St. Johns Street is closing.
Relax, commuters, it’s only for one day — a Sunday, no less.
And you have a month to prepare.
Breathe.
But the sheer terror and anguish the prospect of closing Port Moody’s main thoroughfare might put into the hearts of motorists is the point of the city’s first Car-Free Day, to be held Aug. 20, said Mayor Mike Clay.
“It needs to be a significant statement,” Clay said. “It’s important you don’t just close a side street down.”
The event, between Moody and Douglas streets from noon to 7 p.m., will give residents a chance to reclaim the road from the incessant drone of passing traffic by listening to live music from artists such as Greg Drummond and The Rhythm Method, enjoy family activities like rock climbing and street hockey, check out bike skills and safety zone, eat food from local restaurants and wash it down with beer from the nearby Brewers Row at a beer garden at the Queens Street plaza.
The irony that many residents and visitors might end up driving down to enjoy the car-free festivities isn’t lost on Clay. But it doesn’t have to be that way, he said.
The arrival of SkyTrain through Port Moody’s downtown has also brought with it better and more frequent bus service. The city is working to improve its network of bike lanes, like the extension of the one on nearby Murray Street to improve its link to the Moody Street overpass. And there’s always walking.
“We live in a car-centred society,” Clay said. “We need to take the steps to get away from that.”
Closing a main road, even for a day on a weekend, is one of those steps.
“It’s not a huge impact,” he said. “But it’s enough to say something is going on here.”
Celia Chiang, the president of Shop Local Port Moody, said Car-Free Day is a great way for businesses to showcase themselves.
“With St. Johns so busy a lot of the time, people just drive by, so shutting it down and having people meander around and discover those businesses is going to be awesome,” said Chiang, who’s in the process of alerting members of her group about the event.
Clay, who said he has attended car-free days in various Vancouver neighbourhoods, said the time is right for Port Moody to embrace the concept, especially as the Moody Centre area is poised for explosive growth that will bring thousands of new residents, many of them migrants from the big city looking to replicate their urban lifestyle that allows them to live, work and shop locally without relying on a car.
“They’ll see this is a walkable community,” Clay said. “It slows everybody’s pace of life a bit.”
• For more information about Car-Free Day, including a map showing the closure and alternate driving routes, as well as a link for businesses and organizations that want to get involved, go to www.portmoody.ca/carfreeday.
