Walkability emphasized in long-term plan for Old Strathcona area – Edmonton

Edmonton city council is debating the future of Old Strathcona, where the south Edmonton area’s future could see more pedestrian-friendly spaces — but the tradeoff is fewer places to park.

The Old Strathcona Business Association is fine with that, as it says funds for infrastructure renewal in the area are desperately needed.

“We see millions of dollars being invested in rehabilitating other areas of the city and we have not had our fair share, and it’s long, long overdue,” said Cherie Klassen, the executive director of the Old Strathcona Business Association.

She said the Whyte Avenue area attracts over a million visits each year. About half of that alone is during the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival each August.

“We have way more foot traffic than just about any other area of the city, so it is long overdue to invest in our community because we also have a huge tax base,” Klassen said.

“We pay some of the highest property taxes and we have a whole bunch of land that is not actually producing any of that property tax value.”

On Tuesday, city councillors on the urban planning committee heard from Edmontonians about the Old Strathcona Public Realm Strategy.

The strategy’s recommendations include seven key actions:

1. Create a District Park
2. Create a Gateway Greenway
3. Create an Urban Plaza
4. Improve End of Steel Park and support mixed-market development of the parking lot
5. Support development next to Connaught Armoury
6. Pedestrianize 83 Avenue
7. Prioritize pedestrians on Whyte Avenue and the addition of mass transit

The plan talks about improvements to the area, including turning the city-owned parking lot leased to the Old Strathcona Farmers Market along Gateway Blvd. into a park.

All this would happen over a few decades.

“I can’t imagine a scenario that 20 years from now, we still have a surface lot beside one of our busiest main streets in the city,” said Ward Nakota Isga councillor Andrew Knack.

“That that is not good value for taxpayers.”

The strategy also suggests closing parts of 83rd Avenue to vehicles. The loss of parking is concerning for some local businesses.

The Varscona Theatre and farmers market say a lot of their customers aren’t necessarily local — some come to the market from the city’s suburb neighbourhoods, but there are also people who drive in from surrounding communities.

“We would be happy to see some of the parking stay and see some of it go. I think what we’re looking here is to find a middle ground and there has to be one,” said Varscona Theatre executive director Kendra Connor.

The theatre on 83rd Avenue, across the road from the farmers market, would specifically like to see the surface lot for the weekly market remain.

“We really want to make sure that patrons, even as far as 10 years in the future, have the ability to park in our neighbourhood.”

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However, the Old Strathcona Business Association believes less traffic is key. Klassen said the area would thrive with more pedestrians and green spaces.

“This is about a multi-million-dollar investment that we have not seen since the 1980s, so squandering that opportunity would be a absolute waste,” she said.

The city counted publicly-available parking spaces and their use from 109th Street to 99th Street and 85rd Avenue to 79th Avenue (a five to seven minute walk on foot to/from Whyte Avenue) over three days ( from a Thursday to a Saturday).

A city study found there are 3,500 public parking spaces made up of on-street and publicly available off-street parking in Old Strathcona. Of those, 1,965 were on-street curbside parking spaces.

The city said utilization (for on-street curbside) was generally below 65 per cent with a peak of 72 per cent: On average, there were between 250 to 500 parking spaces at any given time available within one block from Whyte Avenue.

City data shows currently, two-thirds of people who come to Whyte Avenue do not visit by car. Ward papastew councillor Michael Janz said the city needs to plan for when that number grows.

“Parking you see today will be here tomorrow, will probably be here five years from now,” Janz said.

“But what’s going to change in future is we’re going to have more bus service coming to Whyte, that we’re going to have more active transportation connectivity.”

On Tuesday, city councillors asked administration to study the parking issue more and come back with reports in 2025.

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