News   Apr 03, 2020
Pastel Morning
 4.7K     1 
News   Apr 02, 2020
A Message to Our Readers
 6.5K     3 
News   Apr 02, 2020
Soon to be Gone
 3.8K     0 

General Construction Updates

Went on a nice bike ride yesterday throughout downtown and the river. This has got to be my biggest pet peeve with this city. The paving treatment in Calgary is brutal. I went down Stephen Ave. and noticed the paving is an absolute mess. A jumble of different styles, asphalt patchwork, miscoloured paving bricks, broken and chipped sections, and overall poor upkeep and maintenance. For Calgary’s premier pedestrian street, the paving is absolutely terrible. I understand that we have lots of freeze/thaw, but if you are going to spend the money on a nice streetscape, then be prepared to spend the money to do proper repairs as it will be guaranteed to happen.

I am very pleased with the quality of paving stones in East Village, Riverwalk phase 1, and the new path by the Peace Bridge. So far it is very sharp looking, coherent, and holding up well. The East Village paving stones are great because if some break you can easily lift them out and plop a new one in its place without ripping everything up and paving it.

The other top quality paving is the Bow plaza. The granite paving stones are phenomenal to look at and have held up extremely well. It looks flawless.

To prove my point about consistency and cheap repairs look no further than 1st. Street. Again, they did a fantastic job extending the street both north and south from the original enhanced section. I rode by yesterday and noticed the median in the middle right by Colours had a “repair”. Instead of using the beige and grey coloured concrete that the rest of the median and entire street uses, they used plain white concrete instead. Talk about cheap. Why bother? Looks like smashed asshole.

These examples could go on forever... really cheapens what is otherwise good intentions.
 
This is a shot I took along 3rd street SW today. Same thing, good intentions, but really crummy looking.
IMG_7484.JPG
 

Attachments

  • IMG_7484.JPG
    IMG_7484.JPG
    286.8 KB · Views: 479
Haha brutal! Why even bother etching the “paving stone “ pattern into the cement. Just makes it look even worse and cheap.
 
Great picture. I count ~7(!) different types of pavement treatment in this photo, excluding the base of the street light of course :eek:

Why don't we just set one standard and stick with it?
 
Anyone know when 3rd St was redeveloped into a pedestrian-focused street? From the look of the design I'd guess it was the 1980s. Clearly it looks like the city has given up on trying to maintain it in its current form.

It's kind of an odd street to have attempted to convert into a pedestrian zone. Yes, it leads directly into Eau Claire, but it doesn't connect to the Beltline and has few amenities that would actually draw more pedestrians than any of the other N-S streets.
 
Silence&Motion said:
Anyone know when 3rd St was redeveloped into a pedestrian-focused street? From the look of the design I'd guess it was the 1980s. Clearly it looks like the city has given up on trying to maintain it in its current form.

It's kind of an odd street to have attempted to convert into a pedestrian zone. Yes, it leads directly into Eau Claire, but it doesn't connect to the Beltline and has few amenities that would actually draw more pedestrians than any of the other N-S streets.
Click to expand...

I thought they re-did 3rd street about 20 years ago, but could be wrong. It's busy with pedestrians at rush hour times and at lunch, but dead otherwise, and what I would classify as a solid fail. Caffe Artigiano is the only reason it a pulse. The problem is that there is no place for businesses along the corridor. Most buildings are cold, sterile facades of granite or glass with entrances facing onto the avenues. The lights along the walkway are so bright that you need sunglasses to walk it at night. There is literally no reason to be on this side street except as a passageway get between Eau Claire and Stephen Ave.
 
Any plans to renovate 3rd street in the near future? Perhaps a rethink with some retail could bring it back to life.

I fully think we should shut down Stephen Ave to all vehicle traffic and make it a full pedestrian street. Redo the entire stretch with nice paving and street lights/furniture. Add some fountains (like in Europe), statues/art, more coffee bistros and retail.
 
The Familia said:
Any plans to renovate 3rd street in the near future? Perhaps a rethink with some retail could bring it back to life.
Click to expand...
I like the new push of the main streets program that tries better to align street quality upgrades and land-sue to existing or up-and-coming retail stretches. Supporting and strengthening existing nodes rather than try to create entirely new ones from scratch (hard / impossible for a city to do without extensive effort and perfect timing as well as alignment between many groups). More 1st Street SW projects, less 16th Avenue N near SAIT projects. The city's limited funds can be better leveraged this way and supports the development of a "main street" culture that helps make future projects easier in the decades to come as people, businesses and voters see successful local examples and want to replicate them.
 
The Familia said:
Any plans to renovate 3rd street in the near future? Perhaps a rethink with some retail could bring it back to life.

I fully think we should shut down Stephen Ave to all vehicle traffic and make it a full pedestrian street. Redo the entire stretch with nice paving and street lights/furniture. Add some fountains (like in Europe), statues/art, more coffee bistros and retail.
Click to expand...
https://globalnews.ca/news/3916121/...-of-calgary-looking-at-stephen-avenue-revamp/
Not sure you can remove all traffic from all parts, due to parkade accesses, but a nice full refresh is planned to occur.
 
Silence&Motion said:
Anyone know when 3rd St was redeveloped into a pedestrian-focused street? From the look of the design I'd guess it was the 1980s. Clearly it looks like the city has given up on trying to maintain it in its current form.

It's kind of an odd street to have attempted to convert into a pedestrian zone. Yes, it leads directly into Eau Claire, but it doesn't connect to the Beltline and has few amenities that would actually draw more pedestrians than any of the other N-S streets.
Click to expand...

1986
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top