8 Street S.W. is a vital place and important community connector between Downtown West and the Beltline. It links 17 Avenue S.W. to the Bow River along the west edge of our downtown. Planning for 8 Street S.W. as a livable, vibrant urban destination and community connection will support the overall success of our downtown and the strategic moves identified in Calgary’s Greater Downtown Plan.

We are currently in Phase 1: Conceptual Design Development. Building off the 2016 master plan, Phase 1 will focus on advancing the conceptual design for 8 Street S.W. to consider the many societal, planning and policy and neighbourhood changes that have occurred since the master plan was completed.

A lot has changed since the original master plan, including various societal, neighbourhood, and planning and policy changes. As part of phase 1 of the project, we are seeking input on how the street functions in 2023 and could function in the future. This will help us to understand how we can build off of the master plan to advance the design concepts to meet current and future needs of these important downtown neighbourhoods.

The Downtown Strategy is The City’s team that leverages the collective efforts of The City and its public and private sector partners to respond to prolonged economic challenges, and capitalize on opportunities that will create jobs, drive economic recovery, and revitalize and transform the downtown.

The 8 Street S.W. project team meets regularly and works closely with other teams delivering projects in the downtown. We work to coordinate designs, engagement and share information to ensure our projects are well aligned and are supporting the goals and outcomes of each project. We are also tracking and coordinating with other private development work happening in the downtown, sharing timelines and schedules to look for synergies and conflicts. This type of team coordination will continue throughout the life of the project ensuring coordination is happening during all phases of the project.

In Spring/Summer 2023, public feedback will be sought on the refined draft conceptual design for 8 Street S.W. Based on feedback from the Spring/Summer 2023 engagement and further technical studies and assessments, the final conceptual design for 8 Street S.W, will be shared in Fall 2023. The project is targeted to be construction ready in 2024.

Anyone who is interested in the project can provide their feedback. The online survey for Phase 1 - Step 1: Refine, closed on February 28, 2023. The next opportunity to provide input will be when the draft conceptual design is shared in Spring/Summer of 2023 as part of Phase 1 - Step 2: Refine.

Feedback on how people currently use 8 Street S.W. and the various public spaces along the corridor will help The City to understand what is working well and what improvements could be made to this space in the future to achieve the vision and guiding principles from the master plan and the key strategic moves from the Greater Downtown Plan that 8 Street S.W supports. Public feedback along with technical studies will be used to advance and refine the conceptual design for 8 Street SW, building off the existing master plan.

We are currently targeting to have the project construction ready for 2024. The timing of construction will be better understood once we have completed the design process.

A detailed implementation strategy will be developed as part of the deliverables for the project. We will also coordinate with other projects (both City-led and private development) to look for ways to minimize impact during construction. Proper detours, phasing and sequencing of work will be coordinated to mitigate impacts for the public, businesses and residents.

Design work is the first critical step that is part of the construction process. The project is funded for the Conceptual Design Development phase from the Bow River to 17 Avenue S.W. Phase 2: Detailed Design is funded for the Downtown section of the project (from the Bow River to the 8 Street SW Underpass).

The project has funding for construction, however, how much we can build, and which blocks to build in the Downtown section of the corridor first, is yet to be determined. We will be looking at construction phasing as the project progresses and we have a better idea of costs based on the designs developed.

Project funding comes from the recently approved 2023-2026 budget through the Downtown Strategy Capital Program.

Safety and security for all citizens is priority for The City. It's also a complicated matter that requires a multi-prong approach - one of which is improving the physical infrastructure of the street to attract more people to 8 Street S.W. By making 8 Street S.W. a vibrant and inviting place, there will be more activity with “eyes on the street”. This project will focus on physical design elements within a streetscape that considers safety and security. 8 Street S.W. will be designed with Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) principals in mind, and other physical improvements such as improved lighting and consistent paving will also make it safer and easier to navigate.

The City is also working on a number of fronts to improve safety in downtown, as a whole. These include:

• Calgary Police Service (CPS) programs and initiatives to support safety and the reduction of social disorder focused on crime reduction by using patrol cars, foot and bike patrols and Community Resource Officers
• Calgary Transit has Public Safety and Enforcement officers patrolling the transit system 24/7, as well as the Transit Watch program to allow Calgarians to safety and discreetly report safety concerns
• The Downtown Ambassador program is a partnership between The City and the Calgary Downtown Association to provide a welcoming presence and promote the downtown area as a safe and vibrant place to live, work and play.
• In partnership with the Calgary Police Service, The Stephen Avenue Safety Hub is a centralized location where uniformed officers can collaborate on common issues, complete necessary paperwork, and store equipment. The Safety Hub provides the opportunity to increase the visibility of uniformed Police, Bylaw and Transit officers in the Downtown Core and East Village, enhancing the sense of safety and security for citizens and businesses.
• The Downtown Coordinated Safety and Security Committee is made up of security representatives from downtown organizations and institutions. Together, this group has worked to improve training for staff, increase data and information coordination, and improve communication overall among these various organizations.

The project is focused on physical improvements for 8 Street S.W. and what we can do to help address current safety and security concerns. We are also looking at how improved infrastructure and amenities that can better support programming and activation to bring more people to 8 Street S.W. to further enhance safety and security through activity and "eyes on the street”.

It’s currently too early in the project to understand the impact to parking. However, as part of the next steps of Phase 1, we will be conducting technical studies to identify the parking needs for 8 Street S.W. to develop a parking strategy.

Parking may be reduced to improve the street experience and make it safer and more comfortable for pedestrians, cyclists and other wheeled users.

8 Street S.W. has been identified as part of the 5A Network. This was done at a high-level network scale; the project will now look at the details of the 8 Street S.W. mobility improvements and how they can align with the 5A Network vision.

One of the key goals of the project is to redesign 8 Street SW for all modes of travel with the pedestrian experience being the highest priority.

The design of a street plays a critical role in its safety. The 2016 master plan incorporates strategies to improve pedestrian safety most notably, by encouraging lower vehicular traffic speeds and re-allocating space to pedestrians. The work ahead will seek to build off of the 2016 master plan with contemporary best practices in street design to create safer infrastructure meant to serve everyone.

As part of the next steps of Phase 1, we will be conducting a traffic study. The results of the study will be utilized to inform the advancement of the draft conceptual design that will be shared as part of our next steps of engagement.

Public washrooms are not currently being considered for 8 Street S.W. This type of amenity is better suited and more appropriate for larger venues such as a park or plaza. There are currently public washrooms available at Olympic Plaza, Devonian Gardens, Century Gardens and Millennium Park.

Through our engagement we are hearing that there is a need for better access to better public washroom facilities in the downtown and we are committed to sharing what we are hearing and working with other groups internally to understand how this issue could be better addressed.

You can request most City services by calling 311. You can also find a wide range of services using our 311 Calgary mobile app or the Calgary.ca/311Online website. Whether you choose to connect with us via our mobile app, website or 311 Call Centre, you can use the service request you received to track the status of your request.

If you are inquiring about Calgary Transit, you can call 403.262.1000 or visit the Calgary Transit website.

If you are inquiring about parking in Calgary, call Calgary Parking Authority at 403.537.7000 (enforcement inquiries or to report an illegally parked vehicle) or visit the Calgary Parking Authority website.

Improvements to the 8 Street S.W. underpass were completed in 2017. The scope of new changes to the underpass is limited to mobility improvements through the carriageway that were not completed in 2017.