[Daveography]

City seeks input on vision for 109 Street
Edmontonians are invited to provide feedback on potential streetscape designs under consideration for the future of the 109 Street corridor, from the High Level Bridge to 61 Avenue. The team managing the Envision 109 project will present design possibilities and constraints, answer questions about the project and discuss ways to balance the needs of the community, area businesses and all Edmontonians.

Date: Thursday, May 12, 2016
Time: 4:30 p.m. -8 p.m.
Location: St. Basil’s Cultural Centre, 10819 71 Avenue

The 109 Street corridor serves several functions, such as a main street hub with distinct character nodes, a route for goods movement into and out of the core, and as a prominent commuter route linking downtown and south central Edmonton. The City wants to enhance the appearance and usability of this important corridor for people who engage in various activities and ways of getting around including driving, walking, biking and using public transit.

(Source)

 

[Daveography]

Oops, maybe this should have been under Transportation & Infrastructure...

 

[Marcanadian]

I've moved it over!

Just going down the street on Google Maps, it looks like those concrete medians would be a good spot for some greenery. Some of the little grass that does exist looks in rough shape.

 

[Daveography]

@Marcanadian The whole street needs a total rebuild; it was widened a number of decades ago to add the bus lanes which mostly handled express commuters from the south side; since the LRT was built to Century Park, most of those buses were made redundant.

The entire strip was also recently rezoned to become a medium-density mixed-used neighbourhood, so now they need to decide how to reconfigure the infrastructure and streetscaping to match that vision. Unfortunately I couldn't make the meeting myself to see what was happening.

 

[Daveography]

Bike lane controversy poised to hit Edmonton's 109 Street
Commuters and locals both favoured bike lanes for 109 Street at an open house recently, causing butterflies at City Hall.

City staff hesitated two months before releasing results, and still don’t seem sure what to make of it.

“Everyone seems to be a little nervous about bike routes for some reason,” said urban designer David Holdsworth, explaining how city officials would rather wait until after Stantec’s study of temporary bike lanes comes out in September to discuss 109 Street.

But for a city that recently saw four new bike lanes removed, the results are interesting. More than 100 people came to the open house in May, half from the adjacent neighbourhoods. Seventy-one per cent said reducing or narrowing the vehicle lanes was important. Sixty-one per cent asked for a buffer between a wider sidewalk and traffic and 67 per cent wanted a bike lane.

Full Story (Edmonton Journal)

 

[Daveography]

Consultation shows demand for 109 Street bike lanes
Recent public consultation showed a strong demand for 109 Street bike lanes, but an urban designer with the city said if they are put in, it won’t be for almost 20 years.

“Any implementation in theory is not going to happen until 2035 when the road needs to be rebuilt,” said David Holdsworth.

“There is no capital at the moment to do anything. It’s a long-term vision of what could or couldn’t be put in that place.”

Full Story (Metro Edmonton)

20 years is a stupid long time to wait. Temporary bike lanes would go a really long way here.

 

[trevorhayden]

If 109 Street doesn't look like this at the next renewal, I don't want to live in Edmonton anymore:

 

[IanO]

Start packing.

 

[_urbanite]

Highly doubt we'll see streetcars on or 15000 people/hour walking down 109 street in our lifetimes

 

[Gronk!]

Would it be possible to replace that intersection at 109 St/Saskatchewan Dr/Walterdale Hill with a traffic circle?

 

[_urbanite]

Would it be possible to replace that intersection at 109 St/Saskatchewan Dr/Walterdale Hill with a traffic circle?

I would love to see this. That intersection can be bit of a nightmare during rush hour (I drive through it every day).

 

[Greenspace]

109 Street needs a road diet/renewal more than Whyte does. But it won't happen soon.

 

[dunno]

109 Street needs a road diet/renewal more than Whyte does. But it won't happen soon.

Yeah, Whyte is fine in the grand scheme of things. It has wide enough sidewalks, parts of the drag have a tree median, and the streetscape, while it could be improved, is miles ahead of most Edmonton main streets. 109th Street is brutal by comparison, more like West Jasper. The preponderance of strip malls really does it no favours and the only reason it has any desirability is because it's between the UofA and Whyte and has a few gems like the Garneau Theatre block and the Sugarbowl/High Level Diner block.

 

[YEGCANUCK]

109th Street was renewed in... 2018-2019? However it wasn't much of a renewal - all they did was re-pave all the entire road without changing the design.