On May 16, City of San Diego employees, along with San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and City Councilmember Stephen Whitburn, unveiled the Gaslamp Promenade, a new Slow Street project on Fifth Avenue Downtown.

City Transportation Department crews completed constructing the infrastructure necessary to place bollards at intersections along Fifth Avenue to block vehicle traffic and create small pedestrian-centered plazas. The bollards will replace temporary gates that were previously being used. 

Under the plans, each block of Fifth Avenue, from Broadway on the north to K Street on the south, will be closed daily to vehicle traffic, creating safe and walkable promenades. The closures would occur between 12 p.m. and 2 a.m. and not impact cross-street traffic on east and west streets connecting to Fifth Avenue. 

Outside permitted hours, the street will be open to vehicle traffic, allowing for services, trash and recycling collection, and deliveries.  The steel bollards will be removed daily by the Gaslamp Quarter Association and stored nearby when the street is open to vehicles. 

Repurposing Fifth Avenue during certain days and hours of the week as a Slow Street will foster a more accessible, pedestrian-friendly environment, provide additional seating areas for visitors and customers of the surrounding businesses, and encourage alternative modes of transportation.   

In 2024, the City expects to complete a study to evaluate the feasibility of more proposed improvements along Fifth Avenue. Earlier this year, the City received a Safe Streets for All federal grant to develop a Slow Streets program and evaluate criteria for more applications around San Diego. 

The Slow Streets Program aligns with the City’s Climate Action Plan and Vision Zero goals while increasing safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all.