commerce executive director Matteo Patricelli said although the thought of a pedestrian area of shops is an attractive one, typically they are in areas that do not affect traffic flow, or where sufficient bypasses are available.

In Waterdown's case, I'm not sure how easy that would be to achieve, although I would be interested in the possibilities," he said.

Partridge said the design of Waterdown makes the closure of downtown streets impractical.

In terms of closing one of the side streets in the core, Partridge said as part of her work with the BIA she has spoken with retailers on Main Street and the majority of the businesses they spoke to were not in favour of it.

Waterdown Village BIA executive director Susan Pennie said the situation is in its preliminary stages and the BIA has not been approached by the city about any study or for its position.

When Dundas Street was closed for ArtsFest, the reaction was mixed.

Some people really liked it, others had a much more difficult time getting across town and specific businesses did not love it," said Pennie. But it depends on what is proposed."

Pennie noted, in general, a balanced approach for the downtown would be needed and resident concerns, as well as fire and emergency access, would need to be factored in. She added the BIA and its member businesses would expect to be consulted on any plan or study about closing streets in the core.

From the BIA (standpoint) the more walkable our community is, the more people that we can get out and walking around, that's always a bonus; it makes for a more vibrant community," she said. But that has to be balanced with what are our unique characteristics and what are those challenges we have?"

STORY BEHIND THE STORY: After the city's general issues committee passed a motion asking staff to look at temporarily closing downtown streets to create temporary pedestrian malls, including in Waterdown, the Review reached out to stakeholders to get their thoughts on the possibility.