Prioritizing buses over parking on Edmonton's 101st Street will hurt businesses, owners say

Emilie Rubayita · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 15, 2025 8:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Some businesses connected 101st Street northbound of downtown Edmonton accidental they are acrophobic that planned changes to autobus work — and a resulting nonaccomplishment of thoroughfare parking — volition negatively interaction their operations.

The City of Edmonton is moving to amended nationalist transit efficiency, including the implementation of autobus lanes connected engaged roads, set to beryllium installed starting this summer, into 2026.

The planned changes see a dedicated transit lane connected the southbound broadside of 101st Street, betwixt Kingsway and 107th Avenue. On-street parking connected 101st Street "will beryllium affected," the metropolis said successful a connection to CBC News.

"The metropolis is implementing these changes to operations connected 101 Street, aiming to trim delays for radical who trust connected transit to question to and from Chinatown and the amended transit downtown halfway each day," the connection said.

"Since 101 Street is simply a large artery for implicit 20,000 vehicles daily, dedicating abstraction for buses helps amended question times for everyone by expanding wide roadway capacity, minimizing conflicts with on-street parking during highest hours and optimizing awesome timing."

The metropolis said alternate parking options for customers include on-site parking, adjacent parking tons and on-street parking connected adjacent roads, including 107th Avenue and 108th Avenue. On-street parking connected 101st Street southbound volition beryllium permitted aft 7 p.m.

The businesses, including fashionable spots similar Padmanadi, Thanh Thanh, Fukienese and Freecloud Records say they are disquieted that the program to region captious parking spaces could deter customers, particularly those attending events astatine adjacent Rogers Place.     

"Eliminating thoroughfare parking on 2½ blocks of 101st Street is not going to amended the clip of radical taking the bus," said Richard Liukko, proprietor of Freecloud Records.

The engaged roadway is conscionable wrong the occidental boundary of the Business Improvement Area for Chinatown. Liukko sits connected the committee of the Chinatown Business Association.

"We are not against the implementation of businesslike transit successful Edmonton," helium said.

"We're conscionable saying successful this case, this is simply a commercialized concern district. It has been since the 1920s. So wherefore is the metropolis making it harder for radical to entree the area?"  

The businesses volition inactive person their on-site parking, but owners reason that on-street parking spaces are often utilized by individuals seeking a safe, convenient spot to parkland portion they dine astatine section restaurants earlier attending an event. 

Removing these parking spots could pb to a diminution successful ft traffic, they say, making it harder for businesses already struggling successful a challenging economical environment.

"We person a batch of elder clientele; those are the archetypal radical I thought of," said Albert, room manager astatine Padmanadi, a family-owned vegan Indonesian restaurant.

"It's going to beryllium harder for radical with mobility limitations to get successful and retired of our restaurants." 

Albert is from Indonesia, wherever it is communal for immoderate radical to lone person 1 name.

Business radical besides expressed vexation implicit the deficiency of consultation from the metropolis anterior to proceeding with the plan. 

The metropolis said it has been engaging with the nationalist for feedback, but respective concern owners assertion they were not decently notified oregon consulted astir the autobus lane plans. Instead, they were informed done a announcement sent lone to spot owners.

Sandy Pon, co-founder and seat of the Chinatown Transformation Collaborative Society of Edmonton, said the notification play was not sufficient. 

"Just based connected the feedback from our community, they got the announcement rather abruptly and they didn't truly person clip to respond oregon speech to each other," Pon said successful an interview.

"Those businesses should speech to their concern betterment associations specified arsenic the Chinatown BIA and the Downtown Business Association, but they didn't person capable clip to speech astir however they volition beryllium impacted, particularly those who are conscionable coming backmost into the fold aft the pandemic."

The restaurants and retail shops accidental determination are amended ways the metropolis could instrumentality the plan, reiterating the value of being consulted. 

"There is already a no-parking, no-stopping regularisation successful beforehand of the edifice betwixt 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.," said Albert astatine Padmanadi. "I deliberation that works conscionable fine, due to the fact that it's highest hours and I recognize that radical person to get location and elsewhere. But extending it from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. is going to impact us."

Pon echoed akin sentiments for a imaginable solution that addresses some the transit needs and considers the concerns of businesses.

"What they could person done is conscionable adhd much buses, adhd much travel schedules if determination is simply a need. Until the buses are filled astatine each hours of the day, you're conscionable taking distant country for mean vehicles to question and get retired of the country faster," she said. 

City medication says it remains committed to its extremity of improving transit ratio and reducing postulation congestion. 

"The plan process has taken into relationship and minimized imaginable impacts connected adjacent properties, for illustration by avoiding the removal of parking successful areas wherever parking availability is already limited," the metropolis connection said.