Town of Banff asks for better transportation strategy in Parks Canada's 10-year plan

The Town of Banff is pushing for a more efficient, sustainable way of handing traffic in response toParks Canada's 2021 Banff National Park Management Plan.

This spring, Parks Canada put together a draft 2021 management planin order to set priorities for national parks, including Banff which records more than four million visitors a year.

Itspriorities include protecting the park's natural and cultural heritage, managing visitation, strengthening relationships with Indigenous peoples, improving accessibility and connection to all Canadians and adapting to climate change.

In doing so, Parks Canada included input from key stakeholders, Indigenous partners and the public.

"It really sets the stage for how Banff park,for example, will be like over the next 10 years," saidDave McDonough, Banff field unit superintendent,in April.

The Town of Banff issued a public response to the federal agency's plan on Thursday, and despite calling it a"significant improvement" from the 2010 management plan, the townstill wants to see some changes.

For example, the town says it wants a clearerpicture of Park Canada's transportation vision.

• Visitors to Banff will now have to pay for downtown parking
• Parks Canada drafting 10-year plans for Banff and other mountain parks

"It appears the plan fails to account for intercept parking and other sustainable modes of transportation. Webelieve this is not what was intended, and that a strategy is required for a cost-effective, attractivealternative to driving," read the response.

Intercept parking lots are sites usually locatedoutside of town where visitors can leave their vehicles and take transit or shuttles. The town wrote that ideally it wantsredevelopment of landsoutside the national park, down the Bow Valley through to Calgary.

"Rather than relying solely on large-scale mass transit and built infrastructure, it would be comprised of multiple medium and small-scale components that can be assembled, added to, increased or decreased, as visitor preference, circumstances and technology change."

The town also wants to seethe redevelopment oflands on the east side of the 200 block of Banff Avenue, as well as have a plan for it by 2023.According to the town's response, this has beenpart of the management plan since 2007.

The hope is to have lessparking management at Banff attractionsand have more people moving around in a sustainable way.

"We believe policy direction to reduce fossil fuel consumption while promoting the use of alternative andrenewable energy is the biggest possible opportunity for Parks Canada to lead the way."

Parks Canada's vision for the national parks will be tabled in Parliament once completed.