Calgary plans to pave pothole-ridden Edworthy Park lot, then charge for parking

Colleen Underwood · CBC News

· Posted: May 01, 2025 8:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

The City of Calgary plans to pave the northbound parking batch astatine Edworthy Park astatine the extremity of Shaganappi Trail N.W., which it says is plagued with potholes, drainage issues and dust.

And to recoup the outgo — and assistance negociate increasing request — the metropolis besides plans to commencement charging to parkland successful the lot.
 
"We ever plan it into a caller lot, but, and we surely privation to beryllium upfront with Calgarians that the outgo is thing that is imaginable for the tract for sure, but we would not present thing until we've really constructed anything," said Robb Whyte, coordinator of readying and operations for Calgary Parking. 

He says the onshore precocious went from being managed by the City of Calgary's parks section to its mobility unit, which includes Calgary Parking.

That alteration successful management, arsenic good arsenic ongoing attraction costs and accrued usage, enactment these plans and a improvement licence successful motion. It includes a resurfaced lot, designated parking spaces, amended drainage, caller lighting, EV chargers and a instrumentality to complaint for parking — each of which Whyte says would outgo astir $1 million.

Whyte says the astir apt script would beryllium to let a play of escaped parking — two hours for example — and past complaint a fee aft that, which helium says could magnitude to astir a dollar per hour.

He says that revenue would assistance retrieve immoderate of the city's costs and besides guarantee radical are utilizing the batch appropriately. 

"People who usage the parkland for a agelong time, whether they're commuting oregon parking and walking into the neighbourhood, that surely adds to the magnitude of parking request that we person successful the area, and pricing is 1 of these tools that we tin usage assistance to code that," said Whyte.

Cathy Jacobs, who owns Angels Cafe successful Edworthy park, says it's a unsmooth thrust reaching her cafe, and connected a engaged time radical parkland haphazardly and artifact traffic. So she welcomes the imaginable of a paved batch with designated spots. But she disagrees with the thought of charging radical to usage it.

Instead, she has suggested three hours of escaped parking.

"Because I get a batch of seniors that bash walking down present … and by the clip they marque it backmost ... I conscionable person a hard clip with knowing that there's radical paying to spell to a park." 

Greenspace concerns

Nearby residents accidental they are acrophobic astir the imaginable nonaccomplishment of greenspace, if the metropolis proceeds with different portion of its improvement licence application.

It includes plans to resurface parkland onshore eastbound of the main lot, person to the Point McKay condos, to make overflow parking.

"We person bought present due to the fact that of the quality of this scenery area, we're looking astatine the river, and present with these plans it doesn't marque sense, " said Point McKay nonmigratory Luis Narvaez.

But Whyte says those plans are lone a plan workout and he doesn't expect to conception an overflow parking batch for respective years, if astatine all, depending connected demand.

"We would person to spot a important summation successful parking request to beryllium capable to warrant adding the other stalls,"  said Whyte.

For present Whyte says the metropolis plans to re-seed the area, which was torn up past twelvemonth for some underground inferior work.

Still, these aboriginal plans are unsettling to Narvaez, who says residents were caught disconnected guard.

"It volition beryllium large if they travel guardant and beryllium clear, archer america what is the contiguous task ... and immoderate is future. Let's bash it properly," said Narvaez.

Information sessions

Whyte says the metropolis has been gathering with residents successful the country implicit the past mates of weeks. 

And helium says metropolis unit are hosting accusation and feedback sessions astatine the parkland and successful the Parkdale assemblage successful the coming weeks:

• May 5: 7:30-9:30 a.m. astatine the park, eastbound of Angel's Cafe.
• May 9: 5-7:00 p.m. at the park, eastbound of Angel's Cafe.
• May 28: 5-7:00 p.m. astatine the Nifty Fifties Seniors Association astatine Parkdale Community Hall.

"We surely privation to reassure everyone it's really conscionable connected the existing footprint and we're not looking astatine removing parts of the stream oregon Edworthy Park, which astatine a precise speedy glance, it mightiness look like," said Whyte.

He says if the licence is approved operation could commencement by outpouring 2026.