'It looks terrible': Edmonton reopening 102 Ave to drivers after businesses blast car-free test

A long and winding debate over what to do with 102 Avenue in downtown Edmonton took a sharp turn Tuesday after business leaders complained that a lack of car traffic is making the area unsafe and driving customers away.

The controversy was reignited when city councillors met for a public hearing about a proposed one-year pilot project to keep vehicles off of the road from 103 to 99 Streets in an attempt to make the area more walkable and vibrant.

That section of 102 Avenue was initially closed in 2018 for LRT construction.

It was rebuilt to include a lane for cars. But in June, city council voted 7-6 to explore making the corridor car-free for a year, so drivers were kept off when a cycle track opened there in July.

"It has been really lovely riding through this stretch since it has opened for bikes but not for cars," said Oliver resident and year-round cyclist Lisa Brown.

"I ask that council support the bylaw to keep this stretch of 102 Ave. closed to cars. If council votes to open 102 Ave. for cars, the city must install barriers to actually protect the bike lane and protect vehicles from entering it."

Brown and another resident spoke in favour of a bylaw that would have banned cars from the roadway but at least six local business leaders argued the plan has so far made the area worse.

"There's not even enough space to set up market stalls and even if you did there's not enough room for people to walk by," said Puneeta McBryan with the Edmonton Downtown Business Association.

"The whole thing does not really make sense from an activation standpoint."

An official with the local YMCA agreed with McBryan that the space is too narrow for activities and events that would increase the amount of people on the street.

Instead, he said the closure has caused traffic bottlenecks near the YMCA and has contributed to a feeling that the area is unsafe.

"We believe that the closure of 102 Ave is having negative impacts from a perception of social disruption and safety to convenience issues that are experienced by members and parkade customers," said Kent Bittorf.

"We are facing daily concerns from our members and our parkade customers about their personal safety. And we know this is a complex issue, we're not suggesting that the closure of 102 is the only cause of that, but we do feel in some ways this is contributing."

The owner of a clothing store in the area criticized the city for building the road for cars, the LRT and bikes and then backing out of the approved redesign when a new council was elected.

"You slap up 'road closed' signs on a street that was designed for something completely different, and you call it a pedestrian street?" said Chad Helm from The Helm Clothing.

"It looks terrible, it doesn’t function appropriately right? So I guess my question is - what was your vision for it?"

A rendering of what 102 Avenue in downtown Edmonton could look like as a car-free zone. (Source: Paths For People)

City staff said they've been getting a lot of complaints.

"We have heard concerns about safety and social disorder resulting from a lack of vehicle activity, or natural surveillance, along the corridor," said Bruce Ferguson with the City of Edmonton.

Coun. Tim Cartmell agreed that the area is not a great place to be.

"Right now, today, walking through that corridor is not pleasant. It is not a pleasant experience," he said. "There's not eyes, there's not energy, there's not storefronts, there's not doors on the exterior walls of those buildings."

Councillors decided to vote down the road-closure bylaw and further study the area, including opening it to cars, for six months after the Valley Line LRT opens on 102 Avenue.

The line was supposed to open in 2020 but there is still no specific completion date for it.

After that study is done, the issue will be brought back before councillors at a future public hearing.

"Really what this does is it gives us an opportunity to take a look at the design based on feedback from folks in the business community. And it also allows stakeholders to actually have a voice in these decisions rather than it being a top-down decree," said Coun. Aaron Paquette.

A bylaw to keep the avenue closed to vehicles failed by a vote of 4-8. A subsequent motion to order a report on 102 Avenue once it has reopened to cars passed by a vote of 10-2 with councillors Karen Principe and Jennifer Rice voting against.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Jeremy Thompson