What's next for Banff's pedestrian zone after residents nix the seasonal fixture?

It's now official: Banff's pedestrian-only zone will be eliminated and vehicles will be allowed to drive the full length of Banff Avenue during the summer months.

The town will do away with its hotly contested car-free area after a binding plebiscite on Monday, when residents narrowly voted against implementing the fixture on a yearly basis, from the May long weekend to Thanksgiving weekend. 

The issue has been heavily debated by the town. It divided residents. Even Park Canada officials got involved.

It concluded with a community vote Monday, with 1,328 against the pedestrian zone and 1,194 in favour. The results became official on Tuesday.

Banff town council will now have to pass a bylaw to rescind their original decision that created the vehicle-free space. They'll do that at the next council meeting on Aug. 26.

"There's been a lot of passion on both sides of this vote. Residents are emotionally exhausted from this topic," said Banff Mayor Corrie DiManno. 

"We know what Banff residents have had to say, so we will move forward and embrace the result of this vote."

DiManno says dismantling the car-free zone can begin as soon as the day after the bylaw is passed.

Residents divided

Shelley Mardiros has lived in Banff for 31 years. She says she's seen the town go through changes over the years, including population growth and over-commercialization.

The pedestrian zone, she says, added to the issue.

"The traffic congestion is really appalling, and that makes the areas that are adjacent to the downtown core into de facto areas of downtown," Mardiros said.

"It makes it hard for people who live there … they would ordinarily want to sit outside but they can't because of trucks and buses and the fumes going by."

Mardiros says the zone's original purpose made sense — as a pandemic-era measure for shops and restaurants to increase space for their customers. But now that physical-distancing measures are no longer necessary, she says there's no reason for it to continue.

But others disagree. 

"I love it, it's a bonus to Banff," said resident Terri Hunter. She drives a bus and works in the tourism sector. 

Hunter admits there are times when getting across town is difficult due to traffic, but she says that would be the case regardless because of the influx of tourists. 

She sees the pedestrian-only area as a big draw.

"I work with tourists all the time, they love that part of it," Hunter said. "It promotes more shopping to have that street there."

Parks Canada, a petition and a plebiscite

The car-free section of Banff Avenue was first implemented during the pandemic as a way to cope with restrictions at the time.

It gave businesses an opportunity to expand their spaces, add capacity to shops and restaurants and increase the ability for physical distancing.

Mayor DiManno says it added to the town's economic viability and helped boost business around the mountain town.

Shutting down a section of Banff's main street to vehicle traffic, however, drew controversy and criticism.

Banff National Park's superintendent sent town council a letter citing concerns about patio regulations. That arrived a day before councillors were set to approve the municipal budget, which included funding the pedestrian zone on a permanent basis.

That letter temporarily paused the vote, but the town eventually did approve the funding.

Then this April, a petition calling for council to repeal its decision was filed. It was signed by 11.5 per cent of residents.

The petition triggered council to make a choice: either rescind the decision or let residents decide. 

They picked on the latter.

"We heard from a majority of residents that [it] was not worth the tradeoff for the pedestrian zone. So we're going to go back to the drawing board, continue conversations and move forward together on addressing these challenges," DiManno said.

"We do have too many vehicles on our road network, and the tipping point was that there was a detour onto some side streets."