Downtown street closures OK'd for EnCana construction

Calgary city council has approved a plan to close a major downtown route during some of theconstruction ofEnCana's new downtown headquarters.

The project will require the closure of Sixth Avenue between First Street and Centre Street SE. An estimated 22,000 drivers use that stretch every day.

Drivers will also face rotating lane closures on surrounding streets and avenues.

The developer, Matthews Development Inc.,has agreed to reopen Sixth Avenue on time or face substantial daily fines.

Crews can do what they need to do in less than a year, but if they don't, the company isprepared to pay 10 times the usual daily late fee, or$14,000 a day, a company spokesman said.

Matthews Development has shown it's serious about limiting the disruption, said Mayor Dave Bronconnier.

"And they'll double shift, work overtime and work weekends, subject to weather.We don't have any other applicant, including our own workforces, that [is] under this agreement."

New LRT cars

In the meantime, the city has plans to lessen the inevitable traffic mayhem bytaking cars off the streets.

"With the newLRT cars coming on, we'll add sufficient capacity to carry 4,800 people per hour,"said city general manager John Hubbell.

More buses will be added to routes where the LRT doesn't go and downtown workers will be encouraged to walk, bike or carpool, he said.

The firstclosures are to start this May. Detour routes will be marked and most disruptive work will be done overnights and off-peak hours.

The EnCana building will be the tallest office tower in Western Canada.

The 59-storey Bow — whose name is drawn from the nearby Bow River and from the tower's curving shape— will span the north and south sides of Sixth Avenue and have an area of 1.7 million square feet.