Banff Mayor Karen Sorensen is lobbying Parks Canada’s new chief executive officer on the tourist town’s top priority to tackle traffic troubles.
The mayor had an opportunity to briefly meet with the federal agency’s new chief executive officer, Daniel Watson, during a recent visit to Banff. Watson became Parks Canada’s top civil servant on Aug. 7 following Alan Latourelle’s retirement.
Sorensen said the short-term measures the Town of Banff has put in place to deal with traffic congestion and parking have had a positive effect this year, but she said the municipality continues to meet with Parks Canada on long-term solutions.
“When he asked what our most immediate conversation should be, I said long-term solutions for our transportation, encompassing everything from parking to traffic flow and road capacity,” she said. “What we’ve been able to do this summer has certainly helped in the short-term, but as far as traffic and transportation management goes, we have to continue long-term discussions with Parks Canada.”
Banff continues to grapple with traffic congestion and parking at the same time Parks Canada has a goal of increasing visitation by two per cent a year. Last year, visitation in Banff jumped by 10 per cent to 3.6 million visitors.
This summer’s final tourist numbers are not yet available, but July and August last year were by far the busiest months of 2014, with 560,860 and 633,025 visitors respectively. Numbers tracked through the Visitor Information Centre this summer show an overall increase in visitors of 12 per cent this July compared to last year, with U.S. traffic up 20 per cent for the first half of 2015.
While investigating longer-term solutions, including an aerial gondola transit system, the Town of Banff has been working to make a difference on traffic and parking problems in the short-term this summer.
There’s increased service for Roam transit, and Brewster provides a free shuttle service to ticket holders of the tourist sights on Sulphur Mountain, such as the sightseeing gondola and hot springs, every 30 minutes between the hours of 9:30 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Additional parking has been created close to the downtown core, and there’s been an extensive marketing campaign to get residents and tourists alike to walk, ride or hop on a Roam transit bus.
The municipality also does a green traffic light override to mitigate traffic delays. The green light override, combined with controlled pedestrian movements at the mid-block crosswalks on Banff Avenue, allows vehicles to travel northbound without interruption. This flushes out northbound traffic vehicles backing up at the Mountain Avenue and Spray Avenue intersection and over the bridge.
Town administrators say a host of efforts by the entire community are having a positive effect on traffic conditions in downtown Banff and up Mountain Avenue, where visitors flock to the hot springs and Sulphur Mountain sightseeing gondola.
But Diana Waltmann, the Town of Banff’s communications manager, said many of these initiatives, including the green light traffic override, are not a long-term solution.
“The green light override is mitigating north-south travel delays and improving the visitor experience for those travelling in that direction and going up Sulphur mountain, but it’s got repercussions elsewhere,” she said. “It’s negatively impacting traffic in other directions and negatively impacting the visitor experience on Banff Avenue.”
An independent contractor, Stantec Consulting Limited, continues to examine transportation options for Banff.
The $70,000 study will include a comparative analysis of several options, including building new roads linked to an additional vehicle bridge across the Bow River, and expansion of the existing road alignment up Sulphur Mountain for transit lanes.
There is also discussion about the return of passenger rail service between Calgary and Banff and improved public transit service.
Feasibility of a cable-propelled gondola is also part of the study. The preliminary idea is to connect the downtown core with The Banff Centre, Banff Springs Hotel, Sulphur Mountain Gondola and Banff Upper Hot Springs.
Waltmann said the study is well under way. “We’re hoping to get it in time for budget discussions.”
Banff’s roads are at capacity at 24,000 vehicles per day. The Town uses use a vehicle per day count used to determine the onset of congestion and potential travel time delays. It does not indicate the number of vehicles driving around Banff at any given time. It doesn’t include the vehicles already in Town, and it’s over a 24-hour period.
The longest time travel delay this year was on May 17. The vehicle per day count was 26,601 and the northbound travel delay was about 46 minutes.
A plebiscite on paid parking will be held in 2016 if the parking shortfall in the downtown core exceeds 150 stalls. If the shortfall is not reached, a plebiscite will be held at the next municipal election in 2017.
