Is Ventura's Main Street Opening to Cars Again?

Author’s note: This article is summarized from various sources, and attributions are linked within.

Downtown Ventura CAPhoto byMike KitchenonUnsplash

After three years of downtown Ventura’s Main street being closed to vehicles, the City Council will soon decide whether it’s time to open it back up.

It’s set to end in June if no action is taken. The move to open the street leaves citizens and businesses with different reactions.

“The pedestrian-friendly program, dubbed Main Street Moves, stretches from San Buenaventura Mission to Fir Street. One block of South California Street, between Main and Santa Clara streets, is also closed to vehicles.”

Back in May 2020, the city wanted to make it possible for businesses to stay open while providing the mandated and safe social distancing.

At the time, when the virus was still known as Coronavirus before its current COVID-19 moniker took root, the move to allow businesses to extend seating into the street began. The Ventura City Council “approved a package of measures Monday designed to help businesses recover from the coronavirus pandemic, including closing part of Main Street to allow restaurants and stores to expand into the street and streamlining the process for approving development permits.” This was approved in a 7-0 vote and was intended to last for a year.

Instead it was extended several times and now is set to expire on June 30, 2023.

Some business owners want to continue with the street closures as the extension of seating into the street and lack of cars has improved their foot traffic.

“Bryan-Michael Miller, owner of American Flags and Cutlery at 305 E. Main St.” cites his increase in sales to the changes and has “allowed him to add products and look for more staff.” He added, “We’ve had customers come in that said they’ve lived here in Ventura for over 20 years and never knew we were here.”

Others though want the street to reopen as the lack of parking hurts their sales. Michelle Ramirez of Passport Habits at 542 E. Main St. said many of her customers are locals and no longer come by because of the lack of convenient parking. She’s considering not renewing her lease.

One option mulled by council members if the street remains closed, is to discuss “making design guidelines uniform across the different parklets.”

Currently, based on a walk through downtown Ventura, the spaces are not consistent. Other options discussed included “a flexible model in which Main Street is open to vehicle traffic on weekends or certain seasons of the year.” Another idea was to keep only one side open.

“Council member Liz Campos, who uses an electric wheelchair, said she has no problem traversing Main Street, but people who use manual wheelchairs, walkers or canes have stopped coming to the area because they can’t easily get around.” She suggested making the area more ADA compliant, and adding “disabled parking, a small, airport-like shuttle to carry people from the parking lot or a rickshaw service.”

One resident, Wendell Liljedahl has concerns for loss of business by keeping the road closed as the closure of Main Street caused higher traffic on other streets, including residential streets which can be dangerous.

The town’s pocketbook is also in danger of loss. “Meredith Hart, the city’s economic development manager, said with more than 150 parking spaces not used, the city is losing out on $30,000 to $35,000 a month.”