Open Streets returning to city

THUNDER BAY – The streets of Thunder Bay will be opening up again this year, giving pedestrians, cyclists, runners, and shoppers free reign over the asphalt. 

The Open Streets initiative will be returning with three separate programs in 2017 with the help of a $25,000 grant from the Ontario 150 Community Celebration Program. The one time grant is offered through the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and Sport for celebrations commemorating Canada and Ontario’s 150^th anniversary.

Open Street events, held in cities around the world, close public streets to all vehicular traffic and open them to pedestrian traffic.

Ashley Priem, program coordinator with EcoSuperior, said Open Street events are designed to promote physical and mental health by providing opportunities for active living, social interaction, community building, and reducing the number of vehicles on city roads for an afternoon.

EcoSuperior has hosted three Open Street events in Thunder Bay in 2014 and 2015. The first event saw the closure of Algoma Street from John Street to Boulevard Lake for five hours. More than 3,000 people participated in various events including sports, arts and crafts, dancing, and shopping at local businesses.

“There was an overwhelmingly positive response in terms of the public that participated in the event, but also the business community,” Priem said. “The businesses that stayed open during open streets really saw a dramatic increase in sales from the day and repeat customers as well.”

Priem said Open Streets will be seeking other forms of funding, with the hopes of raising an additional $25,000 for the 2017 programs.

“The funding will give us enough of a kickstart to organize three programs,” she said. “We will definitely be looking to the community for sponsors and other financial support to help this go.”

“There are different factors you can incorporate to reduce costs, but we would like to do a best practices Open Street so that would be a minimum five kilometer route,” Priem added.

The location and date of the Open Streets programs have not been determined yet. Priem said past events held in September worked really well and they may look to early autumn again to avoid competing with other events in the summer months.   

While funding from the city is not being sought this year, Priem said with the success of Open Streets in the past, she is hoping funding may be made available from the city to support the future of the program.

“We did some evaluation during the event and we know that it was well attended and we know there is a lot of support for having more programs,” she said. “I think in terms of the future of open streets programs, really successful programs in other communities are funded by the city, and that is something I think we need to look at in the future.”