CANMORE – With about two weeks before Canmore’s Main Street is closed to vehicle traffic, more details have been finalized to help local businesses on what will be the second year of the pedestrian and cycling-only street.
Town council received a verbal update at its committee of the whole meeting on Tuesday (April 20) that Main Street will officially close to vehicle traffic on May 5 to make way for a pedestrian zone on May 7.
The two-day gap will allow staff to add messaging, install signs and clean the area between Sixth and Eighth avenues.
There will be four different lots to park within a block of Main Street and a fifth area in the vacant lot behind the Home Hardware on Railway Avenue.
Andy Esarte, the Town’s manager of engineering, said the new parking lot – which is located between the Home Hardware and the provincial courthouse – will have 100 spots.
He also noted staff did an assessment of the number of accessible parking stalls needed throughout downtown, how many would be removed during the Main Street closure and then added them outside the pedestrian area.
Additional portable washrooms will also be installed behind the Miners’ Union Hall, with the ones by Ninth Street and Seventh Avenue remaining.
When the street opens May 7, businesses can expand into the parking lane and portable washrooms will be open.
Eleanor Miclette, manager of economic development for Canmore, said the new zone permit allows the Town to have a better handle of what businesses are doing and help businesses outside Main Street and within the Business Improvement Area (BIA) downtown zone.
Businesses looking for financial help can also apply for the COVID Safe Spaces grant – formerly the COVID Vibrant Spaces grant – to assist local businesses, Miclette said.
The permit does allow canopies within certain sizing under the Town and Alberta Health Services guidelines, she added.
The plan will have three full-time community peace officers and four seasonal bylaw peace officers working Friday to Sunday with an educational-based focus on following cycling rules and public health regulations.
Last year was the first time the section of Main Street was closed to vehicle traffic and was widely popular for businesses, residents and visitors.
The success saw Town council approve a second year of the closure to give more space for people to physically distance and help businesses that have lower capacity limits.
The tentative date to reopen Main Street to vehicles is Oct. 15.
