This e-newsletter is for residents, businesses and organizations who have registered for project updates.
 
If you know others who should receive this regular email update, please direct them to sign up at https://www.brandnewbear.ca/
 
For questions or comments, please email the project team at BearStreet.Talk@banff.ca.

Quick Overview: the week ahead

 
Pedestrian access to operating businesses maintained in all zones.
 
Zone 1 (at Caribou St)

• Traffic/intersection – closed 
• Parking – closed
• Pedestrian access – open on gravel pathways
• Activity – set up of temporary water services; start of water pipe replacement

• Traffic – closed
• Parking – closed
• Pedestrian access – open on temporary gravel pathways
• Parkade – closed
• Laydown area (surface parking lot) – restricted to construction crews
• Activity – set up of temporary water services

• Traffic – closed
• Parking – closed
• Pedestrian access – open with temporary pathways
• Parkades – limited access/intermittent closures
• Laydown area (surface parking lot) – restricted to construction crews
• Activity – set up of temporary water services; some demolition activity to sidewalks

• Traffic/intersection – open
• Parking – closed
• Pedestrian access – open on temporary pathways
• Activities – set up of temporary water services

Construction Activity: June 21 - 27

• Bear Street is closed to vehicular traffic, except for access to the underground parkades at Bear Street Mall and Town House Building, which are accessible from Wolf Street.
• There is no on-street parking on Bear Street throughout the reconstruction. This safety measure allows the construction crews maximum access and agility, to accelerate the project wherever possible.
• The section of Bear Street from Caribou Street to the laydown area is closed to vehicular traffic to ensure safe construction.
• The underground parkade at Brewster’s Mountain Lodge will not be accessible.
• Access to the Townhouse Building and Bear Street Mall parkades will remain open, with periodic closures for heavy equipment movement.
  • Property owners and tenants seeking alternative parking options can use public parking listed at banffparking.ca or private parking in the Cascade Shops parkade
    (contact Martin Halliday, cell: 403-804-9400).
• The East-West traffic on Wolf Street through the Bear Street intersection will remain open this week.
• Water services will be disconnected only after notification of property owners, who will inform tenants. Intermittent service disruption may occur and will be planned with each buildings impacted. Temporary water servicing will be commissioned to the buildings impacted.
• The replacement of the water system is ongoing.
• Caribou Street intersection is planned to be closed for a few weeks to allow for the sequential replacement of water pipes and sanitary sewer pipes.
• Small sidewalk areas may be demolished adjacent to some buildings.
• Additional crews are being deployed to help accelerate the project, at no extra cost.
• Security lighting is in place. Extra caution should be used if the public needs to access the area at night.
• Brand New Bear fence scrim for the laydown area will be installed for new fencing sections.
• Expect road closures, sidewalk detours, vibrations, noise and dust; ensure you mitigate the impact of vibrations on property inside buildings. 

Communications Update

• The Website BrandNewBear.ca has been updated with a map and business directory for the street. Bow Valley locals are encouraged to shop local and visit the many stores open for business on Bear Street.
• The large signs at the four entrance points to Bear Street were updated with “We’re Open” messages to better attract pedestrians.
• Maps with all Bear Street businesses and services were installed on reverse side of the large 4-foot by 8-foot “We’re Open” signs at the entrance to Bear Street.
• Social media advertisements started this past weekend, targeting people in the Banff downtown area. Social media geofencing advertisements promoting Bear Street will continue next weekend.
• Additional signage for attracting visitors from Banff Ave is being developed.
• Ambassadors are being recruited for July.
• The marketing budget for Bear Street was reduced by more than $200,000 as part of the Town of Banff’s efforts to reduce the overall municipal budget. This measure helped reduce municipal portion of property taxes by 17% in 2020. The project team will optimize the remaining marketing budget to have the greatest impact locally this summer.

Businesses asked to showcase safety measures

All businesses in town - Bear Street and elsewhere - are encouraged to showcase their measures to keep staff and customers safe when reopening. Posting your business’s safety measures in your entrance and on your website helps build customer confidence in their decision to safely accessing your business or service.

The more businesses that post this information, the greater the wide-spread confidence in Banff as a destination.

• Email communications@banff.ca to request a customized poster for your business that includes your logo and highlights your safety measures from a selection of options. Also, request to be added to listing of open businesses at: banff.ca/OpenInBanff
• Or display a generic “Open for Business and keeping Alberta Safe” poster from the Government of Alberta. 

Bear Street Reconstruction Project Team:

• Pierre-Hugues “PH” Gagnon, Bear Street Project Manager
• Marie-Eve Jackson, Community Liaison Officer (for businesses, employees and residents)
• Rick Williams, Business Liaison Officer (for property owners)
•  Janice Carson, Senior Communications Specialist
• Darren Enns, Director of Planning and Development
• Adrian Field, Director of Engineering

 
For questions and comments about the Bear Street Reconstruction project, please email bearstreettalk@banff.ca.