Parts of Argyle Street in Halifax to close on weekends until October
Halifax's Argyle Street will be closed to vehicles all weekends this summer and that may one day lead to a permanent pedestrian passage, the Downtown Halifax Business Commission says.
Executive director Paul MacKinnon said 2018 was the first full one since a big streetscaping project on Argyle and a pilot closure project for several weekends last summer proved popular.
"The intention was always to make the street easily closable, either for specific events or just on a regular basis on weekends," he said Tuesday.
Argyle Street between Prince and Blowers streets will be pedestrian-only from Fridays at 5 p.m. until Monday at 6 a.m. from June 28 to Sept. 29 — a month longer than last year.
MacKinnon said most businesses felt the closures helped, though a few raised concerns about taxi access and loading issues. MacKinnon said it's only a short walk to a car-friendly street in either direction and most loading issues can be resolved.
He said some cities have found closing streets to traffic actually kills the street's business. He said making streets "easily closable" works well, and perhaps one day Argyle will close to vehicles for the entire summer, or even permanently.
What about Granville?
He noted Granville Street's far end has long been a pedestrian zone, but as it's a dead end it doesn't draw as much traffic. But he said plans to tear down the Cogswell Street Interchange will likely open the street at both ends.
"I could certainly see Granville Mall being reactivated," he said.
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