Ottawa's Byward Market

[TransitZilla]

Originally Posted by j.ot13

what i'm most excited about is the prospect of a re-configured rideau/sussex/mackenzie/colonel by. What dreadful pedestrian experience that is today. It's high-time the city and ncc get to work on that mess.

+1

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

...

What I'm most excited about is the prospect of a re-configured Rideau/Sussex/Mackenzie/Colonel By. What dreadful pedestrian experience that is today. It's high-time the City and NCC get to work on that mess.

If it were up to me, I'd attach a glass winter garden to the side of the temporary Senate building.

[Requin]

Looks like bars and restaurants in the market might see their hours of operation reduced.

Josh Pringle, CTV News on July 15
https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/last-call-...ight-1.5024824

Last call on patios at bars and restaurants in the ByWard Market could be two hours earlier, starting this weekend.

Councillor Mathieu Fleury will introduce a motion at Council today to require patios in the ByWard Market to stop serving at 12 a.m. instead of 2 a.m. during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fleury says the motion is being presented after a recommendation from Ottawa Public Health and Ottawa Bylaw and Regulatory Services.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Requin

Looks like bars and restaurants in the market might see their hours of operation reduced.

Josh Pringle, CTV News on July 15
https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/last-call-...ight-1.5024824

That should have been the case from the get-go. Good that they will make that change on the same day as Stage 3.

[rocketphish]

ByWard Market grocers feel forgotten as city prioritizes patios over parking
Traffic congestion, confusion keeping customers away, owners say

Laura Glowacki · CBC News
Posted: Aug 07, 2020 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: August 7



Some ByWard Market grocers say the city's strategy to help restaurants and bars survive the COVID-19 pandemic is also deterring customers from visiting their shops.

Isaac Farbiasz, who owns ByWard Fruit Market with his wife, blames the "severe downturn" squarely on the city's decision to allow bars and restaurants to expand patio space into parking spaces and to reroute streets to accommodate other street closures.

Farbiasz said food sales along ByWard Market Square had previously been strong during the pandemic, around the time businesses pivoted to curbside pickup and deliveries.

Several nearby stores even got together and co-ordinated deliveries in the spring, allowing customers to buy products like cheese, produce, fish and meat on the same order.

"It was nuts," said Farbiasz. "We were all incredibly busy and really stressed out."

But starting in July, business began to slow down dramatically. Farbiasz estimates revenue is now down about 25 per cent compared to the same time last year.

Starting July 16, the city closed William Street from George to York streets, ByWard Market Square from York to Clarence streets, Clarence Street from William to Dalhousie streets and the north side of York Street from Byward Market Square to Sussex Drive.

ByWard Market Square was also converted to southbound traffic to offset the York Street closure.

Farbiasz said the plan has led to both traffic congestion and driver confusion.

"That has completely screwed up traffic. Customers are saying, 'We're not coming down here, it's impossible. Can't park. Can't drive,'" said Farbiasz.

While many customers can do their shopping on foot, not everyone wants or is able to lug groceries several blocks to their car.

John Diener, owner of Saslove's Meat Market, said his family-run business has also seen a 25 per cent drop in sales, compared to the same time in 2019.

Diener wants the city to better promote the hundreds of parking spaces in garages in the ByWard Market, which remain fairly vacant even while streets are clogged with cars.

"There's a garage almost right at our doorstep that has several levels of parking," he said. "There is a lot of parking. People just don't necessarily see it."

Diener said he also wants the city to make parking free at municipal garages in the market, similar to how drivers weren't charged for parking at Ottawa City Hall on evenings and weekends during the construction on Elgin Street.

Laila Gibbons, director of roads and parking services at the city, said in an email the ability to convert parking spots to patios has been available since 2017.

While there's a "natural period of driver adjustment" when changes are made to roads, the city has installed wayfinding signs to help drivers navigate the market, she said.

Gibbons also said the city isn't exploring the idea of making parking garages free, but it has been promoting the neighbourhood's two municipal garages on social media and with street signs.

Both garages are operating at about half their capacity, she said.

Diener said another option could involve allowing parking during the day and converting the spaces to patios after 4 p.m., when most shoppers are home and the diners come out.

The city had previously said it expects street closures and patios to remain in place in the ByWard Market until the end of September.

"I understand how necessary [the city's patio plan] was for the restaurants, who really took a big hit for three months being almost totally closed. Certainly something drastic had to be done to help them," said Diener, whose butcher shop is the only one remaining in the ByWard Market.

"But unfortunately, it has impacted the retailers who were operating during the day," he added. "I think they've forgotten that retail, especially retail food, was what the market was founded on."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...emic-1.5677001

[zzptichka]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

"That has completely screwed up traffic. Customers are saying, 'We're not coming down here, it's impossible. Can't park. Can't drive,'" said Farbiasz.

While many customers can do their shopping on foot, not everyone wants or is able to lug groceries several blocks to their car.

What's he talking about? It was never possible to find a spot on the market. You'd still end up walking a few blocks, after circling several laps trying to find a spot.

[lrt's friend]

How many vendors have actually opened at the Byward market this summer? I spoke to one vendor who didn't bother to open his stall in the market and also at Parkdale. He suggested that only a couple vendors opened. He also said that he has had his best year ever without the stalls. Not a good sign for the future.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

How many vendors have actually opened at the Byward market this summer? I spoke to one vendor who didn't bother to open his stall in the market and also at Parkdale. He suggested that only a couple vendors opened. He also said that he has had his best year ever without the stalls. Not a good sign for the future.

The vendors are not there, by and large, but the issue is wrt the food stores. However, since fresh food in the Market has been in decline for decades, I don't know that it makes much difference. Personally, I've never seen any problem in parking in one of the garages and picking up things in the food stores.

[Kitchissippi]

These grocers are still under the delusion that suburbanites would drive to the Byward Market specifically to buy food regularly. They should realize that future of their clientele is in the growing number of condo owners who walk, and people choosing to take transit or bike from the surrounding neighbourhoods.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by Kitchissippi

These grocers are still under the delusion that suburbanites would drive to the Byward Market specifically to buy food regularly. They should realize that future of their clientele is in the growing number of condo owners who walk, and people choosing to take transit or bike from the surrounding neighbourhoods.

Has that been a thing since the Dominion closed? What's that, 35 years ago?

[lrt's friend]

The bigger problem is the exodus of downtown workers during the pandemic. That is a loss of potential customers at lunch time and at the end of the day.

My grandparents used to drive to Byward to buy food back in the 60s. That was about the end of that.

[rocketphish]

The Byward Market Public Realm Plan is going before Council next week:
https://app05.ottawa.ca/sirepub/mtgv...&itemid=405537

Latest plan (Oct 2020)

[J.OT13]

City mulls $129M plan to revitalize ByWard Market with pedestrian plazas, new marquee building

OBJ Staff
November 30, 2020



A $129-million plan that would see pedestrian plazas set up along major ByWard Market streets and a “destination building” replace the Clarence Street parking garage will go before a city committee on Tuesday.

The ByWard Market Public Realm Plan is the latest attempt to breathe new life into the historic downtown neighbourhood.

According to a city report, the latest proposal aims to be a “roadmap” for reimagining the Market as a more walkable, less traffic-congested neighbourhood.

“The vision set by the Public Realm Plan imagines a network of inspiring public places for pedestrians where residents and visitors will linger, relax, and explore this unique food market and heritage district,” says the staff report.

“A key goal of the Public Realm Plan is to shift the perception of the Market from a vehicular-oriented space to one where pedestrians come first.”

The plan calls for six “big moves” to reinvigorate the area’s streets and public spaces. Among them are proposals to create large “pedestrian promenades” on the north side of York, George and Clarence streets, build a permanent pedestrian corridor along William Street that links Clarence Street with the Rideau Centre and construct a new “destination building” and civic square on what is now the site of a municipal parking garage at 70 Clarence St.

Economic recovery working group

Staff are also urging the city to create a working group that would recommend “more nuanced and targeted economic recovery initiatives” for businesses in the Market.

The group would include representatives from the city as well as Ottawa Markets, the not-for-profit entity that now manages the district, the ByWard Market BIA, the National Capital Commission and other organizations.

The report says the plan would be financed through a mix of funding from various levels of government, public-private partnerships and “leveraging asset management funding where practicable.”

In comments attached to the report, Rideau-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury, whose ward includes the Market, says the plan won’t solve all the area’s problems but will lay the groundwork for a more family- and tourist-friendly neighbourhood.

“There is no doubt this aims to be a comprehensive plan that will leave no stone untouched in the ByWard Market area,” he says. “Most importantly, this plan establishes a vision and, moving forward, guiding principles.”

The plan’s crown jewel would be a new “York Street Flex Plaza” that would stretch from Sussex Drive to ByWard Market Square. The report says the plaza would form part of a “grand promenade” linking Lowertown with the rest of the neighbourhood, framed by “tall arching trees” and incorporating “a beautiful, unifying paving pattern, public art, safe crosswalks (and) moveable seating.”

The report is recommending the city seek funding from other levels of government to launch a $1.5-million detailed design study for the York Street project.

Staff also want the city to study the business case for redeveloping the municipal parking garage at 70 Clarence St. into a low-rise structure, but the plan stops short of proposing any specific uses for the property. To replace those 289 parking spaces and the loss of other curbside parking, the report proposes that the city partner with private developers to build new lots on properties near the Market.

City staff have spent two years drawing up the plan. According to the report, more than 2,300 people offered feedback during the consultation process, which also sought input from organizations such as the ByWard Market BIA, the Ottawa Board of Trade, Ottawa Tourism and the NCC.

A new plan to revitalize the Market has been near the top of council’s list of long-term priorities for the past several years.



Pilot projects

The city owns the central market building at 55 ByWard Market Square, which is fully leased and home to about two dozen merchants, and the parking garage and retail space at 70 Clarence St. While hundreds of farmers and artisans are still licensed to sell their products in the Market, the number of licensed vendors who actually peddle goods there has been on the decline for years.

In 2018, Ottawa Markets took over the management of the ByWard and Parkdale Markets from the city in the hope that a private operator would draw more visitors to the site and bring a more entrepreneurial approach to livening up retail districts that had become tired.

The city has since launched a series of pilot projects aimed at curbing vehicle traffic in the Market.

Last year, Ottawa Markets converted William Street between York and George streets into a pedestrian plaza, while the city closed curbside lanes on Clarence Street between Parent Avenue and Dalhousie Street to parking during the summer ​– moves it said drew a favourable reaction from residents.

Meanwhile, stretches of several major streets, including William Street, ByWard Market Square and York Street, were closed to vehicles this summer and fall.

According to the report, most of the Market’s core roads – including ByWard Market Square, Clarence Street, George Street and York Streets – would remain open to two-way traffic under the new plan. About seven and a half acres of city-owned space along Clarence, George, William and York streets that’s now dedicated to cars would be “reclaimed and assigned for pedestrian use.”

The city’s finance and economic development committee will consider the report at its meeting on Tuesday.

https://obj.ca/article/local/city-mu...rquee-building

[acottawa]

Is there an overhead map/diagram of the final plan?

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by acottawa

Is there an overhead map/diagram of the final plan?

This is October 2019, so maybe not the final, but pretty close.

Page 49 is the closest thing to a overhead map without overlays like transportation or lighting plans. That I've seen at least.

https://mathieufleury.ca/wp-content/...UBLIC3-v10.pdf

[kwoldtimer]

I'm struck by the similarity of what's proposed to some blue-skying I did with an Ottawa councillor about 25 years ago. His reaction was "we're not there yet". It seems that, a quarter of a century later, we may be getting there. Although I wait to see what impact the inevitable cost-cutting will have.

[rocketphish]

Next design plan for 'sad' ByWard Market would bring design competition to key gateway intersection
The finance and economic development committee endorsed the latest plan to improve the ByWard Market's public areas.

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Dec 01, 2020 • Last Updated 13 hours ago • 2 minute read



A national design competition should be held for an overhauled public space at the intersection of Rideau Street, Colonel By Drive and Sussex Drive to complement a $129.1-million facelift to the ByWard Market, a committee decided Tuesday.

The finance and economic development committee endorsed the latest plan to improve the ByWard Market’s public areas. So far, there’s no funding to turn the vision into reality. The city will largely rely on other levels of government to provide money and private sector investments.

The high-profile Rideau-Colonel By-Sussex intersection needs to be reconfigured since the southbound ramp from Rideau Street to Colonel By Drive divides the public space, which currently has a pedestrian underpass. The general idea is to make the area a well-designed public space while improving the pedestrian and cycling network around the intersection.

Before the design competition is launched in partnership with the National Capital Commission, the city would need to begin a traffic study in 2021 and send the results to city council’s transportation committee. The traffic study and design competition would cost about $400,000. There is no cost identified to build a winning project produced by the design competition.

The public realm plan unanimously approved by the committee calls for vast improvements in the Market, including wide pedestrian promenades, more trees and the creation of a central “destination building” where a municipal parking garage exists today.

The plan separates projects into priorities for the short term (up to two years), medium term (three-10 years) and the long term (11 years or more). The Rideau-Colonel By-Sussex transformation is eyed as a medium-term project.

Many of the deputations at the committee meeting criticized the current state of the Market.

Steve Ball, president of the Ottawa Gatineau Hotel Association, read feedback from one ByWard Market visitor who enjoyed a hotel, but lamented that it was in “a sad area”.

Ball said the city should set 2026 and the Market’s 200th anniversary as the deadline for making big improvements to the top tourist destination.

Mayor Jim Watson agreed that the anniversary gives the city a goal to work toward.

While there have been numerous studies over the years on how to improve the Market, Watson said the latest one brings projects that are achievable because they can happen in increments.

Watson said the Market needs to have more local fresh food vendors.

“It just can’t be a place for restaurants and bars and shops. It has to go back to its roots,” Watson said.

The design plan drew skepticism from one councillor.

Coun. Carol Anne Meehan said the city must address social issues, such as panhandling, before talking about infrastructure upgrades in the Market.

Coun. Mathieu Fleury, who represents the Market area, said the city needs to be “hyper-focused” on issues of housing, addictions and mental health.

Fleury lauded the plan for attracting a buy-in from several stakeholders, including the surrounding residential community and business groups.

Council will be asked to approve the public realm plan on Dec. 9.

jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...y-intersection

[J.OT13]

For the Rideau/Wellington/Mackenzie/Sussex/Colonel By intersection, it seems to me that we would need to know the following before launching a competition:

1. The STO's tram option (surface or tunnel);
2. Loop or no loop;
3. Street (or former rail tunnel) which a loop would use to get to Alexandra Bridge;
4. Mods to that street to accommodate trams, including possibility of removing cars;
5. Alexandra Bridge - with or without car traffic.

These wild card factors will have a major impact on the needs for that intersection and until they've been figured out, there's little we could do without compromising the loop options or needing yet another complete re-design/re-build in the very near future.

[eltodesukane]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

... the city should set 2026 and the Market’s 200th anniversary as the deadline for making big improvements to the top tourist destination.

Canada 150th would have been a better deadline...

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

For the Rideau/Wellington/Mackenzie/Sussex/Colonel By intersection, it seems to me that we would need to know the following before launching a competition:

1. The STO's tram option (surface or tunnel);
2. Loop or no loop;
3. Street (or former rail tunnel) which a loop would use to get to Alexandra Bridge;
4. Mods to that street to accommodate trams, including possibility of removing cars;
5. Alexandra Bridge - with or without car traffic.

These wild card factors will have a major impact on the needs for that intersection and until they've been figured out, there's little we could do without compromising the loop options or needing yet another complete re-design/re-build in the very near future.

Don't we already know that the new Alexandra Bridge will carry two lanes of traffic?