What's next for Banff's pedestrian zone after residents nix the seasonal fixture?

It's now official: Banff's pedestrian-only zone will be eliminated and vehicles will be allowed to drive the full length of Banff Avenue during the summer months.

The town will do away with its hotly contestedcar-free area after a binding plebiscite on Monday, when residents narrowly voted against implementing the fixture on a yearly basis, from the May long weekend to Thanksgivingweekend.

The issue has beenheavily debated by the town. Itdivided residents. EvenPark Canada officials gotinvolved.

Itconcluded with a community vote Monday, with1,328 against the pedestrian zone and 1,194 in favour. The results became official on Tuesday.

Banff town council will now have topass a bylaw to rescind their original decisionthat created the vehicle-free space. They'll do that atthe next council meeting on Aug. 26.

"There's been a lot of passion on both sides of this vote. Residents are emotionally exhausted from this topic," said Banff Mayor Corrie DiManno.

"We know what Banff residents have had to say, so we will move forward and embrace the result of this vote."

DiManno says dismantling the car-free zone can begin as soon as the day after the bylaw is passed.

Residents divided

Shelley Mardiros has lived in Banff for 31 years. She says she's seen the town go through changes over the years, including population growth and over-commercialization.

The pedestrian zone, she says, added to the issue.

"The traffic congestion is really appalling, and that makes the areas that are adjacent to the downtown core into de facto areas of downtown," Mardiros said.

"It makes it hard for people who live there they would ordinarily want to sit outside but they can't because of trucks and buses and the fumes going by."

Mardiros says the zone's original purpose made senseas a pandemic-era measure for shops and restaurants to increase space for their customers. But now that physical-distancing measures are no longer necessary, she says there's no reason for it to continue.

But others disagree.

"I love it, it's a bonus to Banff," said residentTerri Hunter. She drives a bus and works inthe tourism sector.

Hunter admitsthere are times when getting across town is difficult due to traffic, but she says that would be the case regardless because of the influx of tourists.

She sees the pedestrian-onlyarea as a big draw.

"I work with tourists all the time, they love that part of it," Hunter said. "It promotes more shopping to have that street there."

Parks Canada, a petition and a plebiscite

The car-free section of Banff Avenue was first implemented during the pandemic as a way to cope with restrictions at the time.

It gave businesses an opportunity to expand their spaces, add capacity toshops and restaurants and increase the ability for physical distancing.

Mayor DiManno says it added to the town's economic viability and helped boost business around the mountain town.

Shutting down a section of Banff's main street to vehicle traffic, however, drew controversy and criticism.

Banff National Park's superintendent sent town council a letterciting concerns aboutpatio regulations. That arrived a day before councillors were set toapprove the municipal budget, which included funding the pedestrian zone on a permanent basis.

That letter temporarilypaused the vote, but thetown eventually did approve the funding.

Then this April, apetition calling for council to repeal its decision was filed. It was signed by 11.5 per cent of residents.

The petition triggered council to make a choice: either rescind the decisionor let residents decide.

They picked on the latter.

"We heard from a majority of residents that [it] was not worth the tradeoff for the pedestrian zone. So we're going to go back to the drawing board, continue conversations and move forward together on addressing these challenges," DiManno said.

"We do have too many vehicles on our road network, and the tipping point was that there was a detour onto some side streets."