While the area’s look could evolve over time, one of those things that won’t be changing is the Memorial Drive name.
The City of Calgary began engagement on the Memorial Parkway June 27. The title for the engagement has prompted conversation online that the city’s slowly evolving the name away from the use of ‘Drive.’
That’s not the case, they said.
“There is no intention to rename the roadway itself,” read an email response from the City of Calgary.
“‘The Memorial Parkway program’” is an effort to capture all of the elements for engagement, not just Memorial Drive and the roadway, but also flood mitigation, the public realm and the transportation network.”
The area councillor, Ward 7’s Terry Wong, was asked about it last week. At that time, Wong said he wasn’t aware of any effort to change the name either.
Under the City of Calgary’s roadway classification system, Memorial Drive is considered a parkway. Parkways focus on integration with the natural area around them.
“Walking and cycling modes are given highest priority,” the classification page reads.
Memorial Drive work
According to the city’s Memorial Parkway program web page, they want to create “a universally accessible, vibrant and sustainable public realm.”
They’ve already begun work on the flood barrier in the area. They want to encourage multi-modal travel while keeping the natural surroundings.
That’s how the city wanted to frame the engagement conversation.
“This was meant to encourage Calgarians to participate in the engagement from a perspective beyond the roadway,” their response read.
The initial engagement is slated to end July 15.
Phase 2 will begin in August as input will result in potential designs for the area.
