Downtown Brampton could be getting a huge makeover. As the Region of Peel prepares to replace water mains in the city’s core, they’ll also be giving the area a much-needed face lift.

At a late February open house, designs were presented for a remodeled downtown streetscape. One design in particular could see parts of downtown become completely pedestrian-only zones.

The other end of the spectrum staff were considering do nothing with downtown and just proceeding with the water main replacement as planned. In all they considered six different options.

1 of 5

Alternative 1– Close all lanes to traffic and designate Queen Street and/or Main Street for pedestrians only, similar to Manhattan’s Broadway.

Alternative 2 – Add parking to the shoulder of one side of the street, leaving room for bike lanes on both sides of the street and a single lane for traffic on each side.Option 3A would add bike lanes to both sides of the road, keep two middle lanes for traffic and eliminate on-street parking all together.

Alternative 3A and 3B – Allow curbside parking with the option to allow for flexible uses like a street furniture, patios and street market booths. 3A would have flexible street parking on one side of the street, while 3B would have it on both sides.

Alternative 4 – Remove city parking and designate all four lanes for traffic.

City staff looked at pedestrian and cyclist safety, traffic impact, maintenance, cost and a few other things as part of the decision-making process.

Moving forward they’ll consider alternative 1 (pedestrian-only roads), alternative 2 (bike lanes, no parking, two traffic lanes) and 3A (one side for flexible street parking and two lanes)

The city is set to complete environmental studies by April and work to implement the chosen design soon after Peel Region starts construction on water mains in the summer.

Residents can offer feedback to city staff here.

Which option do you like best? Do you think downtown should go completely pedestrian only? Let us know in the comments.

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