[Daveography]

Jasper Avenue pilot project winds down this week
This is the final full week of Imagine Jasper Avenue. The pilot project aimed to bring an “innovative, vibrant and relevant streetscape that balances the needs of the community, commuters, businesses and visitors” to the section of Jasper Avenue from 109 Street to 124 Street, according to the City of Edmonton’s website.

There’ll be a wrap up event Saturday and between now and when a report to city council is distributed in January, one design modification will be adopted that was changed midway through the experiment.

There will be a right hand turning bay kept at 109 Street.

“It’s good to open the right turn and do some signal operational changes so that it benefits both commuters and pedestrians,” project manager Satya Gadidasu said. “Once that study is completed we want to take the recommendations and go with that into the design to do the modifications.”

https://globalnews.ca/news/3820329/jasper-avenue-pilot-project-winds-down-this-week/

 

[Daveography]

Excite your senses on Jasper Avenue
October 25, 2017

Join us for our fourth and final Experience Jasper Avenue design demonstration event, a harvest festival to excite and delight.

Date: Saturday, October 28
Time: 2 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Location: Edmonton General Continuing Care Centre parking lot, 11111 Jasper Avenue

Festivities include:

• Horse drawn hay-rides down Jasper Ave to tour the demonstration area
• Free cocoa and coffee
• Chili cook-off by donation from 2 - 4 p.m.
• Free hot dogs from 4 - 7 p.m.
• Trick or treat on Jasper from 109 to 113 Street with free Experience Jasper Avenue bags (while candies last)
• Roving entertainers
• Live music from the St. Joseph’s Basilica Schola Cantorum choir from 4 - 4:30 p.m.
• Activities with The Gamer’s Lodge in the Shipping Container Parklet
• Experience Jasper Avenue design demonstration video unveiling
• Mural Wall photo contest with prizes using the hashtag #ExperienceJasperAvenue

Removal of the demonstration will begin on Tuesday, October 31 so this is your last weekend to explore the changes to the avenue. Dress up in your Halloween best, grab some free coffee or cocoa and experience Jasper Avenue as you’ve never seen it before.

The new plan for Jasper Avenue, being demonstrated from 109 Street to 115 Street, was developed during the Imagine Jasper Avenue project as an opportunity for Edmontonians to experience the changes prior to construction in 2019. A combination of public, business and stakeholder feedback, City policies and procedures, and technical studies and standards were considered to develop the new design. In 2015, the City designated Jasper Avenue as an official Main Street and it is the first in Edmonton to be designed using the Main Streets Guideline.

For more information:
Edmonton.ca/experiencejasperavenue

Media contact:
Claire Laing
Communications Advisor
780-496-2966

 

[Daveography]

City of Edmonton‏ @CityofEdmonton
Save the date! Provide your feedback at the #JasperAveNewVision Public Open House on Jan 18 at the Alberta Hotel #yeg
https://www.edmonton.ca/projects_plans/downtown/jasper-avenue-new-vision.aspx

https://twitter.com/CityofEdmonton/status/950789448404480000

Date: Thursday January 18, 2018
Time: 11:30am-1:30pm and 4:30-8pm
Location: CKUA Radio Station, 9808 Jasper Avenue

 

[Daveography]

Photos from the open house last week.

 

[Daveography]

Part II

Materials and survey are also online: https://www.edmonton.ca/projects_plans/downtown/jasper-avenue-new-vision.aspx

 

[Daveography]

Proposed changes to Jasper Avenue receive mixed reviews from public
Edmonton has a 'new vision' for Jasper Avenue, but a Thursday open house showed Edmontonians are split on the changes.

The proposed changes to Jasper Avenue between 96 and 100 street are part of phase two of Jasper Avenue New Vision (JAVN).

JAVN was introduced in 2011 to tweak the streetscape of Jasper Avenue to improve the pedestrian experience, support businesses and attract visitors.

In a public engagement session held on Thursday, the city displayed their new plans around the Shaw Conference Centre, which includes expanding the sidewalks, narrowing roads (but keeping the four-lane traffic) and removing parking spots.

“The end goal of the project is to make Jasper Avenue (into) a main avenue that’s more walkable and pedestrian friendly,” said Jack Niepsuj, project engineer of transportation and design with the City of Edmonton.

The city completed phase one of the JAVN project in 2013 that included upgrades to 100 and 102 Street.

http://www.metronews.ca/news/edmont...avenue-receive-mixed-reviews-from-public.html

Wide sidewalks, more pedestrian spaces planned for Jasper Avenue
Shawn Wells read the posters closely and traced the maps with his fingers.

“I’m not happy,” he said Thursday.

Wells, who works a lot downtown, was one of the visitors at Jasper Avenue’s New Vision open house, hosted at CKUA Radio, 9808 Jasper Ave.

He said he did not like the idea of narrowing streets and taking away parking.

“My big thing is that changes like this are punishments to motorists,” he said.

City officials envision Jasper Avenue between 96 and 100 streets as more pedestrian-friendly, with wider sidewalks.

The changes are planned for between 2019 and 2020 to coordinate with rehabilitation efforts required for the Shaw Conference Centre off Jasper Avenue, said Jack Niepsuj, general supervisor for the city’s transportation, planning and design integrated infrastructure services.

http://edmontonjournal.com/news/loc...e-pedestrian-spaces-planned-for-jasper-avenue

My favourite quote:
“I understand you want to encourage pedestrians, but you’re in a city that has snow six months of the year,” Wells said. “There’s only three months of the year when you can have pedestrians downtown.”

 

[Daveography]

Ten minutes or two? Driver perception outpaces reality on Jasper Avenue
One in four drivers reported delays of 10 minutes on their morning commute through the contentious Jasper Avenue pilot project last summer.

The official stopwatches? Two minutes.

That discrepancy between perception and reality was one finding city officials released Thursday when they reported on their ongoing effort to redesign Edmonton’s premier downtown street.

Officials suggest some drivers felt the delay more keenly because of how quickly the pilot project was implemented.

Temporary concrete barriers and tree pots went up almost overnight, tightening the turning radius at the intersections and shortening crosswalks for pedestrians. Small parks and picnic tables were an extra, an attempt to give residents a sense of how livable the street could become if it were redesigned.

Overall, it was a successful test, said Rob Gibbard, director of transportation and design. It confirmed general traffic delays, proved the changes would decrease speeding and gave the team data to improve the permanent design.

They also gathered data that illustrated just how prevalent pedestrians are on the corridor. During the lunch break, there are actually more people walking than driving on Jasper Avenue east of 109 Street.

City officials counted the average number of vehicles and people walking on Jasper Avenue as part of last summer’s pilot project. CITY OF EDMONTON
The team spent eight days measuring volume and vehicle travel delays during the pilot project, recording delays by driving repeatedly up and down the corridor at the busiest times of the day.

“We got lots of good feedback … It was really good to see the speed reduction,” said Gibbard, pointing to a 10 per cent reduction in speeding.

Compliance with the 50 km/h limit was 73 to 79 per cent before the pilot project and 86 to 95 per cent during the pilot. That increased safety for everyone, he said.

http://edmontonjournal.com/news/loc...-perception-outpaces-reality-on-jasper-avenue

 

[Daveography]

Sigh...please don't ruin 107 Ave either. We really need to get past the idea that this is a zero-sum game, that we need to widen some roads to counterbalance reduction of others. Trying to continually accommodate the least efficient form of transportation in an ever-growing city is an exercise in futility that destroys neighbourhoods and divides communities and never actually solves traffic problems.

'Those are the only lanes left': Jasper Avenue changes have some councillors concerned
West-end commuters face a rough ride with two major projects threatening to cut access, warned several councillors while weighing options Monday for Jasper Avenue.

The west LRT is expected to reduce 104 Avenue west of 121 Street to one lane in each direction. That construction could be just around the corner.

Changes to make Jasper Avenue more pedestrian friendly are also lengthening commutes, said Coun. Tim Cartmell, responding to a report that found two-minute delays during the morning traffic peak.

“Are we getting into a death by 1,000 cuts?” he said at council’s executive committee meeting Monday. “What’s going to happen to our downtown business zone if it gets ever more difficult to get here? … Those are the only lanes left.”

Councillors asked administration to report back with a staging plan for the work, an analysis of the cumulative impact to the traffic network, and suggestions on how to mitigate traffic delays.

Officials will also evaluate what impact all this construction has on downtown businesses. The report is due back before the capital budget discussions in mid-2018.

“I would like to make sure we’re balancing all of those … looking at it as a full network,” said Coun. Andrew Knack, saying he supports both projects — the LRT and turning Jasper Avenue into a pedestrian-oriented main street.

But maybe 107 Avenue could be improved for motorists as well to serve as a more effective commuter corridor, said Knack. “That’s my concern right now.”

http://edmontonjournal.com/news/loc...venue-changes-have-some-councillors-concerned

 

[Daveography]

Drop-in information session on Imagine Jasper Avenue (109 St. - 124 St):
January 31, 2019 - 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Oliver School, 102278 118 St (East doors)

This is the relatively final detailed design stage. Construction is expected to begin summer of 2020 on the 109 St - 114 St. portion.

 

[archited]

As everyone knows from my previous posts I have zero confidence that the City can pull this off in any way that would resemble successful. Get ready for some trees, a wider sidewalk, sidewalk paving, and some street furniture -- that's it!

 

[Freedm]

Is this still happening?

 

[Daveography]

@Freedm As far as I know both projects are still happening, just not sure where in the process they might be.

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Freedm]

I remember hearing a couple of years ago that those new light standards (the grey ones) were on back order or some such thing, which is why the rest of the old green ones haven't been replaced yet. Seems awfully long for a back order though.

 

[chrisvazquez7]

I did some sleuthing on the city’s website, and here’s the most up to date information I could find:

Jasper Ave from 100 Street to 96 Street is going to start construction next year and be completed in 2021.

In Oliver the section between 109 and 114 Streets will also start construction in 2020 and be complete in 2022.

 

[Freedm]

Oh, that's good news. Thanks Chris! Right now it's looking like a bit of a patch work. The main street through our downtown currently has three different styles of light standards. Four if you include swinging by wire.