The future of Wellington Street needs to be decided as part of a larger plan to reimagine the downtown and with an eye to the impact on tourism, local stakeholders say.

A section of the major east-west artery in the downtown has been closed to traffic since last year’s “Freedom Convoy” demonstration.

Last week, Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said the city’s transportation committee will vote on whether to extend the closure of Wellington Street in front of Parliament Hill. The council motion to close Wellington Street to vehicles was in effect until the end of 2022 and an interim decision needs to be made as council considers a longer-term plan.

Tourism officials say the lack of access to Parliament Hill has directly impacted local tourism. 

“We want the tourism voice to be heard,” Jantine Van Kregten, director of communications at Ottawa Tourism, told OBJ. “Wellington Street provides the best views and access to Parliament Hill and that is our icon in Ottawa. That is a big part of our messaging.”

Although visitors and tourists can currently access Parliament Hill on foot, buses are forced to drop off tourists a few blocks away, which Van Kregten said raises issues of accessibility for seniors or visitors with disabilities.

Catherine Callary, Ottawa Tourism’s vice-president of destination development, said Parliament Hill is a “big part of our destination image,” with tourists stopping by for a tour or to take selfies and post to social media, thereby boosting the city’s image. Also, there are many hotels in the area that would benefit from a reopening, she said.

“It’s time to look at Wellington within the context of this general need to claim back our streets and have visitors and residents enjoy it,” said Callary, who sits on the Downtown Ottawa Revitalization Task Force. “Whether that means reopening to traffic or keeping it closed, but finding a repurposed option that the tourism industry can work with.

“The current Wellington Street closure is not viable or acceptable for a long-term decision,” she continued. “The tourism industry is ready to see a decision so we can move forward. Understanding that we are on the eve of the anniversary of the illegal occupation, do we think this will happen tomorrow? No. We’re reasonable, but we’re ready for a decision.”

The future of Wellington Street is an opportunity for city planners to look at the bigger picture, said Andrew Penny, president of Kingsford Consulting, a firm he created in 1997 to help small and medium-sized businesses grow. It would be “backwards” to design the city around Wellington Street, rather than the other way around, he added.

“What we do with Wellington Street has to be decided along with how we redesign the city,” he said, citing the “sleepiness” of the downtown core and the impact of the pandemic as considerations.

“The way we use the city has changed dramatically,” he said. “We need a master plan for how we reset.”

Penny said he hopes for a “tactical” approach.

“(The reopening of Wellington Street) is not a decision that can be made isolated and now is the time to do it,” he said. “I think Ottawa historically has had a policy of incrementalism … a little here, a little there, nothing too big or bold, but we need to take advantage of where we are right now.”