Thursday, January 1, 2026
ADVT 
National

Bye-bye to Banff pedestrian zone after Labour Day long weekend

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 27 Aug, 2024 11:15 AM
  • Bye-bye to Banff pedestrian zone after Labour Day long weekend

It'll be one last hurrah for a pedestrian zone along the main downtown drag of Banff, Alta., this long weekend. 

The Rocky Mountain tourist town is telling businesses to take down outdoor patios or retail displays on the Banff Avenue roadway after Labour Day. 

It says that would allow the road to reopen to vehicles once traffic signals are reset. 

The town made part of its main thoroughfare car-free in 2020 to reduce the risk for visitors during the COVID-19 pandemic, and every year since the zone has been going from the May long weekend until Thanksgiving. 

But earlier this month, residents voted in a plebiscite to end the project, with some saying it had funnelled vehicle traffic into residential communities and caused traffic problems. 

Town council made the change official with a bylaw vote on Monday. 

The town says some businesses may be able to keep seating on the sidewalk after the pedestrian zone is gone.

MORE National ARTICLES

Canada to allow 30-year amortization for first-time buyers' mortgages on new homes

Canada to allow 30-year amortization for first-time buyers' mortgages on new homes
The Canadian government will allow 30-year amortization periods on insured mortgages for first-time homebuyers purchasing newly built homes. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland made the announcement in Toronto today, saying it would take effect Aug. 1. 

Canada to allow 30-year amortization for first-time buyers' mortgages on new homes

Canada needs to build 1.3M additional homes by 2030 to close housing gap, says PBO

Canada needs to build 1.3M additional homes by 2030 to close housing gap, says PBO
The parliamentary budget officer says Canada would need to build 1.3 million additional homes by 2030 to eliminate the country's housing gap. The newly released report looks at how many more homes would need to be built restore Canada's vacancy rate to the historical average.   

Canada needs to build 1.3M additional homes by 2030 to close housing gap, says PBO

Deadly shooting in Edmonton

Deadly shooting in Edmonton
Police say an autopsy shows the victim, 56-year-old Buta Singh, died from a gunshot wound. The suspected shooter, who was 49, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound but has not been named. Police say they're checking to see if the shooting is connected to a string of extortion schemes targeting homebuilders in the city's South Asian community.

Deadly shooting in Edmonton

B.C. plans law allowing police to arrest or ticket over school disruptions

B.C. plans law allowing police to arrest or ticket over school disruptions
Premier David Eby says there has been at least 18 such protests at schools, and the law would stop people from blocking access, attempting to intimidate another person or disrupting school activities, such as banging on classroom windows.   

B.C. plans law allowing police to arrest or ticket over school disruptions

Drinking in public plazas for Vancouver

Drinking in public plazas for Vancouver
Vancouver's city council is extending a program that allows people to drink alcohol in certain plazas until May 2025.  The city says the program has gone ahead successfully for four years. 

Drinking in public plazas for Vancouver

1 dead in Victoria stabbing

1 dead in Victoria stabbing
Police in Victoria are looking for witnesses to come forward after a man was fatally stabbed. Officers were called to the scene shortly before midnight last night and found the man suffering from stab wounds.  

1 dead in Victoria stabbing