The Rocky Mountain Outlook put a number of questions to hopefuls running for a seat in the Oct. 16 municipal election.
The first question regards the ongoing issue of parking, stating – available public parking for employees, residents and visitors, as well as traffic congestion, are issues Canmore residents have been frustrated with, and there are differing opinions on what to do. What should council be doing to address this issue, in your opinion?
Public parking and traffic congestion are concerns. The Transportation Master Plan includes multi-modal initiatives and parking solutions. Giving employees and owners options to find alternate ways to get to work will help. Public transportation, biking infrastructure, permitted parking and intercept parking could all be considered. Free public transportation would further the cause. Time-limited parking with enforcement with technology based solutions so the time can be tracked to a lot. Traffic congestion and event management: have an event plan for the day and time the events take place. Find practical solutions such as when they occur, traffic flow solutions/flag marshals, intercept or permit parking.
Increase transit and walkability to the downtown core. The new improvements at the CPR train tracks behind Save-On-Foods, and the road widening at Spring Creek, will help people walk and ride bikes more pleasurably to and from the downtown core. Council is committed to addressing issues of traffic and transportation as a priority item, in incremental improvements as recommended in the Integrated Transportation Plan. For staff parking downtown, we could consider permitted parking, paid monthly. At traffic intersections, we could consider roundabouts and scramble crosswalks.
In this term of council, the Integrated Transportation Master Plan and associated parking study was adopted. Of the many recommendations, council has focused on increasing parking opportunities in some areas and reducing opportunities in others (time-restricted parking) to ensure parking is not used by those on the regional Roam. Through this, we have been slowly changing parts of town infrastructure to provide diversification in transportation (bike, walk, transit etc.). Many of our visitors have adequate parking available in their accommodation and we need to work with that industry to encourage visitors to leave their vehicles there. This has the potential of relieving congestion in a meaningful way. We will need to, in future, look at developing a parking structure and attached services that will allow visitors and residents to park their car should they need to, but not make congestion worse through its construction, and figure out by who and how that structure will be paid for.
Council’s first priority to traffic congestion is safety for all. The past summer we saw firsthand what can happen when a main road into the core is closed. We need to ensure functionality before aesthetics. Parking in Canmore has been an issue for a long time. Canmore’s primary industry is tourism, and visitors that come here come mainly by vehicle, causing further congestion. Residents get frustrated when they come to their local bank or favourite lunch spot and there is no parking. Parking is backing up into residential areas. Many years ago there was talk of a parkade, maybe it is time to start planning and building a reserve for this and a more comprehensive core transit system connected to accessible parking. Maybe it can blend in like the cell relay tower I never notice anymore.
I want to see a car free downtown Canmore. Parking can be located near transit stops and folks can make their way downtown on foot or by bike as well as by transit. We need to stop developing in service to the automobile and start developing in service to the environment and the public interest.
Looking forward to new development/amendments to land use bylaws and new buildings, it should be apparent that more parking spaces is probably better than any cutbacks in number of spaces. Solving traffic congestion in one area is, more often than not, the creation of a problem in another area. While we can encourage use of transit and foot and bicycle traffic alternatives, it does not guarantee results. Equally, removing on-street parking from, say, Main Street will only create further parking issues. I would love to hear good suggestions from the people.
I believe we can incentivize and improve safety and overall attractiveness for non-motorized travel. We can continue to support and develop the Roam public transit service. Council can further develop connectivity to trails for pedestrians and cyclists. We can increase our work with event organizers to maintain access to parking and throughways during special events and during holiday weekends.
The town in the past has explored building a parkade and I think we should look into that once again to determine if it is financially feasible. We should continue to explore increasing bike and pedestrian paths and expanded public transit as long as it is feasible and within our fiscal means.
I have noticed the increased traffic over the years. And we likely will not see traffic slowing down as the town grows and becomes more popular for visitors. To solve the issue we need to look at ways of keeping traffic flowing; for example, left turning lanes on Bow Valley Trail. We’ve seen great construction for more bike and pedestrian friendly walkways. But one thing we do need is a parkade. And soon. I’d love to see something like Banff’s parkade and clearly marked signs that let tourists know where they can park. Many people drive around looking for parking, which just creates more traffic. I’d also love to see a pay what you like parkade. That way there will be income generated and those that wish to still have free parking can continue to.
I think a three level (street level with two above) pay to park parkade would help to solve the problem. Perhaps start with the first two stories, and then add the third when more money is available. All other parking in town should be free. Reserved parking spots should be given to stores and residents if they so choose to take them. I think that downtown residents get a bad deal. If a levy is placed on the landlord for parking, it just gets passed on to a tenant in increased rent. The more spots that are filled by locals, the better. It forces our guest to use the pay parking, whom I think would be OK with this. Think of it as the ticket price to enjoy downtown Canmore. Who gets free parking when they go to downtown Calgary?
I support people getting out of their car, walking, and biking as much as possible. However, it would be good for our citizens and downtown businesses to know exactly what we have received for all of the park-in-lieu dollars the Town has received and what, exactly is the plan going forward to provide, sensible parking options. No question that Canmore has become busier and that trend is not likely to change. On a side note, I would like to see more cohesive speed limits. I’d like to see people slow down. Getting in and out of Elevation Place is dicey. I’m worried there is going to be a horrible accident there. Photo radar, however, doesn’t work (anyway I don’t believe in privatizing law enforcement). Communities around the world use speed mitigation like speed bumps – why can’t we?
Traffic congestion and parking are ongoing matters of concern for residents and visitors alike. I believe the Town of Canmore must continue initiatives that encourage alternate transportation: a trail/path network that is integrated with Roam transit and has destinations that make sense. I do not believe a parking structure is a wise course environmentally and that the needs can be met in other ways. Parking garages are very expensive and not the best use of land, in my opinion. Our neighbour to the west has used intercept parking and shuttle buses at peak tourist demand, with some success. It will take multiple solutions to crack this problem.
Can we explore a parkade option, or collector parking lots on outside edge of town to utilize public transit and ease congestion?
Build one of the two parkade structures that we need and determine hourly or daily parking rates.
We need to accept the issue and prepare practical solutions (parking structure). Bicycle enhancements are not a valid solution.
We have been planning and implementing active transportation infrastructure – more welcoming cycling and walking pathways, and roadways that are designed for sharing – in order to encourage residents and visitors to get out of their cars and access the downtown core in more active ways. The goal is to relieve the pressure and congestion on the downtown streets and parking by reducing the number of cars competing for the limited space. This same goal has informed the start of local transit, which will expand as people become more familiar with the service, and ridership increases. I am not supportive at this time of building a downtown parkade, as these are very expensive structures, and generally create an unattractive dead zone in the core. Intercept parking near to the downtown is a more attractive option that has been discussed, has merit, and which I will continue to advocate for.
