Planned changes for Old Strathcona include dedicated bus lanes, more parks
Change is afoot in Old Strathcona, where the city is proposing new parks, transit upgrades and other ways to make the area around one of Edmonton's most popular roadways more inviting to pedestrians.
City planners are looking for feedback via public engagement on plans for the area that have been around in one form or another since 2016.
Coun. Michael Janz, whose ward includes Old Strathcona, says this vision for the district's future is long-term as well.
"As Edmonton grows to two-million people, we know that we’re going to need more cool public spaces, and we want to look for what that will be, where will the parks be, where will the festivals be, where the attractions are," Janz told CTV News Edmonton.
Based on years of previous feedback from Edmontonians on improving the Old Strathcona experience, city planners have put together the Old Strathcona Public Realm Strategy.
It aims to make the district more pleasant for pedestrians and cyclists through environmental design such as wider sidewalks with more spaces in which to sit and hang out and a major overhaul to the corridor along Gateway Boulevard from Whyte Avenue to Saskatchewan Drive.
That would include replacing a car dealership with an urban plaza and turning the Old Strathcona Farmers' Market parking lot into a park.
It would also include dedicated bus lanes on Whyte Avenue itself, reducing traffic to one lane each way.
Cherie Klassen, the executive director of the Old Strathcona Business Association, says Edmontonians have been calling for these changes and that most business owners are excited about them, too.
"We know most of our customers, our most valuable customers, take transit, they ride bikes and they walk here," Klassen told CTV News Edmonton.
"Yes, people drive as well, but our most valuable customers who come and spend the most time and the most money take that form of transportation."
Both planners and business owners realize that any change comes with trade-offs. The biggest impact of this 10-to-20-year plan, which is not yet funded, would be on parking and traffic flow.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NEW Is there a cost to convenience? Canada approves new cancer immunotherapy treatment
A new cancer treatment recently approved in Canada promises to cut treatment time down to just minutes, but experts have differing opinions on whether it's what's best for patients.
Air Canada walks back new seat selection policy change after backlash
Air Canada has paused a new seat selection fee for travellers booked on the lowest fares just days after implementing it.
Canada's new dental program offering hope of free care to millions but many dentists aren't signed up
A new Canadian dental care program is offering the hope of free care to millions, but while 1.7 million people have signed up for the plan, only about 5,000 dentists have done the same.
Province boots mayor and council in small northern Ont. town out of office
An ongoing municipal strike, court battles and revolt by half of council has prompted the province to oust the mayor and council in Black River-Matheson.
King Charles III returns to public duties with a trip to a cancer charity
King Charles III returned to public duties on Tuesday, visiting a cancer treatment charity and beginning his carefully managed comeback after the monarch's own cancer diagnosis sidelined him for three months.
NDP says Ottawa's new grocery task force isn't living up to government promises
The federal government says the task force it created to monitor and investigate grocery retailers' practices has not conducted any probes and doesn't have a mandate to take enforcement action.
A group of Toronto tenants have been on a rent strike for a year and say there's no resolution in sight
Dozens of tenants in Toronto's Thorncliffe Park area have now been withholding their rent for one year, and it’s unclear when the dispute will end.
U.K. police arrest man wielding a sword in east London, 5 people are taken to the hospital
A man wielding a sword attacked members of the public and two police officers on Tuesday in the east London community of Hainault before being arrested, police said.
Archeologists search for remnants of Halifax's 250-year-old wall that surrounded the city
Archeologist Jonathan Fowler is using ground-penetrating radar to search for historic evidence of the massive wall that surrounded Halifax more than 250 years ago.