Calgary’s Inglewood goes car free on Sundays
Posted Aug 12, 2022 8:04 am.
Last Updated Aug 12, 2022 8:14 am.
Calgarians spending their time in Inglewood over the weekend might be surprised by a lack of cars.
The southeast community is starting a new initiative, banning vehicle traffic on Sundays through August.
For the rest of the month, Calgarians can stroll through the neighbourhood and support local businesses, all without having to look both ways to cross the street.
9 Avenue SE will be closed to vehicles from 11 Street SE to 14 Street SE between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. beginning Aug. 14, allowing businesses to extend their storefronts to the sidewalk.
Dan Allard, the chair of Inglewood’s Business Improvement Area (BIA), says Sundays without cars will give businesses more freedom.
“You know, we’re really excited to see how creative the businesses get, but also the residents,” he said.
“If you look at bigger cities, they’ve been doing it for a long time for longer stretches than just one day. You know, Kelowna is a smaller city, they do it for the whole summer down their main street and it’s wildly popular,” Allard added.
Allard says there is virtually no direction coming from the BIA, adding it’s up to locals to use the roads how they want to.
“I expect to see some live music happening from the Music Mile, I’ll expect to see some chalk art happening,” Allard said. “Hopefully people bring some lawn games out and start playing spikeball in the middle of the road.”
He adds there will be a police presence in the area to deter people from trying to drive through the neighbourhood. However, for those who live too far away to simply walk to the neighbourhood, there will be several places to leave your vehicle and enjoy the car-free day in the community.
“Underneath Bite Groceteria, there is a huge parkade people can use and have access to,” Allard said.
“There is of course parking on the surface lots beside Rouge … There is a huge parkade called the Platform in East Village, which is a 10 minute walk as well.”
Allard says there is room for 500 or more vehicles in those areas.
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Colin McGuire, assistant manager of Knifewear, a Japanese knife shop in Inglewood, says initiatives like these bring the community closer together.
Knifewear, along with other businesses in the neighbourhood, will be outside to showcase their wares. Inglewood has more than 150 businesses.
“We’re gonna have a tent set up. So we’ll be doing some sharpening demonstrations, we’ll have some of our fine Japanese knives [that] people can try out,” McGuire said.
Car-free Sundays will feature live music, expanded patios, and increased walking space for residents. This idea is prompting some to wonder if other communities should follow suit.
“Cities are for people and really with the roads being the way they are in Calgary, you’d think that cities were for cars not people,” McGuire told CityNews.
Lorie Patterson with the Artesano Galleria boutique welcomes the idea, saying the usual number of vehicles in the area is a nuisance.
“Like all this traffic, there’s nowhere to park down here anymore. So having all the people walking the streets is amazing,” Patterson said.
Organizers say the initiative is an homage to a time when foot traffic was the only type of traffic in the neighbourhood.
