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Keep 102 Ave closed to vehicles

I noticed that the bike lanes are fully open along 102 Ave east of 103 St although there are still barricades up in the pedestrian lanes. I hope this trial run is extended until at least autumn 2023 so that it's given a fair chance, but of course that depends on when this LRT line is finally open.
 
^There is a draft bylaw to close the vehicle lane coming this fall. So far I've seen nothing to suggest keeping it closed is beneficial, in fact it's quite detrimental to the area. However, without the LRT running it's hard to know what it would be like once the Valley Line is operational. But the idea that closing these lanes would induce some kind of activations and vibrancy is false. No one is interested in do that, not even the folks promoting its closure. Without significant pedestrian traffic in the area there will be no interest in redevelopment (retail follows pedestrians/traffic) with the amount of safety issues currently happening.
 
archited said:
Yes
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If that's the case, it just seems like there is going to be such minimal potential vehicle traffic on 102 Ave since Encore and all the other condos on 103, 104 and 105 streets won't even have access to 102 Avenue because of lrt construction.
 
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^It could have been designed as a shared street, per former Councillor McKeen's idea in 2013 that Transportation rejected. 20km/hr for local deliveries, parkade access etc. If it's going to be close permanently I hope when the LRT opens there is a enough pedestrian traffic to improve safety and encourage retail at grade. If not, we need to review the closure.
 
For the past few weeks I've been seeing quite a few cyclists, e-scooters and pedestrians between 101 St and 103 St
 
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Greenspace said:
^There is a draft bylaw to close the vehicle lane coming this fall. So far I've seen nothing to suggest keeping it closed is beneficial, in fact it's quite detrimental to the area. However, without the LRT running it's hard to know what it would be like once the Valley Line is operational. But the idea that closing these lanes would induce some kind of activations and vibrancy is false. No one is interested in do that, not even the folks promoting its closure. Without significant pedestrian traffic in the area there will be no interest in redevelopment (retail follows pedestrians/traffic) with the amount of safety issues currently happening.
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So I've been walking from city hall to 124th street via 102nd at least 4x a week since spring and am having really big doubts about the viability of the pilot. There is barely any foot traffic, and I'm sure the LRT being down isn't helping but I think the biggest problem is that there is still little draw to that street in terms of street level retail or restaurants, and not much has opened up, even with the promise of the tram running outside. It's going to be winter soon and street level activity is not going to improve by end of year.

I think this is the right project (and happy we took the opportunity with the closure) but it really should be done on 104th street (or Rice Howard) or the city needs to fully commit to keeping it closed and put resources into opening the street for retail.

I don't think it was bad idea to try it, but I don't want people to point to the pilot not working as intended as an excuse not to make another run at a carless street.
 
Garneau2Go said:
So I've been walking from city hall to 124th street via 102nd at least 4x a week since spring and am having really big doubts about the viability of the pilot. There is barely any foot traffic, and I'm sure the LRT being down isn't helping but I think the biggest problem is that there is still little draw to that street in terms of street level retail or restaurants, and not much has opened up, even with the promise of the tram running outside. It's going to be winter soon and street level activity is not going to improve by end of year.

I think this is the right project (and happy we took the opportunity with the closure) but it really should be done on 104th street (or Rice Howard) or the city needs to fully commit to keeping it closed and put resources into opening the street for retail.

I don't think it was bad idea to try it, but I don't want people to point to the pilot not working as intended as an excuse not to make another run at a carless street.
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Fair point. However, the LRT still has not opened and nothing has been implemented to activate the street as part of the pilot.

And regardless, 102 Ave from 107 street to 103 street is going to be having west valley line lrt work beginning soon so it's not going to be suitable for car traffic anyway.

Plus downtown is quiet, reflected in parking lots that are less busy - is there really a need for this street to reopen at this time.
 
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