Editor:
As we do every summer season, this year again after a long gap we went to Lake Louise and Banff among other places for our family vacations. It was early July. The number of visitors were huge and the traffic congestion was so regular that the actual taste of a mountain valley vacation just vanished while we moved in traffic bumper to bumper. We then took up the struggle to find parking spots only to be told by the staff to go back as most parking lots were full most of the time. Even trying to eat something in the town of Banff seemed impossible due to no parking spots and heavy road traffic.
While waiting for traffic to move, on my second day of the visit, I started to wonder that tourism is the main economic driver of this region, and according to Town of Banff’s website, more than four million people visit Banff National Park every year. It is also appreciated that a bus service is in place from Banff Roam transit, which I used earlier on my previous trip and enjoyed very much, moving around town from Tunnel Mountain to the other sides of the town quite a few times and late in the night as well.
However, considering how many people visit the downtown core and tourism being the major driver, the vacationers need to feel more comfortable. By spending most of their time sitting and driving in a car to visit this beautiful region does not make much sense.
It is suggested that some of the areas of the town and the surrounding areas should be declared motor vehicle-free and no private motorized vehicles should be allowed in those areas. A complete ban should be in place at least in certain times of the spring/summer seasons. This should also be heavily advertised before adopting it, so that the visitors are aware of the new bylaws. A family quad-cycle can be added as another option on the lines of what the Town of Waterton offers.
There should be some Town owned (or privately contracted) bus, or shuttle services to take people to surrounding areas and lakes. The situation becomes insane when a huge number of people drive on those streets and roads in and around Banff. The idea of fresh air even goes off the rails and it could also prove detrimental to wildlife due to excessive idling while visitors experience traffic jams, or very slow moving traffic almost all the time.
One appreciates the Town’s efforts to streamline the traffic flow by adopting manual control of traffic handled by traffic enforcement officers, but it appears this effort is not bearing enough positive results. Although, it does ease up the flow to some extent.
Vehicle free and shuttle operated areas would certainly add to the feeling of being on vacation and the level of enjoyment should increase for the vacationers who would enjoy the authentic environment and natural habitat ensuring some serene times.
This year coming back from this trip carried some disappointment and made me write this comment to a local newspaper where the government folks perhaps would consider revising their approach to accommodate more and more visitors next year and the years after.
Anas Khan,
Beaumont, AB
