While it may not be a familiar term to most in Canada, let alone Guelph, councillors have approved a study to bring a woonerf to the city.

Woonerf, which translates to living yard from Dutch, is a street where pedestrians take priority and vehicles are secondary. Guelph already has a woonerf of sorts, with Carden Street in front of city hall. Now, staff are being tasked to explore the possibility of doing the same thing on a residential street.

Coun. Bob Bell, who said such a concept could have many uses, brought the proposal to Tuesday’s committee of the whole meeting.

“A woonerf allows a space to be used in multiple ways — a space for kids to play, a laneway for delivery trucks, just to name a few,” he said when introducing the motion.

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While no specific streets were identified in the initial proposal, residents from one street, New Street, a small residential route nestled between Arthur Street North and Queen Street, came to council to say they would be willing to be the guinea pig for Guelph’s residential woonerf experiment.

Cas Herold, a New Street resident, says that the street is in need of new asphalt, and that the city could tackle two issues by having the woonerf pilot there.

“It’s not just in need of repair, it’s really disintegrating,” he said.

“Almost certainly, a lot of work is going to have to be done on it, and our suggestion is that you try to kill two birds with one stone and get some repairs done.”

Staff later commented that New Street is currently not on the city’s 10-year plan for street paving.

Another resident on the street, Green party of Ontario leader Mike Schreiner, also spoke in favour of having a woonerf on New.