Edmonton's city council will decide whether to prioritize delivering bus rapid transit and wider sidewalks on Whyte Avenue when it makes its budget decisions for the next four years this fall.
On March 23, urban planning committee supported a motion from Coun. Michael Janz, whose Ward papastew includes most of Whyte Avenue, directing administration to bring forward two funding packages to budget deliberations. Council will consider funding the detailed design, infrastructure delivery, and operations of the B1 and B2 BRT routes. It will also consider funding simultaneous improvements to the pedestrian realm along Whyte Avenue, which would involve removing some vehicle parking to make way for wider sidewalks. The motion also calls for an unfunded service package to advance transit priority measures across the city.
"If we're going to be doing BRT down Whyte Ave — if we're going to be chopping up Whyte Ave anyway — let's do the pedestrian realm improvements around the sidewalks and around the intersections," Janz said while introducing the motion.
Councillors heard from several Edmontonians, including members of Prioritize Whyte Ave, a coalition made up of the Old Strathcona Business Association, the French Quarter Business Association, Paths for People, and Edmonton Transit Riders. The coalition is realistic about what council can and will do, said Andrea Donini, the interim executive director of the OSBA.
"We know that this next budget is going to be a challenge, so it would be unrealistic of me to say 'Yeah, absolutely, with all of us speaking together, we're absolutely certain we're getting everything we're asking for,'" Donini told Taproot's Speaking Municipally before the committee meeting. "But we do definitely need to consider the fact that this is a heritage district — it's got a specific kind of cultural and economic value to the city."
The funding packages, if approved in the fall, would mean action on some of the many plans and designs for Whyte Avenue and the immediate surroundings. The pedestrian improvements are one action in the Old Strathcona Public Realm Strategy, which focuses on the stretch between 109 Street and 99 Street. Some actions in the strategy are underway, while others are not funded. The two BRT routes included in the motion both go down Whyte Avenue, and are still in early design phases without funding for construction.
"There's been a lot of attention given to what the potential for the area could be, but there's not been a lot of 'rubber meets the road' on making that happen, pun intended," Donini said. "Nothing actually seems to materialize, and we think it needs to."
A coalition of advocacy groups and business associations is calling for investments to make Whyte Avenue more pedestrian- and transit-friendly. (Stephanie Swensrude)
The coalition agrees with Janz that it would be best for the plans to be executed at the same time, to avoid consecutive construction projects that stretch on for years.
"If you're going to put in bus rapid transit and if you need a dedicated lane, you're talking about making changes on the curb, but you're not going to repair the sidewalk while you're there," Donini said. "Then you have to go in to repair the sidewalk or replace it as it gets to the end of its lifetime, and you're going to rip up the work that was done for bus rapid transit because you need to get access and put in proper substrate, or whatever the case may be."
Donini said she acknowledges that the city is in a tough financial position. "We do understand the concern and we certainly don't want to make (the area) more difficult to grow in because property taxes have to go up," she said.
But at the same time, she said the avenue lives in the hearts of many Edmontonians. "I get calls on a weekly basis saying, 'What is going on with Whyte Ave? It looks terrible,' which is really heartbreaking to hear."
While Prioritize Whyte Ave is currently a coalition of business improvement areas and active-transportation advocates, the group is working to get the community leagues along the corridor — Garneau, Queen Alexandra, Strathcona, Ritchie, Bonnie Doon, and King Edward Park — involved as well, Donini said.
Urban planning committee also considered a report listing the roadways that need the most investment: 124 Street between Jasper Avenue and 107 Avenue; Jasper Avenue between 109 Street and 102 Street; and 127 Street between Yellowhead Trail and 137 Avenue. While Whyte Avenue didn't make the top three, the report said it still ranked high, and improvements could be included in any potential BRT construction and pedestrian improvements.
Meanwhile, councillors heard opposition to dedicated bus lanes from downtown business owners along 101 Street and elsewhere in Chinatown, in part because the lane replaced parking between 107 Avenue and Kingsway.
Coun. Anne Stevenson, who represents the downtown ward of O-day'min, introduced a motion recommending that council direct administration to make the southbound lane a dedicated bus lane during rush hour only, and to return with a report analyzing how this change impacted on-time performance. The motion passed 4-1 with Janz opposed; council will make the final decision at a future meeting.
Hear Donini's full interview on Episode 348 of Speaking Municipally: