BANFF – The Town of Banff is investigating a more permanent pedestrian zone in downtown Banff.
At a marathon meeting on Monday (Nov. 8), council directed administration to come up with a budget for a three-year downtown pedestrian zone from 2022-24 for consideration in the upcoming service review.
Mayor Corrie DiManno said closing the 100 and 200 blocks of Banff Avenue to vehicles to make way for a pedestrian zone has been successful in boosting economic activity and attracting visitors to the tourist town left devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We know that visitors love the Banff Avenue pedestrian zone. It’s a new experience and we have what people are looking for,” she said, adding tourism resorts around the world are competing for visitors as international borders open up.
“The three years fits the timeline for tourism recovery and it will allow us to plan, collaborate and market more effectively. It will enable businesses to properly prepare and invest, and they will be more likely to invest if they know there’s a three-year return on investment.”
The pedestrian zone was initially set up for summer 2020 to help deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and attract visitors safely back to Banff after the once thriving tourist community was all but a ghost town during a strict provincial lockdown earlier that spring.
Complete with outdoor retailing and dining, the pedestrian zone aimed to create a vibrant outdoor destination to allow for greater physical distancing and to give struggling businesses an opportunity to offset public health restrictions, such as indoor capacity limits.
Banff and Lake Louise Tourism (BLLT) has called on council to support a pedestrian zone for at least the next three years, while a host of restaurants and retailers wrote letters of support this week to council.
David Matys, BLLT’s director of events and animation, said research by Destination Canada shows that the national visitor economy is not expected to recover to pre-pandemic levels until 2024 or 2025.
“Banff’s economy and the livelihoods of our community are overwhelmingly dependent on tourism and the quality of the visitor experience we provide," he said.
“Our visitors have understandably changed during the pandemic, as have their wants and needs… They are looking for more diverse experiences than before.”
BLLT’s 2020 visitor experience surveys showed 97 per cent of respondents wanted the pedestrian zone to be a permanent summer feature while 91 per cent liked the idea of shopping and dining outdoors rather than inside.
Responses to a survey of BBLT members were somewhat polarized and some businesses felt the benefits of the pedestrian zone were not equitable at all times; however, on average, they indicated support for a continued pedestrian zone.
“Members have told us that the creation of the pedestrian zone was essential to their businesses’ survival during COVID restrictions,” said Matys.
Not all residents, however, were happy with the pedestrian zone, which contributed to increased traffic jams and congestion as the number of visitors increased this summer, mostly regional visitors in personal vehicles.
With traffic backed up across the Bow River bridge and up Mountain Avenue, residents were also worried about getting stuck on the south side in the event of an evacuation order for an emergency like a wildfire.
Others didn’t like the impacts on their quality of life with countless back-to-back vehicles diverted from Banff Avenue through residential neighbourhoods along Beaver, Muskrat and Lynx streets.
Laurie Hardingham, who lives on the south side of the Bow River, said the closure of Banff Avenue caused increased congestion for both residents who live on the south side of the bridge and also for getting around town in general.
“It made for a very frustrating summer caused by traffic congestion, even at 19 per cent below 2019 traffic,” said Hardingham in a letter presented to council on Monday.
“With the proposed increase in traffic for summer 2022 and beyond, I feel that a discussion of the closing of Banff Avenue, Wolf and Caribou streets at this time is premature and definitely requires community consultation.”
Town of Banff administration is working under the assumption of increasing visitation over the 2022-2024 period, as travel restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic subside and visitors seek out nature-based tourism.
Darren Enns, the Town’s director of planning and development, said traffic congestion on Mountain Avenue and the Lynx and Beaver corridors saw a marked increase in 2021 from last year.
“This was due to a combination of increasing vehicle volumes as well as reduced roadway capacity associated with the pedestrian zone,” he said, adding congestion in Banff will continue with or without the pedestrian zone, however.
With rebounding vehicle volumes and no municipal or federal options for increased intercept parking or mass transit, Enns said it is assumed that vehicle congestion would increase in future years and be worsened by the downtown pedestrian zone.
He said part of the solution lies in the model used by Parks Canada for Lake Louise and Moraine Lake – intercept parking, frequent shuttles and paid parking. Parks has said no to any additional land for more intercept parking in Banff and has not implemented paid parking at tourism hot spots such as the hot springs on Sulphur Mountain or the Cave and Basin.
“Unfortunately, we’re obviously not the favourite child in the field unit because that has not been applied to us here,” said Enns.
“We’re basically trying to move people to an attraction in the national park across the river, which causes us a lot of congestion on Mountain Avenue and that’s what we’re trying to solve.”
The expert panel struck by Parks Canada to look at moving people sustainably throughout Banff National park may address this.
“We’re very hopeful that we will have some positive long-term outcomes beyond a three-year horizon that come from that group,” said Enns.
The Banff National Park Net Zero 2035 Working Group also called for a permanent downtown pedestrian zone, noting it’s a critical prerequisite to achieving the master plan of reducing vehicle traffic and becoming a net-zero community and park by 2035.
Gordon Lozeman, a local hotelier and member of the working group, said a pedestrian zone enhances a community’s character, which supports the townsite’s role as a community within a national park.
“Think trails, bikes, hikes... and encouraging people to use intercept parking, ride public transit, and get out of their cars,” he said in a letter to council. “We understand that there are traffic concerns, but these are solvable problems.”
Some councillors said residents’ concerns need to be taken seriously and more needs to be done to mitigate against the traffic congestion before considering a more permanent pedestrian zone on Banff Avenue.
“I've heard comments from a number of residents on Beaver Street and some on Lynx and on Muskrat as well, how the increased traffic affects the quality of their life,” said Coun. Ted Christensen.
“They find it difficult sitting on their patios and having a relaxing time because of rows of traffic out there, the increased numbers of people. I think it needs to be brought up in a public forum.”
The approved budget for the 2021 pedestrian zone totalled $313,650, but final costs were just shy of $257,000. Administration expects costs would be similar in 2022 if the same program is approved.
Coun. Hugh Pettigrew was interested in looking at the budget for a pedestrian zone during service review, but said he worries the community hasn't had a chance to digest this.
“I don’t have a problem at looking at this during the budget,” he said. “But it feels like we are going to marry us to this process for three years when, in fact, all we’re asked by administration today is to go ahead and cost this for us.”
Coun. Barb Pelham said she believes it is council’s duty to look at a minimum of one year for the pedestrian zone, but added she was certainly interested in seeing the costs associated with having a pedestrian zone for the coming three summers.
“Collectively, we know that this is the right direction in terms of our environmental obligation and our obligation to return to a sustainable tourism model,” she said.
“As meetings happen in Glasgow for COP26, I feel like we need to be aware that we have an ability to impact our own little world here. This is going to be challenging, but I would love to look further into it.”
Mayor DiManno said a pedestrian zone is a way to help Banff build back the tourism industry and community sustainably, putting the question to her council colleagues: What kind of community does Banff want to be?
“We talk a big game when it comes to being a community in Canada’s first national park… but we know we have to change our behaviours to affect real change, especially when it comes to greenhouse gases,” she said.
“Why not walk the talk by taking cars off Banff Avenue and reshaping what it means to visit Banff? Why not create the space for the behaviour we want to see in summer – walking, biking, skateboarding and taking transit?”
While there are some logistics to iron out with Roam Transit, DiManno said keeping Roam operating within the pedestrian zone gives the transit system greater exposure to residents and visitors.
“It creates an incentive to take transit because you’ll be able to get downtown faster and easier without your car,” she said, noting the Town of Banff has heavily invested dollars in local public transit.
“We need to support the rebuild of transit post-pandemic and this is a way that we can do that. It will make it so transit has priority throughout the downtown core, and that’s a strong message to send in terms of where we stand on protecting our environment.”
During the one-and-a-half-hour discussion on the pedestrian zone, concerns were also raised about the private use of public space with sidewalk seating for restaurants, bars and coffee shops, as well as outdoor retailing and merchandising.
Coun. Pettigrew was unsuccessful in his attempt to convince the majority of his colleagues to have administration bring cost recovery options for the pedestrian zone back to council for consideration at service review.
Currently, the sidewalk seating policy has a range of fees based on the number of tables and chairs, and costs fluctuate based on the level of service. For example, non-staffed take-away is the cheapest option while a full-service patio is the most expensive.
A more expensive fee would be in the $6,000 range and a less expensive one is about $800.
“I just want information,” said Coun. Pettigrew. “The intent is not to charge for everything.”
Most councillors didn't agree with Pettigrew’s idea from a philosophical perspective, saying the pedestrian zone has benefits to the public beyond the outdoor dining experience, such as public seating and landscaping.
“I think there’s so much public benefit to the pedestrian zone,” said Coun. Grant Canning. “I don’t support putting more impetus on the retail sector and restaurants.”
Enns also looked to temper any concerns about commercial growth management, which bubbled up during the municipal election campaign, noting outdoor dining in the public realm does not qualify as an expansion of commercial growth.
He said commercial growth is managed through a number of pieces of legislation, including the Canada National Parks Act, Banff National Park Management Plan and the Town of Banff’s Land Use Bylaw.
“All of those quantify commercial growth in the form of commercial gross floor area,” he said.
“It is building that is the measure of commercial growth. It’s not the number of tables and chairs that are outside.”
While the pedestrian zone is new, Enns said Banff has had a sidewalk seating policy in place for a decade.
“Outdoor dining has been a proven concept in Banff for 10 years,” he said. “No red flags have been raised during that period by Parks Canada that this is somehow in violation of commercial growth management.”
