Uptown Plaza and Sixth Street Public Realm Improvements

Project update, March 2023: Work is ongoing to develop a permanent design for public realm improvements on Sixth Street and an expanded Uptown Plaza, based on what we heard through community engagement in 2021 and 2022.

While we work on this permanent design, the City will implement an interim plaza space this spring using the full width of Belmont Street and extending from Sixth Street to the laneway mid-block between Sixth and Seventh streets. The expanded space will enable community events and other programming to take place in the plaza during summer 2023, and to give people a chance to experience and get used to a bigger plaza. We’ll be asking for your feedback following the summer activities in the expanded space!

Interim changes to the plaza this spring will include the addition of tables and seating, and removal of some of the existing elements in the space to make it more flexible for both neighbourhood gathering and opportunities for events and activities. Temporary water and power connections have also been installed to support more community programming.

These interim changes will enable the community to experience a larger plaza in the Uptown neighbourhood with better opportunities for community use – for example, small markets, musical performances, recreational activities, etc. – and to get used to traffic and parking changes. The expanded plaza will also allow the City to learn about the community’s interest to program and use the space through a summer season.

We’ll be seeking feedback on your experiences in Uptown Plaza this summer when we re-engage the community on this project in fall 2023. This feedback will help inform the design of the future permanent Uptown plaza.

Project Update, October 4, 2022: Thank you to everyone who participated in the July 2022 engagement around changes to the Belmont Plaza. The project team is pleased to share the What We Heard Report, which outlines the engagement activities and key themes of feedback from participants.

Key engagement activities included:

• On-site engagement with the community
• On-site project promotion during Uptown Live
• Door-to-door visits to neighbouring businesses
• Email and phone outreach to key stakeholders
• Two pop-up engagement events at the plaza
• Two in-person co-design workshops

In addition to hearing community feedback and ideas for the future permanent plaza, we conducted a study of how the space is currently being used and the experiences of people who currently use Belmont Parklet. Click here to review the findings of the Public Life Study.

Key Takeaways

Through our various engagement activities this summer, we heard a lot of community excitement about plans for an expanded and improved public plaza on Belmont Street. However, some key concerns about the existing space were also confirmed through these conversations. These include smoking, sidewalk gatherings (i.e. creating an obstacle for people walking by), loud motorcycles, litter, the misuse of adjacent parking stalls, street closures and noise levels at nighttime. We also heard a number of inquiries about how changes to the street would impact access for emergency vehicles. We have since confirmed with New Westminster Fire & Rescue Services that the proposed street changes can be accommodated without impacting access or safety.

The project team recognizes that design of the plaza can help address some of these challenges, but the engagement findings have highlighted the need for collaboration with maintenance staff, by-law enforcement, and community champions to create a comfortable space for everyone. We are working with multiple city departments to consider how plaza management – and community stewardship of the plaza – may work in conjunction with the future plaza design.

Meanwhile, we heard from community members this summer that the following features are priorities for a refreshed parklet until the permanent plaza is constructed in 2024:

• More seating (including flexible / movable seating)
• Shade / weather protection
• Additional greenery
• Ensuring a welcoming environment
• Events and activations such as music, food trucks, etc.
• Ongoing maintenance and upkeep

Community input will be incorporated as the project team plans for a refresh of the parklet in spring 2023.

July 2022

Context

The existing interim plaza on Belmont St was implemented in 2016 as a way to assess whether a partial street closure and new public space would be supported and used by the community. It is appreciated by many residents and is very well-used; however, there have been mixed results. We’ve heard from community members about some perceptions around a lack of safety and sense of welcomeness in the space, as well as other challenges. Both these positive and negative aspects of the plaza were reinforced during our July 2022 engagement.

What’s Happening?

The City is seeking to improve the Belmont Plaza for all community members. A range of design changes are being considered, together with bylaw and land use considerations.

Beyond physically expanding the interim plaza, the purpose of this project is to work with community members and bring them together to address four key challenges identified by plaza stakeholders:

• Reduce the incidence of loud cars and motorcycles
• Determine how to address people blocking the sidewalks and/or selling items
• Ensure people have access to a smoke-free environment, while acknowledging that many people smoke at the location, and that enforcement cannot be continual
• Reduce late-night noise

In addition to understanding how the expanded plaza looks and feels for people using the space, we are also assessing whether the co-design process can establish positive relationships among the diverse groups who use and live near the plaza.

How can I participate?

Findings from our summer 2022 engagement and a study of how the plaza is being used will be shared here soon. Additional opportunities for community input will be offered in the future – more info to come.

January 17, 2022

Community members and stakeholders were invited to engage and provide input through an online survey, questions and answer tool, pop-up events, and stakeholder focus groups and meetings held from November 8 to 28, 2021.

The following is a snapshot of what we heard.

A detailed Engagement Summary Report can be found in the Documents section of this project page or by CLICKING HERE.

November 2021

Changes are coming on Sixth Street in Uptown! This project will reimagine Sixth Street between Sixth Avenue and Belmont Street to orient the street more clearly toward the public realm and walking, with more flexible uses of Sixth Street and its edges, as well as improving accessibility.

Proposed features include widened sidewalks, improved lighting, more seating, temporary road closures for special events, and a “pedestrian scramble” at 6^th Street and 6^th Avenue that would see all vehicle traffic stopped while pedestrians can cross all-ways at once.

We are excited to hear your feedback on options and design details for the look and feel of Sixth Street.