We're one week into the Water Street closure, and lots about it in the news today as I sip my coffee. I think it's worth reflecting on what's working and what could be tweaked to make it better and more inclusive. Waiting or a contractor to show at my house = thread time! (1/19)

First, and foremost: this is fantastic. My partner and I were strolling it and bumping into friends, and the conversation was usually something like "this is a dream come true" and "it should stay like this!" (more on that point later). Spaces for people, hey? (2/19)

You know the feeling I get, walking down there? It's relief. Relief from feeling squeezed onto narrow sidewalks, relief from dodging cars, relief from these months of lockdown. Standing in the middle of Water and looking around, 80% of that space was for cars. Bananas. (3/19)

Making this happen took a lot of courage on council's part, given the attitudes we have about cars and driving in this city. Now, 1 week later I was cooking my breakfast and listening to grumbles on the @sjmorningshow from business owners outside the zone who want in! (4/19)

The businesses on the street are really investing in infrastructure down there - to be honest, more than I thought they would! Extending the timeline to September definitely the right call. Every time I walk by, something new being put up. (5/19)

This whole thing came together fast, and it sometimes feels that way - a little bit improvised. That's not a bad thing, I think, especially if there's room for adjustments as we go along. The biggest one there is clearly around accessibility. (6/19)

If you haven't yet, check out @AccessYyt 's important thread from yesterday highlighting the many barriers folks with disabilities will experience on Water Street right now. I'm 100% not an expert on the design solutions here, but there are a few obvious ones (7/19)

First, ramps from sidewalk to street. Lots of 'em! One of the big pleasures of pedestrianized Water St is being able to cris-cross it, but folks in mobility devices don't have that option at the moment. Especially important since businesses are expanding out into sidewalks (8/19)

Re: ramps, maybe @DowntownStJohns could do bright colour wooden ones to match with the street furniture? The pedestrian zone is 4 blocks long, say 10 ramps per block (5 per side) and you're at 40 ramps which are fairly simple to build I would think. (9/19)

I would imagine it's a bit more complex when it comes to ramps from sidewalks into businesses, though a few stores already have been using those small ramps for that purpose. Lots of folks from the inclusive design community who can advise on this I'm sure! (10/19)

The other one that occurs to me would be accessible washrooms - some otherwise inaccessible businesses might become accessible (at least their patios could be), but washrooms likely won't be - putting some portable accessible ones out might be a solution? (11/19)

Outside of accessibility, I can think of a few minor tweaks design-wise that would be nice. The orange safety rails being used to block the streets aren't the nicest things - I wonder if there could be some planter boxes on wheels used instead? (12/19)

Also, wayfinding! Lots of good opportunities for more signage to direct people around, and there's definitely an opportunity for more signage to direct folks who are driving down into the parking garages. (13/19)

Thinking about the feedback I was hearing on the radio this morning, I also have to wonder whether a full or partial closure on some of Duckworth could be added? (14/19)

It'd be hard to fully close the portion of Duckworth running West from Church Hill to New Gower but maybe it could go to one lane/one way with the other lane (with Piatto, etc) for patios? That's where most of the restaurants are, and the Sprout already has one anyhow. (15/19)

Looking the other way, one of the original proposals had the pedestrian mall including the stretch of Duckworth from Prescott to King's Rd closed off - seems like that might be a logical addition. Seems to me that it's still early enough in this experiment to expand it. (16/19)

Closing parts of Duckworth plus some better signage to the parking garages and lots could also help train people to use them! Still no signage on the (many) private lots to show that they are available to public evenings and weekends. (17/19)

Okay, my contractor is here, one last thought: we should think seriously about keeping this going into fall/winter at least. Imagine doing your Xmas shopping on a pedestrian Water St, with some lights hung across it and hot drinks for sale? Dreamy. (18/19)

Anyhow, it's just so exciting to see this city starting to take advantage of the public spaces that are right at the heart of it. Dassit! (19/19)

Okay, one more thing I didn't mention but love: the quiet! Until they're gone you don't really realize how earsplitting cars often made Water Street, especially in summer with motorcycles + classic cars all cruising and echoing off the buildings. It was physically tiring at times