The hum of vehicle engines and traffic on 17 Avenue SW may soon disappear, or maybe not. The Town of Banff voted against car-free streets, but Calgary’s Beltline Neighbourhood Association is working on a similar project they hope will go through.
The Association is asking Calgarians for their feedback on a new pilot project that would turn 17 Avenue into a car-free, open street next summer.
“We have received over 1,000 positive responses of people saying they would visit 17th Avenue more frequently and what may be surprising to some, is that we have heard over 50 per cent support from businesses in the area as well, including National, Jamesons, Ship and Anchor [they’ve] have all voiced their support for the program,” said pedestrian advocate Christopher Chiasson.
One resident told CityNews reducing vehicle traffic is music to their ears, because they have concerns about safety.
“I think it would be great, and just improve safety… like partying and cars don’t always mix,” they said.
Another Calgarian thinks it could be a boost for local businesses.
“I think it would be in the best interest of all these amazing Calgarian businesses to support and really prioritize that foot traffic,” they said.
More foot traffic is exactly what an employee at a 17 Avenue clothing store said he saw when a portion of the street was recently closed to traffic.
“We found it was actually a much more pleasant place to walk through and we had more people coming by not intentionally to visit us but just to shop around and look in,” he said.
But, not everyone agrees. One restaurant employee thinks it will make parking harder for customers.
“A lot of the calls we get is ‘Is there parking beside your restaurant?’ So, I feel like vehicles are a large part of their daily lives and it is inconveniencing people if you take away a whole street,” they said.
Some people say they actually enjoy the buzz of traffic.
“I always enjoy coming down to 17th just to see these nice cars and just to see people driving around and having fun,” one person said.
While it’s still to-be-determined if the pilot will go through, the Beltline Neighbourhoods Association hopes to find a balanced approach.
“We are not talking about closing it down to cars 24/7, we are thinking about during the evenings and during the weekend experimenting with opening the streets to pedestrians,” Chiasson said.