Grande Prairie was the seventh-largest city in Alberta in 2016, and one of Canada’s fastest growing cities between 2001 and 2006.
Grande Prairie
The Community Mobility Plan (2014) uses the term Complete Streets in a list of actions for “Cycling” and “Walking: For Recreation and Leisure”:
- “Utilize complete streets design concepts where warranted and sufficient right of way exists” (Cycling);
- “Implement complete streets policies to provide safe and convenient travel for all users of the roadway (pedestrians, cyclists, transit users, motorists)” (Walking).
Construction started on the Downtown Infrastructure Assessment, Streetscape Enhancement and Rehabilitation Program in 2016, and was completed in 2018. The plan proposes a new downtown road hierarchy to support Complete Streets, which are named under the objective of Mobility:
- “To support the complete streets model, emphasizing pedestrian accessibility, transit supportive design, convenient parking, and opportunities for cycling infrastructure” (Section 6.1.3 Objectives and Design Principles, pg 34)
In 2010, Grande Prairie implemented an intersection upgrade on 102nd Street that is profiled as an example below.
In early 2010, The 102 Street Redesign Feasibility Study was completed for the City of Grande Prairie’s first Complete Street project. The plan focused on the section of 102nd Street between 102nd Avenue and 108th Street, and was introduced following similar upgrades to the northern section of the street between 108th Avenue and 113th Avenue. Located just north of downtown and adjacent to Muskoseepi Park, 102nd Street provides access to adjacent residential neighbourhoods, various amenities, and the park’s many recreational opportunities. The paved surface of the street is over 30m wide, offering two vehicle lanes in each direction and parking on both sides. Pedestrian and cyclist amenities are scarce.
Although the full ambitions of the plan have not been realized, important pedestrian-oriented improvements were made to the intersection at the Muskoseepi Park entrance. These included:
- pedestrian bulb outs
- painting the intersection red
- street furniture (benches, garbage cans, signs, maps, etc)
- bollards
- light sticks
- public art: image of a bear added to park entry feature sign