There are 713,000 registered vehicles in Edmonton and population forecasts say we could double in size in 30 years and so we're potentially doubling cars on the road if our current patterns continue.
When it comes to parking downtown, if we're going to have a sufficient amount, do people think current parking lots should remain undeveloped because we're not going to have enough of it?
And our roads - and specifically access into the core - how is that going to be facilitated with increasing vehicle traffic but no new road infrastructure? Is there space in the core to widen roads for this increase in traffic? How are we going to avoid future congestion?
These are questions that were posed to cities, in part by the car industry, as they advocated for expanded roads and more parking since the 50s.
And as pointed out in the video below, the car industry has pretty much always gotten what it has wanted - such that neighbourhoods (usually of lower income) were wiped out and buildings bulldozed for more and more parking and freeways etc. And yet congestion and parking problems continue to be an issue.
Back in the 70s it was noted that for every one mile of new road, two miles of existing road needed to be repaired/redone - a huge cost. Its an issue getting worse.
Anyone with an answer specifically about parking needs downtown as our population begins to multiply in this city? What's going to happen if we develop more of this land currently allocated for parking for people to live and for businesses to locate? And how are people going to get downtown in a reasonable amount of time if driving with increasing traffic?
