And this is why:
Why would we put cars here, when we don't need to?
102ave will be a terrible road for cars. The city did a traffic study which predicted an *18 minute wait* to turn onto 102ave.
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| Edmonton Journal: Now the details: Here's exactly how the Valley Line LRT could impact you. |
If 102ave is opened to traffic it will be nothing but a long line of idling vehicles. So why not make it for people?
Do people actually want to be on 102ave?
Right now, 102ave definitely has a bit of a problem with monolithic malls from the 80s.
But City Centre Mall and Manulife Place have both announced redevelopment plans to open up their malls to the street, and to encourage walkability.
The former BMO lot at 102ave and 101st is currently a hole, but one day it will become something new.
Whatever that lot becomes, it won't need a single lane of idling traffic infront of it.
And honestly, the problem isn't just idling traffic:
"...oh, drivers won't break the rules. That won't happen." Unfortunately the 102ave bike lane will absolutely, 100% become the "I'll just be parking here for a second" lane.
But it doesn't need to be that way.
If we were to make 102ave into a people place we could get a freebie-plaza at the north end of Rice Howard Way as part of the deal:
It is 12,000sqft, which is enough space to store 6~8 cars, or enough space to do something new:
And a few blocks west at 102st another plaza would be possible by the YMCA and Manulife Place.
The area from 102st to 103st is an interesting spot, because at this point it has been closed for years, but it will also be closed again once the construction of the West LRT begins:
There is no point in allowing traffic here again for a few months or a year, only to close it again for a second round of LRT construction. So instead, while we wait for the West LRT to begin this area could be used for programming and pilots, similar to the pop-up parks which were successful in 2021.
A decade ago someone made the decision that one lonely traffic lane absolutely had to remain on 102ave.:
But at this point 102ave has been closed to traffic for years and years. If it never reopens, no one will miss it.
There are a million reasons to rethink 102ave: climate change, vision zero, collisions with people, collisions with trains, urban placemaking, downtown redevelopment, road maintenance...
A single lane of gridlocked traffic won't save downtown, but making downtown into a place for people might.
If you would like to see the individual images which were used in this post they are accessible through google photos here.
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