What makes a great residential street? City of Calgary seeks public feedback

Two boys playing street hockey on a residential street in the fall. (Getty Images)

The City of Calgary is changing the focus of an 18-year-old policy with the hope the updated version will better serve communities.

On Wednesday, the city announced the previously-titled Traffic Calming Policy has been renamed the Neighbourhood Streets Pilot Policy and has been expanded to focus on more than just how to keep streets safe.

The city's Traffic Calming Policy was adopted in 2003 and served to address negative impacts of traffic on neighbourhood streets.

However, the city is now taking a new approach.

“We were starting to serve communities in new ways," said Jen Malzer with the City of Calgary in a news release. "The interest in neighbourhood streets was expanding beyond speeding and shortcutting to include things like block parties and street murals, as well as pedestrian and accessibility improvements."

“It seemed like a natural next step to develop a policy that could respond to such an evolving community demand.”

A team took on the project of reforming the policy, and decided to co-design it with experts from across the city.

“The policy calls on Calgary leaders, designers, residents and decision makers to consider the unique needs of all users, to provide quality transportation choices and public spaces that benefit overall community health,” said Doug Morgan, general manager of transportation.

“Our desired outcome is to enable an improved quality of life. That outcome requires us to work together with thoughtful policy and tools that enable neighbourhood streets to provide the best value to the communities they serve.”

On Wednesday, the city released an infographic to show 17 different things that can help make for great residential streets.

“We hope that by sharing this infographic, Calgarians can tell us if there are any solutions missing and share what matters to them," Malzer said.

"This feedback will help us review the pilot policy and ensure it meets the needs of the broader city."

Public engagement on the Neighbourhood Streets Pilot Policy is open until Dec. 17. For more information you can visit the City of Calgary's website.

The results from public engagement will be incorporated into a final policy that will be presented to council in June 2022.