Why I was wrong to be against the Memorial Drive closure

June 3, 2009 by
Filed under: Uncategorized 

So THIS is what people were thinking about when planning Bow River Flow?! (Previously nicknamed RiverFest by politicians and the media who weren’t sure what to call the contentious August Memorial Drive closure.)

Wow. I’m going to have to talk back all the nasty things I said about this event and the road closure surrounding it. I had no idea what it was they were planning. This is an amazing thing! Just the physical fitness promotion alone is pretty impressive, not to mention the family togetherness or environmental angles. Or the just plain fun of it all!

After watching this video I can say the case for closing Memorial Drive was presented terribly by whoever first pitched the idea to council and the media (Ald. Farrell maybe?). Having been so steadfastly against an event that I thought could be done on the Bow River Pathway or in Kensington I feel I have to apologize for just ‘not getting it’. I like to think I’m an open person who reads/listens to a lot but I never got the full story.

No wonder so many people are against it when the vision put into my head looks so different from the reality in this video.

Thank you to David Wilson (@CalgaryCowbell) for sharing this video on Twitter. It has opened my eyes and I’m now looking forward to how amazing an event this could be for years to come. More nay-sayers should watch this and then judge.

Frankly, now, I can’t think of a better place than on Memorial Drive for an event like this. Consider me a supporter.

UPDATE: Apologies but it doesn’t look like the embedded video appears in many RSS Readers. If viewing this through a Reader you may have to visit blog.djkelly.ca to see the actual video.

Share|

Tags: , ,

Comments

  • C.Morgan

    The initial plan was for closures on multiple days with utterly no plans for events aside from more pedestrian space. This is the revised plan thanks to public pressure and feedback on what was initially a poorly planned and directionless road closure. Had Druh begun with this plan in the first place I doubt there would have been much opposition at all. I hope she has learned from it.

  • C.Morgan

    The initial plan was for closures on multiple days with utterly no plans for events aside from more pedestrian space.

    This is the revised plan thanks to public pressure and feedback on what was initially a poorly planned and directionless road closure. Had Druh begun with this plan in the first place I doubt there would have been much opposition at all.

    I hope she has learned from it.

  • Daryl Cognito

    I know I may offend with this but…It look really nice, "woo hoo, the big bad car has been banished we can finally come out and play, oh joy the evil car is gone. At least till monday"We have a poorly planned transit system, money being wasted on the ring road, and many ppl feel we need a better bike lane and path system. These things would improve fitness and quality of life for everyone everyday of the week. Instead Drue and the city toss out a bone for 4 days in the summer. We pay 2.75 to ride a bus but at least we have a fun party to go to.

  • Daryl Cognito

    I know I may offend with this but…

    It look really nice, "woo hoo, the big bad car has been banished we can finally come out and play, oh joy the evil car is gone. At least till monday"

    We have a poorly planned transit system, money being wasted on the ring road, and many ppl feel we need a better bike lane and path system. These things would improve fitness and quality of life for everyone everyday of the week. Instead Drue and the city toss out a bone for 4 days in the summer. We pay 2.75 to ride a bus but at least we have a fun party to go to.

  • Sean Carter

    i am a supporter of the concept of a "ciclovia" event here in calgary however, this short section of memorial will hardly qualify as one. it is more like a test-drive on the idea. to get the full benefit of such an event we need to see a much larger closure – say, similar to what vancouver recently announced.

    hopefully the one-day test will be well received by the public (and media) and we can then begin pushing for a "real" ciclovia.

  • Sean Carter

    i am a supporter of the concept of a "ciclovia" event here in calgary however, this short section of memorial will hardly qualify as one. it is more like a test-drive on the idea. to get the full benefit of such an event we need to see a much larger closure – say, similar to what vancouver recently announced.

    hopefully the one-day test will be well received by the public (and media) and we can then begin pushing for a "real" ciclovia.