Should downtown Traverse City’s newest reimagined street be a pedestrian-only promenade? Some business owners along the soon-to-be-complete Garland Street through Traverse City’s Warehouse District think so, and they hope to convene a conversation about the street’s future.

Reconstruction of the street got underway in late April. Once the new cobblestone street began to take shape -- yet before it was complete or open to cars -- it became a magnet for bikers, families and strolling visitors. Given the new pedestrian bridge across the river to the south, Hotel Indigo and the new Alliance restaurant on the west end, the visitors center on the east, and an eclectic collection of shops and bars (and a vintage video game arcade) in between, some Garland Street business owners began to wonder: could keeping cars out create a unique “energy” in the corridor?

“I fully support the idea of Garland Street being pedestrian [only],” says Michael Sutherland of The River Outfitters, the kayak, bike, and paddleboard rental gear shop on the north side.

Some talked of a petition to keep the street closed to cars completely; others have proposed just doing so in the summer months or until more development takes place.

When asked about the possibilities, City Planner Russ Soyring says, “closing the street to motor traffic except for limited hours for deliveries is a possibility, but that “there would need to be a high percentage of property owners in favor of the request and ultimately would need city commission approval.”

Soyring acknowledges “the street (now closed to through traffic) is functioning sort of like a public square.”

Traverse City DDA Director Rob Bacigalupi, who helped craft the original plan for Garland, says he has noticed as well. When “a portion of it has been closed to car traffic while the concrete cures has proven it makes a great people space,” adding that “a lot of credit for that energy has to go to the adjacent businesses, who have provided activities on the street.”

Bacigalupi says the original idea for Garland was not too far off from a pedestrian-only street. Garland was to be “like no other street built in Traverse City in that it is designed to give all modes of transportation, including walking, biking and driving, equal priority throughout the street. This means there are no curbs and, though there is some delineation of a roadway, it is less defined than what we are all used to.”

The plan was to create a “woonerf,” a Dutch term for a shared street that is equally comfortable to pedestrians, bicyclists and vehicles. Signage, planters, and hanging lights will eventually be added to create more of an inviting atmosphere.

Pete Kirkwood, owner of The Workshop Brewing Company on Garland, says though he can see the benefits of a pedestrian-only promenade to his business, he advocates for “a conversation about it, maybe with the DDA or the city” to hear pluses and minuses.

Perhaps the biggest potential roadblock to the idea is the fact that residents with cars could soon be living on Garland. Patti Mercer, who has plans to develop a parcel between Grandview Parkway and Garland into the Grandview Market with condos, restaurants and retail, sees the eventual problem.

"The DDA and the city did a brilliant job with the reconstruction of Garland Street,” she says, though “the residents, businesses, and visitors all need convenient, accessible parking. The new developments have underground parking and will need vehicle access.”

Kirkwood offers another idea: Let Garland evolve organically. “Maybe the street reveals itself to us if we pay attention properly," he says.

Bacigalupi says the street should be complete and fully open by early- to mid-August.