BANFF – A dedicated express bus lane and multi-use trail on busy Mountain Avenue is moving ahead this spring.
The total project is estimated to cost $1.875 million, including pre-construction design, engineering work and construction, with funding split $750,000 from the federal Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program and $1.125 from Banff’s visitor paid parking revenues.
Intended to be fully complete and operational by fall, the express lane will be dedicated to tour buses, gondola shuttle buses, and Roam public transit heading downhill from the townsite boundary just south of Middle Springs Drive to Spray Avenue.
Town of Banff officials say the project aims to decrease traffic congestion and encourage visitors to take transit to the gondola, Upper Hot Springs and Rimrock Resort Hotel instead of personal vehicles.
“Essentially, I see this as rolling out the red carpet for transit users,” said Mayor Corrie DiManno.
“This is the best way that folks can guarantee they're going to see the places they would like to see because we know the parking lots at popular spots are full by 10 a.m.”
In addition to the express bus lane, an enhanced separated multi-use trail will provide cyclists and pedestrians with a safer route the full length of the road, between the multi-use trail connection at the YWCA and the neighbourhoods along Mountain Avenue. Experienced cyclists will still be able to ride on the road if they prefer.
Opportunities to extend the multi-use trail from Middle Springs Drive to the Sulphur Mountain parking lots are recommended for future consideration by Parks Canada.
The express bus lane at the Spray Avenue traffic light will have a signal advance to quickly move through the intersection.
“We know that creating a priority transit lane will help move people faster, which is going to encourage more people to get on transit,” said DiManno, adding local Roam routes hit a record-breaking 1.5 million riders in 2023, with 400,000 rides made by local residents.
“It’s looking at levers we have within our control that we can deploy to try to continue moving the needle on our traffic congestion issues,” she said.
Traffic data shows up to half of the vehicles heading up to the gondola parking lot during peak summer periods turn around immediately and become part of the traffic lineup heading back north towards downtown.
Mountain Avenue continues to be most affected by this traffic congestion, creating traffic delays and backups for visitors returning into town, and for all residents who live in neighbourhoods on either side of Mountain Avenue.
During budget deliberations, Banff council renewed its ask of Parks Canada to consider disincentives to driving to the parking lots for the gondola and hot springs at the top of Sulphur Mountain.
Those disincentives could be anything from paid parking to parking reservation systems.
“We also know a big part of our solution needs to be mass transit from Calgary and a lot of that is going to take advocating to the federal and provincial governments to help collaborate with us on that initiative,” said DiManno.
