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Is bus parking on Patricia Street a hazard or the perfect downtown drop-off?
Parking in Jasper鈥檚 commercial core has sparked debate.
Jasper resident Kim Stark sent a letter to the municipal council about the No Parking/Bus Zone on the 600 block of Patricia Street.
The Bear Paw Bakery owner said buses parking outside Tim Hortons create a visual barricade and block traffic flow.
Stark said she believes the area creates a 鈥済rave safety risk鈥� and robs the downtown area of parking.
鈥淭here is little reason to have buses in the downtown core at all,鈥� she said.
鈥淩ather, the bus station is an ideal place to direct bus traffic as a hub to have passengers safety load and unload, keeping our precious parking areas for parking and our streets safer for drivers and pedestrians alike.鈥�
The bus space is used by large coaches and smaller shuttle buses by the likes of Brewster, Jasper Park Lodge and other community groups - including seniors.
Councillor Bert Journault said the location is an 鈥渆ssential drop-off鈥�.
鈥淎 lot of the clientele are seniors,鈥� he said. 鈥淢oving it to another area is not practical.鈥�
But Councillor Rico Damota said buses down that road cause too much congestion and safety issues.
鈥淚f the streets were wider it wouldn鈥檛 be an issue,鈥� he said.
鈥淏ut big buses just don鈥檛 work in that area and I think we should encourage pick-up and drop-off in a different area.鈥�
Legislative services manager Christine Nadon said the same issue was discussed a few years ago, but feedback from businesses in that area was that they saw more people coming into their stores thanks to the buses.
And Councillor Helen Kelleher-Empey said: 鈥淚 believe a number of community members came to council to ask for it to be left where it is.鈥�
Councillors asked the administration department to pull records of the previous discussions and will talk more about the issue at their next meeting.
