Bernard Avenue in Kelowna, B.C. may close sooner this year – Okanagan | 24CA News
During the summer time months, Kelowna, B.C. is filled with vacationers and companies within the downtown core see an enormous uptick in prospects.
Since 2020, on Canada Day, Bernard Avenue has been closing to vehicular site visitors, permitting extra folks to discover the downtown core on foot.
Meet Me on Bernard has turn out to be a yearly custom in Kelowna, nevertheless, it’d begin earlier this 12 months.
“The city staff from the event department at the city did a whole bunch of engagement, talked to the people around. What they’ve come up with is to only propose for the May long weekend on for the 200 block to be closed,” stated Mark Burley, govt director of the Downtown Kelowna Association.
City council will likely be requested to approve the early closure for that one downtown block on Monday.
For companies within the 300 to 500 block of Bernard between Water and St. Paul streets, whereas the highway will stay open to autos till July 1st, they are going to have the selection to increase operations early through the use of the parking spots in entrance of their retailer.
“I think that it will definitely bring more people walking around on the streets and you know might bring more people in rather than just the cars driving by,” stated Averie Blais, barista at Bean Scene Coffee Works.
For new eating places like La Vela Pizzeria, they hope it is going to enhance their buyer base.
“I think it’s great for especially restaurants. We’ll have more space with our patio to extend out to the parking stalls. I don’t see a problem with it but people have their opinions about it,” stated Nav Sandhu, supervisor of La Vela Pizzeria.
Although it’s not obligatory for companies to participate till July, retail shops within the downtown core have combined emotions in regards to the avenue not being accessible by car for months.
“For retail, people are just going to walk in the middle of the street, they’re not really gonna check out the stores as much as they would if they were on the sidewalk, they look in a window and they’re like, ‘Oh, cool pet store,’” stated Andrea Dagraca supervisor of Social Pets.
However, shoe retailer ABco says nearly all of their business comes from these strolling the avenue.
“The sooner the better for us, we’ll have a lot more eyes and a lot more foot traffic in the store. We would like as many people as we possibly can,” stated ABco inventory supervisor Elio Spadavecchia.
The Downtown Kelowna Association says it’s been working with metropolis employees on this proposal since final 12 months, together with participating with business homeowners.
“The city events department has done a phenomenal job of mapping out the yes for Meet Me on Bernard, the no and the maybes. It’s been done really well, there’s lots of information for city council to just affirm what we’ve been doing for the last three years or to change it however they wish,” stated Burley.
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