It's looking more and more as if weekend Memorial Drive closures will extend into the summer months — or at least as long as directives on COVID-19 are in place.
The City of North Bay will close Memorial Drive to vehicular traffic (while permitting marina access) for a third straight weekend.
Communications Officer Gord Young says the City "plans on closing the street again this weekend. There was a fair amount of activity at the Waterfront this past weekend."
See related story: More frequent Memorial Drive closures welcomed by active transportation advocates
Although the weather reports for this weekend are a far cry from the current mid-week heat warning, the idea is to give people the space they need to get out of the house and stretch their legs. The forecast for Saturday calls for light rain with a high of 14C, while Sunday is expected to reach a high of 13C with a mix of sun and clouds.
Young says "the feedback, so far, from the latest closure of Memorial Drive has been largely positive."
See also: Memorial Drive closed again this weekend
BayToday readers were a bit more divided when it came to poll results on how frequent the Memorial Drive closures should take place.
For full poll results, click here.
Posted last Friday, our poll ran through the second weekend Memorial Drive was closed to traffic. Of 1,832 responses, 40.28% chose "Only close for special events like the Heritage Festival," 34.44% opted for "Close every weekend during the summer," 18.34% responded "Close it for good and make it a pedestrian/bike only area during summer," and 6.93% preferred to close Memorial Drive to vehicular traffic "Once a month during summer."
The City of North Bay is "considering carrying on with weekend closures while there’s a need under the current COVID-19 restrictions regarding physical distancing and gatherings of no more than five people are in place," advises Young.
Memorial Drive, which follows the shores of Lake Nipissing, is one of two feeder roads to Lakeshore Drive and West Ferris from the north and will be closed between Regina Street and the Marina beginning Friday at 3 p.m. and will reopen Monday at 8 a.m.
Beaches, play structures, swings, slides, the splash pad, and outdoor exercise equipment also remain closed. While the use of benches, picnic tables and shelters is now permitted, public washrooms remain closed under provincial orders. Physical distancing of at least two metres is required and groups of more than five people are still restricted.
