Why do we need to reimagine 17th Ave.?
Challenges & Opportunities
17th Ave is under construction...
Before considering any new physical developments on 17th Ave, particularly any new road or sidewalks, it is imperative to consider the construction that is still ongoing as of today. Beginning in 2017, the City of Calgary started revamping the 30-year-old roads and sidewalks of 17th to implement a safer road design, wider sidewalks, upgraded utilities and add additional seating and greenery (City of Calgary, 2017). Although this is great news, it also means it will be unlikely for the city to make any new road and sidewalk improvements in the area for at least 15 to 20 years, the estimated life of an asphalt road (BreezeMaxWeb, 2019).
We can still make things better - incrementally
However, a short-term recommendation that can be made is for the city to pool its resources to complete the construction as efficiently as possible. Construction is expected to resume in Fall 2022 (City of Calgary, 2021), and the impact of road closures on businesses that had to deal with 2 years of COVID-19 closures will surely be felt. In fact, business owners were already feeling the brunt of this impact, even during the construction done before the pandemic. Sam Friley, a small business owner on 17th stated that, “that road has been ripped up for about a month, but we've only seen people working on it for the first two weeks" (2017, para.4), in an interview about how the construction affected his business. Another business owner, Harry Dimitriadis, notes “there are many vacancies right now [on 17th avenue],” since not all businesses affected by the 2017 - 2019 construction were able to stay afloat (2019, para.4).To prevent this situation from happening again, the city should prioritize timeliness when completing the construction, and provide subsidies to businesses in cases where it cannot. The city must recognize that although this construction is a long-term investment, it must still consider the small businesses trying to survive in the short-term.
A solution now protects small business owners from the impacts of COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has put uncertainty with many business owners, with 34,500 Alberta small business owners contemplating pulling the plug, putting 625,000 jobs at risk (CFIB, 2021).
Many businesses fear the risk of closing their restaurants/bars/shops unless there is a drastic change to the business climate. Increasing traffic to shops amidst the now "path to normalcy" will be essential to retain businesses and keep their doors open.
Re-imagining 17th Ave.
OUR SOLUTION
Vision 2030 - Pedestrianizing 17th Ave
Our group was imagining what 17th Ave might look like 10 years from now, and to be honest, a wider sidewalk and more parking spaces did not really seem to solve the problem in the long run. They were a good temporary fix. But with an increasing population and more-and-more eligible drivers and cars on the streets, it was only a matter of time before the additional parking spots and wider sidewalks became congested once again.
So, our third recommendation is therefore a little out of the box. We suggest instead to slowly transition 17th Ave, at least sections of it, to what Stephen Ave. has become. Pedestrianization of 17th Ave. where the street will only be accessible by pedestrians for a certain time slot throughout the day, possibly in the evening when pedestrian traffic would naturally be the highest.
Essentially, 17th Ave. will become primarily a pedestrian street with dedicated bicycle lanes. People will be able to drive their cars during select hours of the day, but the City of Calgary would highly encourage the visitors and residents to instead take the transit to commute to and from 17th Ave. We can leverage the current Calgary Transit network to implement this.
Our focus, in 3 main points.