{"id":13127,"date":"2023-11-02T05:25:17","date_gmt":"2023-11-02T05:25:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edmontondailynews.com\/?p=13127"},"modified":"2023-11-02T05:25:17","modified_gmt":"2023-11-02T05:25:17","slug":"edmonton-groups-pushing-to-make-downtown-friendlier-to-pedestrians-cyclists-edmonton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/edmontondailynews.com\/edmonton-groups-pushing-to-make-downtown-friendlier-to-pedestrians-cyclists-edmonton\/","title":{"rendered":"Edmonton groups pushing to make downtown friendlier to pedestrians, cyclists &#8211; Edmonton"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Five Edmonton organizations are collaborating on a revitalization proposal to make parts of downtown more accessible for pedestrians and cyclists.<\/p>\n<p>The Downtown Pedestrianization Plan outlines nine actions the groups say would improve the downtown experience.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe centred our work around the big question: how do we create safe, accessible spaces that support everyone in our core?\u201d Urban Development Institute Edmonton Metro\u2019s Jason Syvixay said.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the actions include expanding sidewalk width, targeting retail areas with shared and open streets, greater access to transit entrances, installing additional cycling infrastructure, and adding amenities such as patios, benches and green space.<\/p>\n<p>They\u2019re keeping an eye on roadways such as 105 Avenue, 90 Street, 100 Street, 104 Street, 108 Street, and 109 Street as locations of interest.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-video__placeholder\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-video__image\" alt=\"Click to play video: &#039;Plan seeks to make Whyte Avenue more pedestrian-friendly&#039;\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/media.globalnews.ca\/videostatic\/news\/g7cvz6m6xy-wupoix4vmj\/Still-2023-02-14-18h07m17s216.jpg?w=1040&#038;quality=70&#038;strip=all\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"\" sizes=\"\" data-sizes=\"(min-width: 1040px) 1040px,(min-width: 720px) 720px,450px\" title=\"\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-video__overlay\"><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1:51<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-video__title\">Plan seeks to make Whyte Avenue more pedestrian-friendly<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The project stemmed from debates over the re-development of 102 Avenue where four lanes of vehicular traffic were converted to a one-way road to make room for an LRT and bike lanes.<\/p>\n<p>Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe realized we have an opportunity to think bigger than 102 Avenue and to think through new options for our downtown,\u201d Syvixay said.<\/p>\n<p>Paths for People\u2019s Stephen Raitz said temporary road closures during summer street festivals are a great example but there are navigation challenges.<\/p>\n<p>He hopes their downtown pedestrianization plan can act as a framework.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSetting up a larger plan for stitching together some of the cool destinations we have with potentially either shared or open streets throughout the core to tie things together. But doing that in a more strategic and thoughtful sense,\u201d Raitz explained.<\/p>\n<p>Syvixay said the city is already on track with meeting some of the actions listed in their plan, but said the work has been narrow in scope and scale.<\/p>\n<p>Syvixay added there are no transparent metrics for the city to evaluate success rates.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe want to know how well are we doing with these actions. That report card, that transparent information, that\u2019s critical for us,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-video__placeholder\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-video__image\" alt=\"Click to play video: &#039;Could 104 Street become a pedestrian promenade in downtown Edmonton?&#039;\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/media.globalnews.ca\/videostatic\/news\/iugwfly3vk-jn4dvdbyd0\/Still-2021-04-08-18h32m35s910.jpg?w=1040&#038;quality=70&#038;strip=all\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"\" sizes=\"\" data-sizes=\"(min-width: 1040px) 1040px,(min-width: 720px) 720px,450px\" title=\"\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-video__overlay\"><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1:51<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-video__title\">Could 104 Street become a pedestrian promenade in downtown Edmonton?<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n<p>According to the group, not only is it a plan to attract more people to the area, but an effort to boost business revenue.<\/p>\n<p>Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Downtown Business Association\u2019s Puneeta McBryan said a move to transition more downtown streets into pedestrian-friendly walkways will attract more businesses to operate in the core.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInitiatives like this are exactly how we get to a downtown that is full of retailers and more businesses,\u201d McBryan said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you\u2019re a destination where people are driving and parking, that\u2019s what South Common is for. That\u2019s what West Edmonton Mall is for. A downtown only works when there are lots of people both living, working, visiting, and walking around. And that\u2019s what attracts businesses,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n<p>The Downtown Pedestrianization Plan will be presented to city hall for an upcoming Urban Council and Planning Committee meeting in December.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-video__placeholder\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-video__image\" alt=\"Click to play video: &#039;City of Edmonton considers incentives for office conversions to affordable housing&#039;\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/media.globalnews.ca\/videostatic\/news\/ycoc3xgqu0-djzsku2itm\/6p_CRL_AFFORDABLE_HOUSING.jpg?w=1040&#038;quality=70&#038;strip=all\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"\" sizes=\"\" data-sizes=\"(min-width: 1040px) 1040px,(min-width: 720px) 720px,450px\" title=\"\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-video__overlay\"><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t2:14<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-video__title\">City of Edmonton considers incentives for office conversions to affordable housing<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t&#038;copy 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/10065147\/edmonton-downtown-pedestrian-friendly\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Originally Appeared Here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Five Edmonton organizations are collaborating on a revitalization proposal to make parts of downtown more accessible for pedestrians and cyclists. The Downtown Pedestrianization Plan outlines nine actions the groups say&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69,5015],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/edmontondailynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13127"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/edmontondailynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/edmontondailynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmontondailynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmontondailynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13127"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/edmontondailynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13127\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13128,"href":"https:\/\/edmontondailynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13127\/revisions\/13128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/edmontondailynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmontondailynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmontondailynews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}