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Bear St. businesses want upgrade

A group of Bear Street businesses and commercial landlords are pushing for enhancements to the downtown street. The group, made up of 15 business so far, was before Banff town council on Monday (Dec.

A group of Bear Street businesses and commercial landlords are pushing for enhancements to the downtown street.

The group, made up of 15 business so far, was before Banff town council on Monday (Dec. 8) asking for improvements to the commercial district, including enhanced lighting, to be included in the 2015 capital budget plan.

The $3.5 million project, known as a Woonerf, did not have a year identified for design and construction, however, council has put it on the capital books for 2017-18. The third phase of Banff Refreshing on the 300 block of Banff Avenue has been pushed back.

The business owners say it’s time for reinvestment in Bear Street, noting the assessed value of all properties on Bear Street in 2014 was nearly $111 million and generating $704,987 in municipal taxes.

“We would like to see a lot more enhancements considered for Bear Street,” said James Sachkiw of Saltlik.

“It would be a great attraction to the Town of Banff to fix up this street. Even if it is done in increments, even such things as lighting. The street looks closed at night.”

Bear Street consists largely of locally owned businesses and professional services and is home to art galleries, Bison Courtyard, a movie theatre, heritage buildings and Whyte Museum.

The 2013 transportation master plan recommended enhancements to the commercial district of Bear Street.

The street would be mostly designed for pedestrians and cyclists, while accommodating for vehicles. This concept is also known as a Woonerf and is intended to both encourage walking and cycling as sustainable transportation and to increase pedestrian traffic.

Pedestrian counts at the intersection of Bear and Caribou streets in 2012 were found to be about 17 per cent of the count on Bear Street and Banff Avenue – 925 per hour versus 5,357 per hour during peak periods.

The Woonerf concept would be designed to improve the connection between Banff Avenue and Bear Street. The project would improve the pedestrian experience on Bear Street and would encourage and promote more sustainable transportation.

Given the design nature of a Woonerf, the number of on-street parking stalls would likely be reduced to accommodate an increase in the biking and pedestrian area. Actual stall count would be informed by the design.

One idea under consideration includes a trial of the installation of semi-permanent urban parks – parklets – in some sections of the parking lanes, in the summer months only. The cost required to build and install each parklet would be approximately $25,000.

Mayor Karen Sorensen said she would like to see enhancements to Bear Street sooner rather than later.

“This is one of those projects with no year identified and this is one of those projects that rises to the top for me,” she said. “It could create a lot of animation and vibrancy for Bear Street.”

The Woonerf project for Bear Street is considered primarily a visitor attraction.

Sorensen said the Town of Banff put together a list of projects that are primarily intended for visitors as part of a lobby effort to the Alberta government for funding.

“In the last plea to the province, we submitted four or five visitor-focused projects to ask for help with funding, but we haven’t heard anything yet,” she said.

“We will still pursue that, but in the meantime, I’m prepared to consider this in our own capital budget.”


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