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Some minor renos happening to Stampede Park along with the start of work for a new master plan...

"The Stampede has also hired global architectural firm Populous for a two-year term to study the park and surrounding connectors of 17 Avenue and the Culture and Entertainment district...

...A focal point for that will be the 1919 agricultural building that no longer meets the needs of the Stampede, and then what becomes of the Saddledome land when the Calgary Event Centre is completed."

livewirecalgary.com

Work to transform Calgary Stampede infield and park begins

With the 2025 Calgary Stampede having come to an end, big changes are being planned for Stampede Park, and that began with the demolition of the north infield building immediately after the close. That building, which has been used for the production and broadcasting of the rodeo and chuckwagon...
livewirecalgary.com livewirecalgary.com
 
Calgcouver said:
I was being hyperbolic, i'm aware of the difference between a freeway and a stroad with very oversized lanes. That said, if you have the same amount of vehicular throughput lanes and the designed width of the lanes is the same width as most sections of Deerfoot Trail, I would say that yes the people that designed these avenues did whatever they could to turn 4th, 5th, 6th and 9th Avenues into what they hoped would work more like a freeway than an urban street particularly at rush hour.
View attachment 666579
View attachment 666580

Actually to be fair, some of the downtown outside lanes closest to the sidewalk are at least 0.4m wider than a lane on Deerfoot Trail. Put a sidewalk where the shoulder is on Deerfoot Trail and add cross streets and lights and it is the same approach to the design. These one-way avenues don't need to have intentional design choices that value vehicular throughput over pedestrian safety and comfort at virtually every corner on these Avenues. West Georgia Street and Howe Street in Vancouver function just as well without making pedestrians hate their lives.

And yes, what wide and comfortable sidewalks we have in the downtown on these one way avenues. You can really feel the attention to detail from engineers when on-foot:
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I agree with you, these are perfectly fine pedestrian realms to walk and bike down and are in no way compromised due to dedicating far too much space for suburban commuters.
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Trust me downtown lanes (besides the out side parking lanes aren’t anywhere near Deerfoot width. Deerfoot lane width is 3.7m. The four main avenues downtown varrie from 2.6m to 3.5m. Some may be wider in certain spots. They certainly aren’t set up for larger vehicles to speed down them during higher volume Periods of the day. Just because a road has 4!or 5 lanes doesn’t make it a good comparison. Mainly for width and the outside two lanes have parked cars and buses using them on off peak hours.
 
Calgcouver said:
I agree with you, these are perfectly fine pedestrian realms to walk and bike down and are in no way compromised due to dedicating far too much space for suburban commuters.
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I noticed you picked 3 Ave for one of these photos, which is not one of your problem avenues.

I will grant you that 9 Ave has some terrible sidewalks on the south side in parts. But, like the north side of 10 Ave, notice that the problem here is not the road width (the curb is generally in a consistent spot), but the fault of those parking lots/underused CPKC lands, and will improve with development.

Screenshot 2025-07-16 at 4.06.16 PM.png


I walk these avenues all the time and I'm not too precious about it. I actually like one way avenues in a lot of cases because they're easier to jaywalk across.

They're not "stroads", either! That word also has a meaning. MacLeod Trail south of 17th is a stroad. And that stroad is actually terrible to walk along. 33 Ave at Crowchild/east of there is another - I've almost been hit there in a slip lane because of the pedestrian hostile design at that interchange. Southland Drive right near Southland station was another stroad, another slip lane and a similar story. But, downtown avenues? Not really.
 
conductordove said:
I'm not sure if there's already a form for this project (or how to create one), but the land use was just approved for this site on the corner of 14th Ave SW and 1st SW.

Policy and Land Use Amendment in Beltline (Ward 8) at multiple addresses, LOC2024-0047, CPC2024-0914 - Public Hearing Meeting of Council - July 15, 2025

pub-calgary.escribemeetings.com pub-calgary.escribemeetings.com

View attachment 666586View attachment 666585
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Looks to be a Western Securities project:
 
Golfing guy said:
The reason they didn’t do subway initially was to get more line built. I believe it’s one of the reasons are lines are so successful is because the built out so far in The early days. Didn’t Edmonton build subway like through downtown and didn’t get that far out initially?
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The reason they didn’t do subway initially was to get more line built.
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Exactly, because it would cost more. Still should have done it.
 
outoftheice said:
Some minor renos happening to Stampede Park along with the start of work for a new master plan...

"The Stampede has also hired global architectural firm Populous for a two-year term to study the park and surrounding connectors of 17 Avenue and the Culture and Entertainment district...

...A focal point for that will be the 1919 agricultural building that no longer meets the needs of the Stampede, and then what becomes of the Saddledome land when the Calgary Event Centre is completed."

livewirecalgary.com

Work to transform Calgary Stampede infield and park begins

With the 2025 Calgary Stampede having come to an end, big changes are being planned for Stampede Park, and that began with the demolition of the north infield building immediately after the close. That building, which has been used for the production and broadcasting of the rodeo and chuckwagon...
livewirecalgary.com livewirecalgary.com
Click to expand...

Building new suites in the infield probably dispels any idea/interest in expanding the Grandstand into a football stadium.
That building, which has been used for the production and broadcasting of the rodeo and chuckwagon races, is set to be turned into a premium venue of suites.

The decision to build seven luxury suites and a rooftop party deck has come with increased demand for the space, said Joel Cowley, CEO of the Calgary Stampede.
Click to expand...
 
conductordove said:
I'm not sure if there's already a form for this project (or how to create one), but the land use was just approved for this site on the corner of 14th Ave SW and 1st SW.

Policy and Land Use Amendment in Beltline (Ward 8) at multiple addresses, LOC2024-0047, CPC2024-0914 - Public Hearing Meeting of Council - July 15, 2025

pub-calgary.escribemeetings.com pub-calgary.escribemeetings.com

View attachment 666586View attachment 666585
Click to expand...

had a bit of a scare, thinking that is 17th ave. hopefully they clean it up significantly but great to see another tower/podium on my favourite street. as for 1st and 17th, im gonna need alot more than that!
 
outoftheice said:
Some minor renos happening to Stampede Park along with the start of work for a new master plan...

"The Stampede has also hired global architectural firm Populous for a two-year term to study the park and surrounding connectors of 17 Avenue and the Culture and Entertainment district...

...A focal point for that will be the 1919 agricultural building that no longer meets the needs of the Stampede, and then what becomes of the Saddledome land when the Calgary Event Centre is completed."

livewirecalgary.com

Work to transform Calgary Stampede infield and park begins

With the 2025 Calgary Stampede having come to an end, big changes are being planned for Stampede Park, and that began with the demolition of the north infield building immediately after the close. That building, which has been used for the production and broadcasting of the rodeo and chuckwagon...
livewirecalgary.com livewirecalgary.com
Click to expand...
Why do I feel like Populous is gonna shit the bed on this.

Why are they just handing such an important project to an office like populous. Redesigning stampede park is a monumental task and a generational opportunity. It should be put to a design competition and we should be getting world-class landscape architects and masterplanners to give us a design that's actually good.

And I have a very bad feeling about what they're going to decide to do with the land the Saddledome is on.
 
If they are building premium suites in place of the production building, where are the production functions moving to?

I, too, am curious as to what will become of the current Saddledome site. I hope that the public will have an opportunity to weigh in on what we would like to see there.

I agree that the Stampede Park redesign should go to an international design competition. It’s an important fixture in our city and any future plans should be made sensitively and carefully.
 
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