The city of San Diego will no longer pay to have Fifth Avenue closed off. NBC 7’s Kelvin Henry talked to business owners who are concerned about the change.
For years, Fifth Avenue in the Gaslamp has been closed to cars during busy weekend hours, allowing people to walk through the streets. But as San Diego leaders try to make up a big budget gap, they have notified businesses that the city will no longer pay to have the street closed off.
The Gaslamp Quarter Promenade is popular among tourists and locals alike. Fifth Avenue from Broadway to K Street is a bustling area, filled with people walking into shops and enjoying the car-free atmosphere. That changed on Saturday.
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“At this point, we’re going to be back to city streets and sidewalks,” said Michael Trimble, the executive director of the Gaslamp Quarter Association.
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The change has been weeks in the making.
"Effectively on the 22nd of January, we were notified that the city no longer could financially support operations,” Trimble said.
The bollard program was implemented in 2023, and many businesses enjoyed the increased foot traffic.
"It’s been great," said Chandler Turpin, the general manager at Happy Does. "It allows more foot traffic to walk by, and we see a big increase in business."
With the expected decrease of foot traffic, Turpin is concerned the changes could have a widespread impact on not only businesses in the Gaslamp Quarter but the local economy.
“If each individual businesses are bringing in less money and paying less taxes, then there’s less funding for other programs,” Turpin said.
Some people remain optimistic that the program will return in the future.
“Hopefully, when budgets return, or times turnaround, we will resume trying to work on the project,” Trimble said.
NBC 7 reached out to the city of San Diego for more information but has not received a response.
