Would Moncton's Main St. work as a pedestrian mall?
Published Monday May 9th, 2011
Some say closing off Main would liven up downtown, while others argue it is impractical
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By Colin McPhail
Times And Transcript Staff
As a warm summer breeze gently brushes your cheek, you nurse a cold, perspiring glass and watch passing shoppers while you enjoy no traffic, no smoking and the sun beating down on the street patio.
GREG AGNEW/TIMES & TRANSCRIPT
Many have long suggested that creating a pedestrian mall on Main Street in Moncton would liven up the downtown.
Where is this place? Could it be Main Street, Moncton?
This relaxing imagery is brought to you by those who feel transforming a portion of Main Street into a summertime pedestrian mall would offer a lively bar and restaurant scene, with shops galore.
The notion, proposed by a variety of parties on many occasions throughout the years, would close down Main from Lutz Street to Assomption Boulevard. There have been a number proposals varying on distance and times of closure, but the potential forerunner would lead to a 10-minute stroll down Main. The pedestrian mall would be home to renowned locations such as the Capitol Theatre, the Moncton Public Library, City Hall and all the bars, restaurants and cafes along the street. Assomption Boulevard and St. George Street would act as major roadways, compensating for the excess traffic.
For anyone who takes a minute to appreciate their surroundings, they would realize Main Street is full of stunning architecture encompassing the point where modernity and history meet. It also plays host to a vibrant social atmosphere that rivals any Atlantic city, especially during street closures for major events.
These major events is what prompted the idea for a permanent closure of Main Street. The desire is to continually replicate the same environment, specifically in the summer months.
Despite its beauty and charm, undertaking an extreme urban planning shift in the downtown core would be a mistake, some say.
According to Louis Léger, president of Downtown Moncton Centre-ville Inc. (DMCI), closing the street to traffic would not be smart for the sake of the downtown core and its 15,000 workers.
"We want more people to come downtown," said Léger. "We want lots of traffic downtown. So, that's a bit of a contradiction to closing downtown permanently.
Heidi Gregoire, manager of Timothy's World Coffee, disagrees and suggests creating a pedestrian mall would be a positive move.
"It would probably bring in different kinds of people, like tourists. I do know, in some places where they have a closed-down road, it brings in more people, there's more things do and there's more events more often. It becomes more open to having stuff like that down here," said Gregoire.
"You would have a little more freedom to walk around open space and not have the disruptions and street noises."
The ability to walk freely and peruse the street at will is an inviting thought. It would, in matter of speaking, create a social community on Main Street, something Melissa Bourbonnais, manager of Mexicali Rosa's, would like to see.
"It would it make Main Street be an actual main street," said Bourbonnais.
"As opposed to right now where it is not sure what it is and a lot of stores are closing down, and I think (closing Main) would bring them back."
The downtown Mexican restaurant is one of the many locations that offer a street patio in the summer, which is quite popular with patrons. She said the ability to expand into the street would do wonders for business.
Her eyes light up at the thought of the new tourist attraction. Her smile faltered slightly, however, with thought of how increased property value would affect her lease, but remained positive the city would not hinder the new development.
"There's always that fine line where they aren't going to break you. They want to keep you there and they want to keep that vibe going."
A small business' ability to cope with the drastic economic change in such markets has long been scrutinized. In similar pedestrian malls, for a variety of reasons, business plummeted forcing the departure of many small businesses.
Another issue in closing down Main Street is the potential traffic and accessibility problems. Roughly 12 per cent of the Metro Moncton population works in the downtown core, not to mention the thousands of citizens who visit Main Street daily. Eliminating 600 metres of a high-traffic street could pose potential problems, including safety issues.
City Councillor Pierre Boudreau cited access issues for police, ambulances and fire trucks at the forefront of the conversation against the pedestrian mall.
"When you're fighting a fire in one of those major buildings, every second - not minute - counts. It's just not one fire truck going down there," said Boudreau.
He believes the city should take more of a permissive attitude in closing down the street and focus primarily on major event closures. He also added how the current planning of a $100-million multi-use centre in the area overshadows any discussion for a pedestrian mall.
Stephen Clerke, manager of Gifts Galore and former DMCI president, said he never wants to see the road closed and cited high traffic as the key to his 26 years of success.
"We choose to be downtown because of its accessibility. Cars come and go very quickly. We have convenient parking on the corner of Lewis and Main that fits 70 cars, so people can run in and get their gift and get out really quick. It's because of that accessibility we are so successful," said Clerke.
"Whatever is in our window tonight is sold the next day and it's because of the hundreds and hundreds of cars that go by downtown. If you have that accessibility taken away from you, you have your business taken away from you as well."
While some citizens and store owners would enjoy closing the street to the city transit buses, Clerke embraces them.
"You want that bus to pull up, full of people, and see your street cafe and say 'hey, I got to go back there and buy their sandwiches there because I just drove by and saw it'. You wouldn't have seen it if that bus didn't come through."
Eliminating traffic would require a complete revamp of the city's transit map as 11 out of the 26 routes travel on this particular section of Main Street.
"You take away that energy," said Clerke in reference to traffic, "you take away the heart and soul of your downtown."
Parking concerns are also prevalent in the discussions. However, Clerke said there's ample parking to support the traffic.
"We have more parking spaces per capita than any city in Canada.
"They are sometimes around the building and you don't see the door, but we have more parking space per capita and anyone who is downtown educated knows of those spaces too."
Stephen Downes of the National Research Council of Canada, despite supporting the pedestrian mall, argued Moncton isn't structured to sustain it at the moment. He described how Moncton's low-density downtown core does not create the financial foundation for a pedestrian mall to flourish.
"City finances typically operate where the high-density core subsidizes the rest of the city. The tax values are higher, the tax returns are much higher and the money that needs to be spent on infrastructure is much lower per capita in a high-density area," said Downes.
"A pedestrian mall in a low-density downtown probably doesn't make sense, but a pedestrian mall in a high-density downtown makes a lot of sense and will provide a better return on investments and better city finances in the long-term."
He said designing the street to be closed in the summer and open to traffic in the winter to be the optimal solution in the short term to support the strong social and entertainment atmosphere.
However, Louis Léger asserted, again, that downtown Moncton is not just a place for entertainment - it's a place of work.
"We have 800 hotel rooms downtown. We have businesses downtown. We have restaurants downtown. It's a place of commerce. It's a place of trade. It's a business centre. Fundamentally, that's what downtown is."
The difference between other Atlantic pedestrian malls, such as Granville Mall (Halifax) and George Street (St. John's, N.L.), is their business cores are located in different sections of the respective cities.
These streets are relatively small and filled with restaurants, bars and specialty shops. Their business core is not hindered by a lack of traffic or accessibility issues. Unfortunately for Moncton, the two cores are intertwined - and, in the eyes of many, mutually beneficial.
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Personally, I would not like to see Main St. close... I Love downtowns with high traffic, lots of city buses (lol), it creates an atmosphere like you see in big cities. Also, I fear that it would become desertic... which means business, shops, restaurants, and everything, gone. Nope, I don't like that idea 
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). I noticed today driving up Mountain Road that the construction site next to Wheaton's is destined to be (wait for it), another strip mall. It's a rather peculiar shaped lot for this, and the plaza will be oriented in an oblique manner, somewhat perpendicular to the street. No idea yet what will actually be in the strip, but there is a for lease sign on the lot, so presumably it is being built at least partially on spec.
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