'Beat up, smelly' underpass getting $3.5M overhaul

Work is getting underway to spruce up the busiest pedestrian underpass in downtown Calgary.

The underpass at FirstStreet S.W. between Ninth Avenueand 10th Avenue beside the Fairmont Palliser Hotel links downtown and the Beltline and is one of Calgary's two oldest surviving railroad bridges.

The dark, foul-smelling and noisy underpass isn't deemed by the City of Calgary to be an ideal place for pedestrians. So with some corporate donations, the city is going to spend almost $3.5 million to improve the passage, which is used by about 9,500 people per day.

"It's not a comfortable place to move. If you see people coming in and out of here, especially at dark, they scurry through and it doesn't smell great," said Ward 8Coun.EvanWoolley.

"It's really beat up and it's not really well taken care of or maintained and that's got tochange."

City planning official Dawn Thomesaidbrightening up the 1907 underpass will make it less intimidating for pedestrians.

"What we're really hoping to do is create an environment that is a little bit fun but at the same time, really helps people feel a little bit more comfortable going through," she said.

The project includes adding LED lights to increaselighting, painting steel girders andrepairing or possibly lowering sidewalkstocreate amore comfortable environment so people feel safer using the underpass.

"We really hope that people are going to walk through and every time they go through, they're going to see something a little bit different," said Thome.

The project will not change the roadway, but at times there mightbe road or sidewalk closures during the renovation.

Work is expected to be complete by summer.