COVID-19: City of Peterborough engages public on 2020 temporary changes in downtown – Peterborough

The City of Peterborough is reviewing the experiences had by residents and businesses during the temporary public space changes made in the downtown core from June to October 2020.

Those changes included reducing lanes on George and Water streets to accommodate more patio and sidewalk space for physical distancing during the summer and early fall months of the coronavirus pandemic.

During that period, the city had installed white plastic bollards along the streets to add the increased sidewalk space, which in some parts reduced traffic lanes to one, created two temporary one-way streets, and removed some on-street parking.

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Bye bye Peterborough bollards

Those changes were made in consultation with Peterborough Public Health and the Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA).

As part of the planning for the changes to support public health measures that were put in place by the province, the city considered priorities including vehicle, pedestrian and cycling traffic, business activity including patios, parking and accessibility.

The online survey, which opened Monday, asks 11 questions, including what activities residents did in the downtown during that period, what mode of transportation was used to travel through the area, and if they thought the measures were adequate for physical distancing, cycling and vehicle traffic.

The contributions from the public consultation, including comments provided through the survey, will be presented in a report to council in April.

This will help inform council on what to do should public health measures be similar this upcoming summer.

The survey is open until Feb. 15.

Global News Peterborough has contacted the City of Peterborough and DBIA for comment on this story.

— more to come.

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