Oliver residents propose wider sidewalks, less traffic for Jasper Avenue

Wider sidewalks, slower traffic and trees are being proposed as ideas to make Jasper Avenue west of 109th Street friendlier to pedestrians.

The suggestions came up Monday night at a meeting of the Oliver Community League.

"The way it's designed now, it's not serving the needs of the community," said community league president Lisa Brown.

"And we feel that it is important for the community to be served by the street versus the commuters coming in from the suburbs into downtown."

Jasper Avenue is built to handle large volumes of commuters traveling from downtown to west Edmonton.

However, a number of high rise condominiums have been built or are being proposed for the strip between 109th and 124th Street.

But the six lanes of high speed traffic are treacherous for pedestrians. Last summer, an employee of Earls was badly injured after she was struck in a crosswalk next to the Jasper Avenue restaurant.

Jasper Avenue was set to get an $18 million upgrade next year but the improvements would simply upgrade the status quo.  

People in the community asked that the city look at alternatives and council agreed. The Oliver community is now working with the city's transportation department.

Ron Gibbard, the city's director of facility and capital planning , says he's excited about the process but warns $18 million may not be enough for what the community has in mind.

"I really think our budget that we have won't allow us to do that entire stretch in one go," he said.

The city plans to hold public consultations on any changes. Once plans are set, the revamp could start in 2018.