Open Streets block party gets council OK

Coun. Paul Borrelli says council is "throwing away money" by giving the green light to Open Streets Windsor, an eight-kilometre block party scheduled for this summer.

Council voted 9-2 Monday in favour of the $55,000 pilot project.

The proposed route is eight kilometres in length, running east-west from Sandwich to Ford City.

Streets affected include Brock Street along Sandwich Street and down University Avenue West to the downtown; and Wyandotte Street East to Drouillard Road.

It means parts of those streets will be closed to vehicular traffic from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on July 17 and September 18, to encourage walking, jogging, biking.

Borrelli called the event "a misadventure in fantasy land."

"I don't think it's going to be sustainable and I don't think it's going to benefit any vendors there," he said. "And, I don't think it's going to help out anyone in my opinion."

Cathy Copot-Nepszy at the Windsor Essex County Health Unit thinks it's money well spent.

"It'll allow them to explore what's down the street. Is it that, 'Oh, there's a shop that I didn't know that was there and I could walk there instead of driving my car three blocks,'" she said. "It's letting people realize how easy it is to do things actively, whether it's walking, biking."