Victoria Park

[danbrotherston]

"Good enough"...I mean, it's a park, if it isn't closed entirely, then children and families aren't going to feel comfortable playing in that space, and certainly you could never fully integrate it into the rest of the park.

I think traffic diverters are "good enough" for most residential streets, but not for the park.

Except your adopted country does this all the time: modal filters.

It reduces traffic, slows speeds, but at the same time leaves it open as a cycling through route and maintains access for event set-up.

You may not live here anymore, but as a nearby resident, I like going to Ribfest, Bluesfest, and everything else that needs vehicle access to make happen.

There are exactly 0 parks in the Netherlands which are open to cars. Modal filters are used on streets, not parks.

All of your examples do not actually apply.

The park is a cycling route from Gaukel St. to West Ave, but not a car route, there is no reason cars must be allowed on a "cycle route".

As for special events, the great circle is where Ribfest is held, it isn't open to cars either, and yet somehow, we are able to host ribfest. The existence of "special events" is never a reason to permit general traffic.

The reasons to permit general traffic are convenience and access. I believe access can be maintained for all properties and parking lots without allowing traffic on (most of) Jubilee. My suggestion would be to close the one branch of Water (as the cycling plan suggested) and route the other onto Heins Ave. And then turn Theresa into a cul-de-sac using the extra space at the bottom. By allowing Park to continue south to the North parking lot and then Courtland north to the south parking lot, and close it in between, you can achieve access for all residents. And I argue that the added convenience provided by allowing the residents to access their roads directly (and of course of through traffic in the park) is not worth allowing cars in our park.

You're welcome to disagree of course, but I think it's value to discuss exactly what we are giving up and why. Because it isn't for special events or a cycling route, it's convenience for 100 or so homes, and nothing more, which isn't invalid, but it's important to keep it in context.

You might also suggest that a modal filter is a good way to start the process of closing the road, and I might agree with that, but I think a better option is what was planned for King St. prior to the pandemic...which is gradually increasing closed periods. You know...close it for special events, the next year close it for 10 weekends in the summer. Year after, close it for every weekend of the summer. Year after, close it every weekend....one day, one glorious day, it just never opens again. AFAIK this is how NYC managed to remove general traffic from Prospect and Central parks.