'Too many vehicles on our road network': Traffic drives Banff residents to curb pedestrian zone

Banff residents have voted "no" to the town's contentious pedestrian zone.

Monday, 2,523 ballots were cast, with 1,328 counted toward doing away with the pedestrian zone.

"We will move forward and embrace the result of this vote," Mayor Corrie DiManno said.

The vote is seen as a blow to businesses but a win for residents fed up with congestion from diverted traffic.

DiManno acknowledged the role traffic played in people's leanings.

"A shared challenge is that we just have too many vehicles on our road network, and it was very clear that a large portion of our residents saw the detour onto side streets as a tipping point," DiManno said.

Leslie Taylor, the town's former mayor and co-organizer for Banffites for a Comfortable Living, which is against the pedestrian zone, says people voted not for what is happening inside the few blocks it takes up but for the impact it has on other parts of the town.

"Once you take the huge amount of traffic we have coming into town and you push it out of the downtown and into the residential neighbourhoods, you create real problems," she said.

But some business owners within the zone are bracing for what Monday's vote means for them:

"It's a huge step backward for us as a tourism destination and it's a bit unfortunate that we could not move forward with solutions to tackle the ongoing challenges," said Stephane Prevost, chef and managing partner at Block Kitchen + Bar and Shoku Izakaya.

At Block Kitchen + Bar, Prevost can seat 30 people without the additional seating the pedestrian zone provides.

The pedestrian zone allows him to add another 12-14 seats, which he says is a significant boost.

"For five months of the year and peak tourism season, absolutely, (it is)," he said.

Town council will now be presented second and third readings of the bylaw at their Aug. 26 meeting and in accordance with provincial law, the pedestrian zone will begin to be dismantled as soon as the following day.