Winters icy grip on the city isn’t holding back summertime fears of merchants in Brampton’s downtown core. The city has been pushing a $30 million Downtown Reimagined overhaul of the area expected to start in the Spring and some merchants are concerned about construction chaos and loss of business. Plans were also put in place to move the popular Saturday morning Downtown Farmers’ Market to nearby Rosalea Park and festival groups were told that they shouldn’t be planning any festivals in the Garden Square area.
After reaching out to the city, Brampton Focus has learned that construction of the project has been delayed until the Fall and arrangements are being made to keep the Downtown Farmers Market on Main St North and South until September 1st. This is welcome news for businesses in the area that rely on Saturday’s during the market for up to 50% of their revenue. Unfortunately, popular hotspot T by Daniel has already made the decision to relocate to the Bramalea City Centre and will be closing its doors on Thursday, Feb 15th.
2018 will be the 32nd year of the Downtown Brampton Farmers’ Market. The Market runs every Saturday morning from mid-June to September 1 and features produce, preserves, baked goods and homemade crafts. This year, plans are in place to run the Harvest Market, which will start earlier this year on Saturday, Sept 8th. The Harvest Market will take place in Rosealea Park (Ken Whillans Drive and Church Street East) and will run until November 3, 2018 from 8am to 1 pm.
Downtown Reimagined is expected to create a vibrant urban center in downtown Brampton that will see the implementation of bike lanes, reduction of one-lane of vehicle traffic in each direction, wider sidewalks and the elimination of on-street parking. In coordination with The Region of Peel, Phase 1 of the project consists of replacing aging water mains and sewer upgrades in the downtown core.
Find out more from the Region of Peel Project and the City of Brampton.
