BANFF – A plan to make Bear Street more pedestrian-friendly on a permanent basis will see all on-street parking spaces and loading zones removed from the 200 block.
The 52-stall surface parking lot will remain and there will be two handicapped parking stalls installed on the street in addition to the existing two in the lot.
Town officials say taking away on-street parking stalls starts to prioritize pedestrians over vehicles on Bear Street, noting loading zones will be located off back alleys.
“When we did Banff Refreshing on Banff Avenue we had 110 stalls and we got rid of 88 and life carries on. Banff Avenue looks the way it does, in part, because we got rid of 88 car stalls,” said Adrian Field, the Town of Banff’s engineering director.
“The primary intent of this is to change the look and feel on Bear Street to further invigorate the pedestrian experience, visitor experience and business revenue.”
Banff has been trialing the concept of a woonerf -– where pedestrians and cyclists get priority while cars snake through the street – for the past three years.
Following its success and popularity, council set aside $600,100 for a detailed design for a permanent woonerf streetscape for this year and $4.2 million for the build in 2019.
Woonerf streets, which were developed in the Netherlands, are roads designed in such a way as to slow traffic down. Basic alterations to the street, like planting trees in the middle of the roadway, help slow traffic, too.
Currently, the total number of on-street stalls on the 200 block of Banff Avenue is 37, without the temporary platforms, benches and planters in place in winter when the woonerf trial is not underway. There are 21 in summer when the woonerf opens.
Councillor Brian Standish wanted to see some parking stalls remain on Bear Street, noting the sporting equipment store Snowtips-Bactrax and the Home Hardware store need parking spaces for customers.
“We’ve all seen our visitors trying to carry ski equipment to vehicles from the sporting goods store and it would certainly benefit that business if their customers could pick up and drop off closer to that business,” he said.
“The hardware store services the local community and again, in winter, people are coming in to get a bag of ice melt and it’s far easier to have a spot nearby to pick up and drop off. Likewise in summer, people are coming in for things like fertilizer.”
Coun. Corrie DiManno said she supports two handicapped stalls being created on the street, adding physicians at the Bear Street clinic had indicated it would be helpful to have more handicapped parking stalls in the area.
But she is also in complete support of eliminating all other on-street parking stalls in the 200 block.
“I feel like when you have car stalls in this zone it’s going to take away from the pedestrian feel and I think our priorities downtown are walking, cycling and transit,” she said.
“Having those cars coming and going and making those spots for those cars is counterproductive to our priorities, so I’m in favour of two handicapped stalls, but no parking and loading zones.”
Coun. Peter Poole declared a conflict of interest because he owns a business on Bear Street and left the meeting.
