Some residents living on a section of 26 Avenue S.W. targeted for improvements say the project is moving forward without enough consideration for the people who live there. The work on 26 Avenue S.W. stretches from 37 Street S.W. to 14 Street S.W. and includes protected bike lanes and multi-use pathways, intersection upgrades, floating bus stops, improved street lighting and a lower speed limit. What is a floating bus stop? A floating bus stop moves the passenger boarding area away from the sidewalk and places it between the vehicle lane and the protected bike lane. On 26 Avenue S.W., buses currently have to cross into the bike lane to reach the curb. Under the new design, buses would remain in the traffic lane while passengers cross the bike lane to reach the boarding area. The city says the design reduces conflicts between buses and cyclists and makes movements around the stop more predictable. However, Bob Berry, a cyclist who uses roads throughout the area, worries the design could create a problem bigger than the one city officials hope to solve. “They’re going to move these bus stops out, so the busses will now stop in the travel lane on the road,” Berry said. “All the traffic will have to stop behind that bus.” “Then they move along. The bus moves along to the next bus stop. Stops again. Everybody has to stop for the bus again – and that stop and go is going to go all the way (between 14 Street and 37 Street S.W.) It also means the permanent removal of some on-street parking. Parking will be removed from the south side of 26 Avenue S.W. between 37 Street and 25 Street S.W. It will also be removed from the north side between 22 Street and 14A Street S.W. For people living along the route, that is a big concern. Brian McKenna, who lives near 26 Avenue and 25 Street S.W., says new homes in the area are predominantly built with single-car garages, forcing residents to rely on street parking for additional vehicles. He says removing that parking while the neighbourhood continues to grow and densify will make an already difficult situation worse. “Taking away permanent parking for the residents that live on the street is going to affect people negatively in terms of - you’re going to be parking a couple blocks away,” McKenna said. “If you have young children, you’re going to be having to go back and forth to load them in the car. Expecting mothers, grandparents, and parents coming to visit you, you’re asking them to park away. The inconvenience in the summer months is one thing, but the inconvenience in the winter months will be that much more.” Berry said his objections aren’t to cycling infrastructure itself, but to how the design will work. He says experienced cyclists already travel quickly along parts of 26 Avenue, particularly on the downhill stretch toward 14 Street S.W., and he questions the plan to put cyclists on shared pathways in some areas. “As a cyclist going down that hill, the last thing we want to be doing is dodging people on a sidewalk, a pathway,” Berry said. “Mixed use is okay, but this is a hill and people are really flying on it, so it’s going to be pretty dicey for people trying to dodge the bikes going down this slope.” Berry says he has written to city officials seeking answers about the design. “I’ve sent letters to the city, to the, to the ward councillors, and they have not responded,” Berry said. “The mayor’s office was super. Their assistants get back to me all the time. They gave me a lot of feedback but there was no detail, and there were no actual answers to my questions,” Berry said. Residents also question whether the parking information used by the city reflects current conditions in a neighbourhood that has seen significant redevelopment in recent years. McKenna says he believes the city needs to take another look at how parking is being used now. “I think more consultation – more research is needed,” he said. “From what I understand, the research was done during working hours. Come on a weekend or after rush hour and see how many cars are parked here. You’re displacing a lot of people.” The city says public engagement was conducted in 2021 and 2023, and that feedback from those sessions helped shape the final design. Updated plans were presented at a community information session in November 2025, followed by another session in July ahead of construction. The city says there is not enough room along some sections of 26 Avenue S.W. to keep on-street parking while also adding the planned safety improvements. “Parking impacts were carefully considered as part of the design, and changes are limited to where they are necessary to improve safety and operations,” the city says on its website. The city also says a map showing parking changes and alternative parking options will be provided. Residents say that should be clarified before the work moves further ahead. McKenna says the additional vehicles will have to go somewhere. “You know, you’re promoting more inner-city redevelopment in terms of housing, and then you’re going to take away parking,” he said. “Most houses have two to three vehicles, right? So those vehicles have to park somewhere.” The city says the broader project is intended to make 26 Avenue S.W. safer as nearby communities grow and redevelop. Existing painted bike lanes between 37 Street and 22 Street S.W. will be replaced with physically separated lanes, while multi-use pathways will be added farther east. Vehicle travel lanes will remain. The city says the project is also designed to reduce conflicts between road users, improve visibility at intersections and slow vehicle speeds. Berry questions whether all of the changes will actually make the route safer for cyclists. “They say that there’s three things they say. It’s going to be more reliable, more comfortable, and more safe,” he said. “As a cyclist, I don’t feel more safe riding, humping and bumping over those (redesigned ) intersection corners. Right now, it’s just a simple street crossing, and I just can’t, for the life of me, understand why that’s not safe.” The $21.7-million project is being funded through several sources, including $5.7 million from the city’s Established Area Growth and Change Strategy, $7.5 million from the federal Housing Accelerator Fund and $8.5 million from city operational budgets. Construction is expected to continue in phases through 2028.
