I am all for leaving Granville as pedestrian-only (permanently) and running transit down Seymour and Howe. I've been saying Vancouver downtown needs that for years.
But spending $300k a week "for sanitation and traffic work" is fucking ludicrous. What the fuck are they smoking? Are they hiring staff to pick up garbage 24/7 on every fucking corner? Are they fucking polishing the asphalt like it's a marble countertop?
And $200k a week for security? You don't need to put 60 extra cops on the street just because it's pedestrian only.
Again, this is extra budget. On top of what would already be spent just by having Granville St be Granville St - which already gets regular sanitation and police patrols. There's no fucking way this is just to maintain it as pedestrian only.
This is absolute madness and is just a setup for it to fail because "it costs too much."