Vancouver testing two-way traffic on Cordova while limiting Gastown car-free days to once weekly

The City of Vancouver will open up a stretch of Cordova Street to two-way traffic later this month, as a significantly scaled back version of the Water Street pedestrian zone is set to return for the summer.

Starting May 25, Cordova between Gore Avenue and Columbia Street will no longer be one-way eastbound, a move the city says aims to improve vehicle access during Gastown’s pedestrian-only days.

The city first tested a car-free zone on Water Street last summer, closing a few blocks to traffic through July and August.

The feedback was largely positive, according to the city’s post-mortem report, with 84 per cent of survey respondents saying they had a good experience visiting the pedestrian zone and want it to return. Water Street saw a 35 per cent increase in foot traffic overall during the two-month trial.

Gastown businesses, however, came back with mixed reviews. At the time, some owners reported a sharp decline in customers and called for the pedestrian project to be shut down.

The city’s report says 59 per cent of businesses who responded to their survey supported the pedestrian zone’s return, while 35 per cent did not.

“Those who did not support the pilot felt that Pedestrian Zone decreased the sense of safety in the neighbourhood, discouraged local and regional customers due to more limited vehicle access, and led to a decrease in business revenue,” the report reads.

Based on the feedback, council decided in the fall to pedestrianize Water Street again in 2025, but only on the weekends. Additional adjustments in the new plan included making Cordova a two-way street to help vehicle circulation.

Then in February, councillors voted unanimously to further scale back the car-free zone to exclusively on Sundays, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Some speakers at the meeting felt that a small group of businesses had an outsized influence on the decision, given that the public was largely favourable about the project, and noted issues with Water Street being a commuter corridor, while business owners expressed frustration at drops in revenue during the road closure, difficulty in receiving deliveries or getting picked up in a taxi, and safety concerns among staff.

At the time, Coun. Pete Fry called the amendment for Sundays only a “thoughtful compromise,” and Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung said the vision to make Gastown more people-focused is still alive, but it’s hard to please everybody and it will take time for all the pieces to come together.

In addition to hopefully speeding up traffic around Gastown, the city says two-waying Cordova Street will “provide valuable insights into a potential future expansion to the Powell Street overpass.”

Work is currently underway to convert Cordova Street before the change in two weeks. Sometime in late September, the road is expected to return to a one-way street. The “Water Street Pedestrian Zone Sundays” start June 15 and end after the Labour Day long weekend.