Combine Calgary’s largest mall with MacLeod Trail and a busy Chinook LRT station and you get pedestrian numbers that come close to those seen in the downtown.
That’s why the city took on the 61 Avenue Greenway project.
On Saturday the City of Calgary hosted a “thank-you” event for all the businesses that were affected by construction of the $9-million project.
“Definitely we get thousands of pedestrians every day in this area. These are the busiest intersections outside of downtown,” project manager Yin Qu said.
The three blocks between the C Train station and MacLeod Trail now consist of wider sidewalks, better lighting, benches, trees and public art.
“Based on some of the polls the city has done, people just felt that it is a darker area,” Qu said. “Especially at night, there’s a sense that it is unsafe to walk to the mall from the train station, so we have installed new lights and it’s much brighter and it’s definitely a safer environment.”
Construction started in May of 2016 and businesses were told it would be finished by the fall, but unexpected underground utility issues made for delays, and some of the businesses along 61 Avenue continued to be affected.
“I have a letter that says it will be finished by September,” Chuckles Costume Shop owner Dave Fletcher said.
“Our busy season being October, I said, ‘Well OK we can live with that.’ But the road was shut down and you couldn’t hardly get into our store in October.”
The costume shop has been in business in Calgary for 35 years, but Fletcher said its future was in question because of the construction.
“The economy has been tough. It made it a very tough year,” he said. “We looked at our options and said, ‘We’re not going out at the bottom of a cycle, we are here to stay.’ But it’s tough.”
The corridor was also built to help lure more new developers to the area. As for the existing businesses, some are not sure if it’s all been worth it.
The pedestrian overpass over MacLeod Trail near the Chinook Centre is expected to open on schedule this December.