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7/14/2010
The City of Edmonton is taking the first steps to spruce up the downtown pedway system.
The goal is to liven up some dead spaces, make it more secure, and allow visitors to navigate it more easily. However, one member of city council has his concerns. Councillor Ben Henderson, who represents downtown constituents, worries that if there's too much going on in the pedway, people will avoid street level.
"I have huge hesitation with respect to the pedway connections," says Henderson. "I think we will just dig ourselves a deeper hole if we go down that road."
However, Jim Taylor with the Downtown Business Association says there are a lot of pedway links that, if spruced up, won't compete with what's above at street level.
"That's what the detractors would have you believe -- that it's either, or," says Taylor. "If you have a pedway system, you kill downtown. If you don't have a pedway system, everybody in the world will walk down Jasper Avenue no matter what the temperature is, or what the weather's like. So, it's certainly not that."
A new committee jointly run by the businesses associated with the system and the city will look at improving signage, clearing up confusion for security, and will even consider expanding the system to include the World Trade Center and Hotel MacDonald.(sj/bp)
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