Paths for People is excited to see that the City of Edmonton is looking to renew 76th avenue in the Ritchie, Avonmore, and King Edward Park neighbourhoods. This is an important community connector that strings together local hubs like Happy Beer Street along 99th street, the community business hub at 96th street and 76th avenue, Mill Creek ravine, the Valley Line LRT, and Avonmore School.

The city is looking for big, bold ideas for what a renewed 76th avenue can look like and we are hoping that this renewal can reflect the level of improvement that was presented on 132 avenue in north Edmonton. 

• These roads are very similar because they tie together many institutional, recreational, and commercial uses within a mostly residential neighbourhood. 
• Almost all houses along the corridor do not have front-car garages, meaning there are fewer access points to be concerned about. 
• Finally, both corridors feel over-built and are too wide for the amount of traffic moving along it, creating consistent speeding concerns.

In an effort to get the conversation going, we asked our members to provide us with big, bold ideas for the city to consider implementing at this point in the process. Here’s what we heard:

• More trees – Right now, most of the corridor does not have adequate tree canopy coverage. 76th avenue is a wide asphalt road, with little shade or greenery. Trees along the whole corridor can help meet the city’s goal of planting 2 million trees across Edmonton and help mitigate against the threats of climate change.

• Improved intersections and traffic calming – Many members flagged that most of the intersections across the corridor are extra wide crossings, compelling traffic to drive really quickly through, and providing few opportunities for neighbourhood connections. Improved intersections, like integrating traffic circles, curb extensions, or raised crosswalks, make for a safer street overall. This would have the effect of stitching together the neighbourhoods north and south of the avenue and create a more cohesive community. Some especially important opportunities are:
  • 96 Street/76 Avenue – Huge opportunity to improve this community node and create more space for the public to enjoy the many businesses in the vicinity; and
  • 95 Street/76 Avenue and 89 Street/76 Avenue – Traffic calming measures are needed because vehicles often speed out of the ravine and create unsafe conditions for people to cross the street.

• Better active transportation infrastructure – Currently, there is no cycling infrastructure along the whole corridor and most of the sidewalk infrastructure is fully inadequate, being very narrow and crumbling, or missing all together. There’s no safe place for a kid to ride their bike to school or someone with limited mobility to use a mobility device. Building wider sidewalks and a continuous, protected active transportation lane along the whole avenue would be a great use of the corridor’s immense width.

We hope that this opportunity for renewal is fully utilised. We have heard stories about how prior attempts to renew 76th avenue failed to incorporate any kind of infrastructure improvements for active transportation, like improved cycling facilities or better tree canopies, due to community opposition. Therefore, it’s going to be vital to work with our neighbours to push for this better vision along this corridor, and help people understand the value of these kinds of improvements for their community.

How can you get involved? 

• Complete and share the city’s 76 Avenue Collector Renewal Survey, which closes on March 3, 2024.
• Attend the drop-in engagement event with the Project Team at Ritchie Community League Hall (7727 98 Street NW) on February 22, 2024, from 6-9pm. Join us there and let’s show the city that there’s support for change!
• Subscribe to receive news and updates on the renewal.

Let’s get rolling!