Banner illustration by Raymond Biesinger

La well piétonne was a citizens’ initiative I launched to propose turning Wellington Street in Montreal’s Verdun borough into a year-round pedestrian zone. The street is already pedestrianized during the summer, and the effort aimed to make it permanent. The petition gathered thousands of signatures, collected with the help of friends, volunteers, and supportive local businesses.

A campaign was made to explain the benefits and vision of pedestrianization on social media and in person. We gave several media interviews, held small events and set up info tables to engage residents and collect signatures in support. In line with the city’s policy on citizens’ initiatives, the proposal later went through a multi-day public consultation.

A proposal that reduces space for motor vehicles was, unsurprisingly, controversial and divisive. The consultation’s report recommended further study and supported reducing car presence on the street, but did not endorse full pedestrianization as we proposed.

The project was an exercise in public engagement, learning from knowledgeable and supportive urban planners, and a great excuse to design and build a website for the campaign.

Site: La well piétonne (Source on GitHub), with an informative questions and answers page, a user-submitted ideas page with ♡-ing functionality, and a gallery of pedestrian streets around the world.