Skip to content

Bye-bye to Banff pedestrian zone after Labour Day long weekend

web1_2024082713080-5870f5a5d723088fef0b0316465b3c45ca8107d759fd0de0939f5f8786cc7e59
Smoke haze from forest fires burning in Alberta and British Columbia hangs over Banff, Alta., in Banff National Park, Friday, July 21, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

It’ll be one last hurrah for a pedestrian zone along the main downtown drag of Banff, Alta., this long weekend.

The Rocky Mountain tourist town is telling businesses to take down outdoor patios or retail displays on the Banff Avenue roadway after Labour Day.

It says that would allow the road to reopen to vehicles once traffic signals are reset.

The town made part of its main thoroughfare car-free in 2020 to reduce the risk for visitors during the COVID-19 pandemic, and every year since the zone has been going from the May long weekend until Thanksgiving.

But earlier this month, residents voted in a plebiscite to end the project, with some saying it had funnelled vehicle traffic into residential communities and caused traffic problems.

Town council made the change official with a bylaw vote on Monday.

The town says some businesses may be able to keep seating on the sidewalk after the pedestrian zone is gone.