EDMONTON -- Garneau residents were given a glimpse into the possible future on Saturday at an open house where the city revealed plans for the neighbourhood's renewal work.

Work will begin in the spring of 2021 to upgrade roads, replace streetlights and curbs, and renew sidewalks in the community.  

Construction is expected to be finished the following year.

"We’re showing a whole bunch of different options for different streets in Garneau because we want to make sure … we get it right," said Jen Rutledge of the project management group.

The plans also propose improving pedestrian access, upgrading parks, and adding traffic-calming measures to reduce speeds in the neighbourhood.

Resident Edward Spink said, "I’m the type of cyclist who wouldn’t feel comfortable sharing the road with a car, so if there’s more protected cycling infrastructure that would probably encourage me to get out and cycle a lot more."

However, the early design plans reduce on-street parking and have prompted mixed feedback from community members.

"There’s parking behind the house but if you’ve got visitors, you know, people come to see you, like I said, someone’s delivering something—how do they do it when you have zero on street parking?" asked homeowner Andy Banack.

Charles Evan addeds, "Eliminating all this parking doesn’t mean that the people aren’t going to park. It just means that they’re going to be scrambling for whatever space is left."

He is also concerned, as someone with cerebral palsy, less on-street parking could make it harder for him or those checking on his property to come and go.

"As I get older, it manifests itself more and I have a harder time walking."

Rutledge said the city wants to hear feedback from residents.

"Maybe there’s parking bays we can do, or maybe there’s other types of bike infrastructure we can put in, like a shared-use path. A shared-use path doesn’t remove any parking along the street," she said of the options facing the project designers.

Garnea locals have until Dec. 21 to submit their feedback online.

A revised design plan will be brought back to the community next spring.

With a report by CTV News Edmonton's Amanda Anderson