Although the pedestrian mall was never achieved, Kitchener's industrious council got part way to the concept by 1981 - saddling the downtown with planning blunders that have taken years to reverse. The ring route was finally abandoned after 1995. Critics said it created a moat effect around the core that encouraged high speeds, dimmed King Street's allure and kept retailers off Duke and Charles streets. Today, consultants generally praise the merits of main-street traffic. In a sense, a successful commercial street is a street that is in a constant state of traffic jam.
Traffic engineers hate that.
In 1973, council approved the demolition of the 1924 city hall and market building to make way for Market Square, which was to be a retail anchor for the pedestrian strip. The King Centre became the other retail anchor in 1980. Merchants hoped the malls would lure more shoppers to the core. We had mixed feelings. But we wanted the mall to be downtown as opposed to three miles from downtown.