Editor:
Before the first Canadian Pacific Railway passenger train rolled into Siding 29 in Banff, CPR was marketing Banff to the world.
“We can’t export the scenery, we will have to import the tourists,” according to CPR president Sir William Cornelius Van Horne in the 19th Century.
This strategy has not changed in 140-plus years and will not change in the next 140 years. The success of this strategy is where we are today. Sadly, all levels of government have not had the foresight to maintain and grow the infrastructure that was required. Banff finds itself in this fix today: too much traffic and using a knee-jerk, Band-Aid solution is not the answer.
First, creating a venturi-type situation using our tax dollars – two lanes to three back to two – on Mountain Avenue that will inconvenience residents in Valleyview, Upper and Lower Middle Springs in order to service non-Banff taxpaying venues.
Second, creating a pedestrian mall, with public dollars, inconveniencing tax-paying residents on Beaver, Muskrat, Otter, Buffalo and Lynx streets.
Third, the extra 500 parking stalls created at a public recreational facility, built for families with tax dollars, controlled by the private sector is not the solution. It’s a parking lot not big enough to service a vehicular distribution facility.
I offer two possible solutions.
First, create an adequate intercept traffic centre to accommodate the transfer from arrival transportation to mass transit to service venues from Lake Louise to Kananaskis Country.
Second, a limiting of personal vehicles similar to what Parks Canada has implemented Moraine Lake. Whatever the direction, it will need a large parking lot, either one will need a large parking lot within Banff or close proximity.
It is time to create a sustainable environment for Banff families, with a long-term vision, in tandem with all levels of government, First Nations, and the taxpayer.
As United States President Woodrow Wilson said when its National Park Service was created in 1916, “For the enjoyment of future generations.”
Jack Potman,
Banff
