On this day in 1977, commuters were frustrated by delays in the construction of Edmonton's new pedway network.
Pedways were having a bit of a moment in the second half of the 20th century. While the idea to create indoor walkways that take pedestrians off streets has been around since at least the 1910s, cities started embracing pedways after the Second World War. London began building a pedway network in the 1950s and '60s as part of its reconstruction efforts. Chicago began connecting some of its streets with short underground tunnels around the same time.
It isn't hard to see why the idea caught on in Edmonton, where winters can test even the hardiest of pedestrians and parkades are ubiquitous. During the '60s, the city was also booming, growing in both population and profile.
In 1968, in the wake of its urban renewal strategy for downtown, the city approved a plan for a pedway system. Calling it a plan is maybe a bit generous, though. What the city approved didn't offer much vision on what the pedway system would eventually look like, or how it would be built. It wasn't until the 1970s, with a flood of new downtown construction, that the pedway project began in earnest, much of it driven by developers wishing to connect their buildings.
Edmonton's first pedway officially opened in 1974. It was an above-ground connection that linked Edmonton Centre to a parking garage across the street. The network soon grew, with both the city and property owners adding new connections to stores, hotels, and civic buildings. Edmontonians embraced the new network, praising it for warmth and convenience. (It is worth noting there was also a clear class element, with office workers remarking the pedways kept them separated from people on the street.)
In 1978, with the opening of the Churchill and Central stations, the pedway system connected with the newly-built LRT system. Over the next decade, Edmonton would invest almost $65 million in expanding both the pedway system and the LRT.
But the positive perception of the pedway didn't last. In the 1980s, downtown began to decline and some suggested the pedway system exacerbated the problems, leading to empty streets and reducing foot traffic to businesses along Jasper Avenue. While new tunnels and connections continued to spring up, opinions on the network soured. The lack of a clear plan for the system also created a disorienting labyrinth for users, with inconsistent signage, hours, and ownership. These sentiments continue into the present day — in addition to many expressing safety concerns about pedways.
Despite this, the past decade has seen the pedway continue to grow. Today, the network runs for more than 14 kilometres and connects about 40 buildings. And it's growing yet again. Construction continued this summer on a $26-million underground tunnel to connect Churchill station to the Station Lands development.
This clipping was found on Vintage Edmonton, a daily look at Edmonton's history from armchair archivist @revRecluse of @VintageEdmonton.