Stephen Avenue to close to vehicle traffic
Posted May 28, 2020 1:29 pm.
Last Updated May 28, 2020 3:44 pm.
CALGARY (660 NEWS) – Mayor Naheed Nenshi has announced that effective Friday, Stephen Avenue will be closed to traffic during most of the day throughout the summer.
Nenshi said that after 11:00 a.m., only pedestrians and cyclists will be allowed on the road.
https://twitter.com/Tommy_Slick/status/1266083407030710272
He said the city received a lot of feedback from businesses, with most indicating that this could help them get more customers inside during the first phases of the relaunch and assist with pedestrian flow.
“This is not a street festival, this is not summer party on Stephen Avenue,” said Nenshi.
“What this is about, is supporting those local businesses. So if you want to be able to come and have dinner or lunch sitting on one of those patios on Stephen Avenue, this is the time to do that.”
The road will be open for deliveries and other traffic between 6 a.m. and 11 a.m., and to assist with taxi or ride sharing pickups, there will be extra space made for them on the side streets off of Stephen Avenue.
Similar to the move to allow temporary pop-up patios around the city, this will also give an extension to restaurants and bars along the avenue.
“They need those patios, they’ve got to be able to expand those patios in order to have them have more patrons available for them. So, patios are going to go right to edge of the sidewalk. What is now the driving lane will become the pedestrian and cycling lane,” Nenshi added.
On questions about ensuring there is proper physical distancing between pedestrians, Nenshi agreed it is a “bit of a tunnel,” but there should not be many issues.
“It’s not much less width space than we have when you add the two sidewalks together, because you’ve gotten rid of a lane of traffic and a lane of parking. So, it’s actually quite a bit of space,” he said.
That said, you should still be thoughtful and only go down there when you have a reason instead of just aimlessly strolling around.
Nenshi said this is just an experiment for right now and there are no plans yet to make this a permanent change, however, the city will judge how it goes and may make a decision on that at a later date.
