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View Poll Results: What do you think of the design?
I love it! 156 44.70%
It's good. 134 38.40%
I don't like it. 28 8.02%
Nuke it from Orbit (waste of taxpayers dollars) 31 8.88%
Voters: 349. You may not vote on this poll

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  #2381  
Old Posted Mar 31, 2012, 11:33 PM
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Originally Posted by MalcolmTucker View Post
Having both but synchronized so they never were negatively interfered with each-other might be good.
I honestly don't think it would make any difference to traffic whether there are 1 or 2 crossings. In theory, there will still be the same number of pedestrians either way.

Seeing as how there will be a cost associated with removing the original one, and how the survey proved how unpopular REMOVING it will be, let's just have 2.
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  #2382  
Old Posted Apr 1, 2012, 12:26 AM
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I honestly don't think it would make any difference to traffic whether there are 1 or 2 crossings. In theory, there will still be the same number of pedestrians either way.
Not to mention the crosswalks would be "on demand" where you hit the button and the lights flash so you can cross. If noone is crossing then the crosswalk is not disrupting any traffic.

There is almost never going to be a situation where people are crossing at close to the same time so that a car is stopped at one crosswalk, drives a block, and has to stop at the next crosswalk. That is going to be an extremely rare occurance. You will usually not have to stop at either, rarely ever have to stop at one, and if you get stopped at both in the same trip don't go buying any lottery tickets on that day. On average a car is going to be delayed EXACTLY the same amount of time with either one crosswalk or two because their is still the same number of people crossing the road in either situation.
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  #2383  
Old Posted Apr 2, 2012, 12:03 AM
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The entire pathway system was completely packed today all the way from pumphouse theatre to east village and beyond. The area around the peace bridge was hopping and same with eau claire. Someone should look into opening another cafe along the river and soon. It would be great if there was a place to grab a warm drink right by the bridge.

I think this will be a busy year on the pathways. It wasn't even that nice out today with the cool wind blowing from the northeast and still people came out in the hundreds or thousands. I didn't expect to see so many people out and about.

Open more cafes and pubs around the river Calgary!
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  #2384  
Old Posted Apr 2, 2012, 12:20 AM
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Originally Posted by kw5150 View Post
Open more cafes and pubs around the river Calgary!
A pub with a huge riverfront patio right off the riverpath that served a huge selection of draft would be packed nonstop from April to October. Light it up the patio at night so that the light reflects off the water and it would almost be better at night then in the daytime.

I am all for that. IMO if they really go to town on developing the riverpath system overlooking the river, lighting up the riverpath along the entire route at night, getting things to do along it like having pubs like that, it would be unbelievably popular.
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  #2385  
Old Posted Apr 2, 2012, 6:43 AM
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Originally Posted by kw5150 View Post
The entire pathway system was completely packed today all the way from pumphouse theatre to east village and beyond. The area around the peace bridge was hopping and same with eau claire. Someone should look into opening another cafe along the river and soon. It would be great if there was a place to grab a warm drink right by the bridge.

I think this will be a busy year on the pathways. It wasn't even that nice out today with the cool wind blowing from the northeast and still people came out in the hundreds or thousands. I didn't expect to see so many people out and about.

Open more cafes and pubs around the river Calgary!
Yes please! Are you reading this, MasterG?
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  #2386  
Old Posted Apr 2, 2012, 12:37 PM
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I biked across the Peace bridge 3 times Saturday afternoon. Absolutely packed with people, bikes, rollerbladers, skaters, dogs, buskers, photographers, and even a group filming something. I know the budget is tight but they really need to do something about the pathway on the south side, not near wide enough to accommodate all the traffic that is now in that area.

I then rode over to Riverwalk and saw that as Wooster mentioned phase III by Fort Calgary is now fenced off to begin construction. Which got me to thinking, the quality of the pathway of Riverwalk makes the Eau Claire area and west just seem terrible in comparison. Are there any plans to eventually upgrade the pathways west of centre street to Riverwalk standards? I think it would be a real shame to not have the entire south bank continuous in the new design.

Edit: Looking back at the original renderings on the first post I see that it shows a pathway under the bridge on the south side, there is definitely space under there right now (and people always under there checking out the view), anyone know if the plan is still to put a pathway under there?

Last edited by Bigtime; Apr 2, 2012 at 12:50 PM.
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  #2387  
Old Posted Apr 2, 2012, 2:59 PM
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Originally Posted by Bigtime View Post

I then rode over to Riverwalk and saw that as Wooster mentioned phase III by Fort Calgary is now fenced off to begin construction. Which got me to thinking, the quality of the pathway of Riverwalk makes the Eau Claire area and west just seem terrible in comparison.
I disagree. It's got it's own charm. Plus the economics don't work out well - ripping out that quantity of existing concrete for what would be a marginal improvement isn't worth it.

I think the next step should be enabling restaurant space. I bet a series of food truck pullouts would be extremely successful, without a huge cost.
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  #2388  
Old Posted Apr 2, 2012, 3:07 PM
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The Riverwalk pathway is a game-changer (just like the Peace bridge), separated pathways for pedestrians/cyclists, excellent landscaping (love that pine mulch aroma), great lighting, lots of signage, places to sit and rest (or people watch). I just don't see how the big wide Eau Claire pathway can compete with all that. Plus the "new" pathways that connect to the Peace bridge on the south side are just narrow asphalt paths, more is definitely needed there.

I like your idea of the food truck pull-outs, that would be pretty cool.
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  #2389  
Old Posted Apr 2, 2012, 3:17 PM
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Plus the "new" pathways that connect to the Peace bridge on the south side are just narrow asphalt paths, more is definitely needed there.
I'm pretty certain the south side of the peace bridge is just a temporary measure. Parks indicated that some more work in the area is required, unfortunately the asphalt plants aren't open yet.
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  #2390  
Old Posted Apr 2, 2012, 3:26 PM
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While i was out riding, I was thinking about the future of the pathways as well. I still really like the existing concrete eau claire pathway. They should just focus on updating small sections of it like the area that goes along the river near the peace bridge. They could add a few of those overhang lookouts (like in the east village) to tie thing together maybe? I dont think they need to copy exactly what the did in the east village, but I really like the steps down to the river and the separate pathways.

The city needs to ensure that they do not let the west side of the city fall apart. Bigtime is right, we need to keep that extra wide pathway heading west of the louise bridge. I dont think he was saying to rip the concrete pathway out, just make sure to keep adding to the pathways going west! This will happen eventually. One of the most important stretches that requires some re-work is that long straight section from the Louise bridge to the science centre.

Again, wow at all the people out on the pathways this weekend.
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  #2391  
Old Posted Apr 2, 2012, 3:30 PM
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At the very least they should try and add a bike lane on the Eau Claire pathway, right now it is a free-for-all.

I guess I just really like the modern look of Riverwalk and would love to see it continue all the way to at least the 14th street bridge.
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  #2392  
Old Posted Apr 2, 2012, 6:06 PM
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Originally Posted by Bigtime View Post
At the very least they should try and add a bike lane on the Eau Claire pathway, right now it is a free-for-all.

I guess I just really like the modern look of Riverwalk and would love to see it continue all the way to at least the 14th street bridge.
Do you agree that it is somewhat interesting to transition form one neighborhood to the next with different pathways? I like how you enter different areas and the pathways changes. It also keeps some of the history to retain the existing Eau Claire pathway. I agree, the east village section is great. They should build on this idea and use it for future pathways.
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  #2393  
Old Posted Apr 2, 2012, 6:14 PM
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Originally Posted by kw5150 View Post
Do you agree that it is somewhat interesting to transition form one neighborhood to the next with different pathways? I like how you enter different areas and the pathways changes. It also keeps some of the history to retain the existing Eau Claire pathway. I agree, the east village section is great. They should build on this idea and use it for future pathways.
No I don't think the pathways changing is interesting, it's just concrete and some brick. I would much rather have the Riverwalk system all the way through the core area on the south bank.

I'm also not too sure what kind of "history" we are preserving, it's just concrete slabs, not like we are talking old Roman roads here.
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  #2394  
Old Posted Apr 2, 2012, 6:41 PM
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Originally Posted by Bigtime View Post
No I don't think the pathways changing is interesting, it's just concrete and some brick. I would much rather have the Riverwalk system all the way through the core area on the south bank.

I'm also not too sure what kind of "history" we are preserving, it's just concrete slabs, not like we are talking old Roman roads here.
Ok fair enough. Im happy with what is there and think we should add to it, not rip up, destroy and rebuild. It would be silly to demolish as perfectly good 6m wide concrete pathway (that has structural capacity for large vehicles). I would support a rework of the eau claire bridge area to make it feel more open and add some east village-type accents. Then we could focus the money on the area west of the Louise Bridge on both sides of the river. I want more of those east village steps down to the river!!!
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  #2395  
Old Posted Apr 2, 2012, 7:00 PM
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I then rode over to Riverwalk and saw that as Wooster mentioned phase III by Fort Calgary is now fenced off to begin construction. Which got me to thinking, the quality of the pathway of Riverwalk makes the Eau Claire area and west just seem terrible in comparison. Are there any plans to eventually upgrade the pathways west of centre street to Riverwalk standards? I think it would be a real shame to not have the entire south bank continuous in the new design.
I really hope they upgrade the ENTIRE Riverwalk with a similar style and quality along the entire route to the west as far as Bowness Park and to the east/south all the way linking in to Fishcreek Park. I also want to see them improve the pathway along the Elbow River all the way to the south side of Glenmore Reservoir to the same standards with the same level of lighting and such.

Those two pathways then actually become truly usable bike transit routes that can be used safely by alot of people and that have adequate light at night. They are THE major arteries of the future bicycle transit route for this city and will always be the most used routes and link up to the "feeder" routes from local communities. Anyone using the pathway systems from almost anywhere in Calgary will end up on one of the two river pathways.

The third place they should then focus on and also improve to those standards is the Nosehill Creek Pathway system which is also another MAJOR artery for a huge portion of the city having bicycle access to the downtown core and the Bow River pathway.

It would be nice if in the long run from any community in this city you could access a bicycle pathway system built to the level of the Bow River Pathway system. Varsity Estates park is also another major artery to link the entire west/northwest section of the city including Varsity, Dalhousie, Edgemont, Hawkwood, Arbor Lake, Citadel, and Ranchlands.
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  #2396  
Old Posted Apr 2, 2012, 8:58 PM
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Originally Posted by Tropics View Post
A pub with a huge riverfront patio right off the riverpath that served a huge selection of draft would be packed nonstop from April to October. Light it up the patio at night so that the light reflects off the water and it would almost be better at night then in the daytime.

I am all for that. IMO if they really go to town on developing the riverpath system overlooking the river, lighting up the riverpath along the entire route at night, getting things to do along it like having pubs like that, it would be unbelievably popular.
Really hard to say with this one. I agree that a pub in that location would be very cool. But that being said, the pub would have to be at the base of some sort of development meaning that the pub would be in the shadow of said development. Patios with limited to no sunlight generally are a no go. From a business model standpoint, if you could get the sun/exposure figured out then you would likely have good business during the summer but the winters would be VERY tough unless you modeled yourself as a year round destination like Melrose.

I still think that this is a long shot, based on the fact that places like Oceana have never expanded their patio space...
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  #2397  
Old Posted Apr 2, 2012, 9:16 PM
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Originally Posted by Innersoul1 View Post
Really hard to say with this one. I agree that a pub in that location would be very cool. But that being said, the pub would have to be at the base of some sort of development meaning that the pub would be in the shadow of said development. Patios with limited to no sunlight generally are a no go. From a business model standpoint, if you could get the sun/exposure figured out then you would likely have good business during the summer but the winters would be VERY tough unless you modeled yourself as a year round destination like Melrose.

I still think that this is a long shot, based on the fact that places like Oceana have never expanded their patio space...
I was thinking more along the lines of having a Calgary Parks style restaurant like Boxwood or River Cafe to continue with the theme. This time it could be larger and accommodate a different crowd. This also falls in line with my expectation that they would open up a good breakfast joint in the east village that faces east and southeast to catch the morning sun.
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  #2398  
Old Posted Apr 2, 2012, 10:40 PM
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the pub would have to be at the base of some sort of development meaning that the pub would be in the shadow of said development. Patios with limited to no sunlight generally are a no go.
I am thinking something like this place. A single purpose detached building. No shadow issues.

from Foundersarms.co.uk

from londonsguide.co.uk

An area I would think might work would be on the riverbank just northwest of the Pumphouse Theater close to where the riverpath meets up with the path that comes from the theater. This way people could bike/walk there but you could also drive down Pumphouse Ave and get to the place.
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  #2399  
Old Posted Apr 2, 2012, 10:54 PM
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It could also be interesting to start a whole network of these Calgary Parks establishments along the river pathways. Not too sure about the pumphouse theatre location. Wouldn't the peace bridge area be better?

I think we on the verge of having to move this talk to another thread.
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  #2400  
Old Posted Apr 2, 2012, 11:20 PM
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It could also be interesting to start a whole network of these Calgary Parks establishments along the river pathways. Not too sure about the pumphouse theatre location. Wouldn't the peace bridge area be better?
There could certainly be more then one. I think the Pumphouse location has alot going for it. If you look at the overhead sattelite view in google maps there is a really nice and large area northwest of the theater that has lots of room, trees, ect... There is parking which is a bonus over the Peace Bridge area, and you could key in to the theater crowd for people looking for dinner and/or drinks before and after shows. It is also a little more peaceful and less crowded then the Peace River location and would help spread people out along the route instead of cramming them all into a small area around Eau Claire and Princess Island Park. I think it is important to make the entire pathway interesting and have attractions along it instead of isolating a single area of the pathway and cramming everything into that one area and leaving the rest as simply the transit path to get to that one key area.
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