Downtown project building upon recommendations from study
By Lethbridge Herald on July 11, 2025.
Alejandra Pulido-Guzman
LETHBRIDGE HERALD
Earlier this week the downtown core saw some geotechnical drilling taking place as part of a project to revitalize 5 Street South between 1 Avenue and 6 Avenue.
Bryce Dudley, senior project administrator with the City’s transportation department, says that was part of the preliminary design phase.
“The project was first introduced in the 2012 Public Realm Transportation study known as PRATS, which provided the foundation for the envisioning of the revitalization of 5 Street South along with the 3 Avenue South project between 4 Street and 8 Street that has been completed recently,” says Dudley.
He adds that there is a revitalization of 2 Avenue in that report as well, but the 3 Avenue South project is the only one which has been completed so far.
“The study recommendation has remained relevant, and this project builds on those recommendations by incorporating updated data, community feedback, along with current city priorities,” says Dudley.
He says that it also incorporates the 2022-2031 Capital Improvement program.
“The purpose of the 5th Street revitalization project is to develop a preliminary engineering design, that will gather community input through engagement to help shape the design concept and outcomes,” says Dudley.
He explains that the first phase is focused on understanding what could be built in the future and estimated project costs.
“The preliminary design and cost estimate will help determine how the project fits within the city’s long-term planning and funding priorities,” says Dudley.
He adds that if it gets approved, it is part of the next four years capital improvement program, and the project will then move into a detail design and construction phase.
“Our preliminary engineering project basically sets the scope and budget for potential future work that will require approval,” says Dudley.
He explains that the reason for the preliminary engineering project being prioritize right now is to have a concept design and budget estimates completed on time for consideration for the next Capital Improvement Project, which begins in 2027.
“The timing of this project allows this project to be evaluated alongside other potential projects that are on the running for approval and funding for the upcoming planning cycle,” says Dudley.
He adds that 5th Street South is very old and has not had any update work done in a long time and there is aging infrastructure in the area.
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Preliminary design for what? Are they going to restrict traffic flow on 5th street as well, like they did on 3rd avenue? 3rd avenue was a major thoroughfare, one of the few going from Scenic drive (2nd street south) to Mayor Magrath drive and brought traffic to and from downtown, but the visionaries with their ‘brilliant’ plans wanted to reduce that major road from downtown to Mayor Magrath drive down to 2 lanes from 4 lanes, adding bike lanes.
How have the bike lanes worked out? Most do not use them, more like to use 5th avenue, and many use the sidewalk right beside the bikelanes, and some still use the road beside the bikelanes! They destroyed downtown, took away more parking spaces for something that has not seen significant use to support the change and must be kept clear of snow in winter, for the 3 or 4 non-addict/dealers who make use of them. Another ‘brilliant’ way to waste the hard earned tax dollars.
What are the plans? This doesn’t state if they are planning to reduce traffic lanes, add lanes: it doesn’t give any details!
Poor planning of downtown Calgary’s roadways 50 years old created such a mess, snarling traffic that they had to bring a Los Angeles planning firm to attempt to fix the issues, but due to that poor planning, as you are aware, driving in downtown Calgary can be interesting still.
Lethbridge planners need to stop restricting traffic flow on major thoroughfares flowing to downtown! If they wanted bike lanes from Mayor Magrath drive to Scenic they could have used 2nd avenue south, which has 10% to 20% of the traffic flow of 3rd avenue, with less stopping for cyclists and less need for special pedestrian crossings and increased traffic lights, which further restrict traffic flow!
From watching cyclists downtown, they want less stopping and better traffic flow, as do people in vehicles! Not much thought put into the costly changes!
So, what are the plans for 5th street? I guess one will have to explore the city website for answers.
I’m afraid this will becomes another financial boondoggle which does vey little to improve traffic for business downtown and may likely damage it further. I’m curious if businesses downtown have seen any significant increase to their income as a result of the “improvements” downtown. Until the city gets our homeless and drug problems under control downtown will continue to be a money pit.
All appears to be an exercise in putting lipstick on a pig and getting the horses before the carts.
I rarely go to the downtown core these days, although I would very much like to do so. However, the reduced parking, the inability to see around the big @ss trucks parked at the intersections together with the vibe – keeps me away.
It’s very sad, really, as I’m old enough to remember how the downtown core used to be filled with shoppers. We had so many lovely independently owned and operated stores to shop in together with Eaton’s, Woolworth’s, Kresges, the SAAN Store, the Metropolitan and others. Sadly, the malls and the box stores killed much of this.
In fact, of the times I have had to travel to the City core, I have never once observed anyone using the bike lanes.