Edmonton will reopen 102nd Avenue to traffic after city council votes down bylaw
CBC
Motorists will be able to drive eastbound on 102nd Avenue between 99th and 103rd streets in downtown Edmonton again, after city council rejected a bylaw to keep the corridor closed to traffic.
In a tight 7-5 vote at a public hearing Tuesday, city council voted against the bylaw that would have enabled the city to close that portion of the avenue to vehicles.
Councillors Anne Stevenson, Ashley Salvador, Aaron Paquette, Andrew Knack and Mayor Amarjeet Sohi voted in favour of the closure, as they wanted to pilot a pedestrian-friendly zone along that stretch of the downtown avenue.
Coun. Tim Cartmell said the designated bike lane on 102nd Avenue is safe for cyclists, but not for pedestrians.
"Today, walking in that corridor is not pleasant. It is not a pleasant experience," he said.
He noted that 102nd Avenue has no storefronts.
"It is not an energetic place and not having cars there is not going to change that, not in the short term," Cartmell said during the public hearing.
The avenue has been closed to traffic since early 2018 while TransEd, the consortium building the Valley Line Southeast LRT, worked on the line.
Adam Laughlin, manager of integrated infrastructure services with the city, told council that the area could have the barricades taken down and the avenue could reopen within a couple of weeks.
Council had directed administration last June to draft the bylaw to close the four blocks as a chance to bring foot traffic and vibrancy to downtown.
Stevenson, city councillor for Ward O-day'min, pushed the idea to pilot 102nd Avenue as a spot for strolling and shopping, car free.
"I was really excited to test out the pedestrianization of 102nd," she said.
"Unfortunately, with the LRT being delayed opening, we weren't really able to get that sense, to get that understanding of how that corridor could operate without vehicles."
City administration didn't support the move to keep the avenue closed to traffic and outlined those reasons in the draft bylaw.
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