The recently completed 17 Avenue S.W. construction was focused on public realm improvements that help make Calgary a more vibrant city. Designing an effective flood mitigation approach for this community was complex and was only recently completed. As a result, the public realm improvement project and flood protection and utility upgrades unfortunately were not completed at the same time.  

While this project will impact the intersection of 17 Avenue S.W. and 7 Street S.W., the majority of the project will take place on 7 Street S.W. and 19 Avenue S.W.  

We will do our best to limit the impact on 17 Avenue S.W. and hope to have this portion of construction completed as efficiently as is safely possible in the first phase of construction.  

Flood protection, utility upgrades and paving will take roughly 3 months to complete. Construction will be undertaken in phases to maintain local access and limit the impact on the community. Construction will begin April 14 and is anticipated to be completed by June 30. 

The intersection of 17th Avenue S.W. and 7 Street S.W. will be impacted by construction. Beginning April 14 both eastbound lanes on 17 Avenue S.W. near the intersection of 7 Street S.W. and 17 Avenue S.W. will be closed. 

April 17, 7:00 p.m. to April 21, at 5:00 a.m.: The intersection of 17 Avenue S.W. and 7 Street S.W. will be closed for the duration of the long weekend.

Construction Impacts

As a resident or business in the community, you should expect to be directly impacted by construction and may experience the following impacts throughout construction:  

• Regular construction hours will be 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Saturday. 
• Temporary water services have been connected to all affected properties due to the water main shut offs for replacement. Please be aware that in some cases, residents may experience reduced water pressure in their dwellings which can be reported through 311. Occasionally air in the system must be bled by running faucets until normal flow establishes. The construction crew may need to check the services or to respond to 311 requests periodically and will request access through private properties. The pipe used for the temporary lines meets the NSF61 drinking water specifications and is cleaned and tested prior to putting them in service.
• Temporary street parking restrictions and/or closures. Information regarding parking alternatives is available in this email and will be updated regularly here.  
• Vibrations due to excavation and backfill. Vibration monitoring is in place and our project team is regularly reviewing data. 
• Additional traffic and congestion due to construction activities and vehicles.  
• If sidewalks, curbs and gutters need to be removed they will be repaired to original condition. Alternate pedestrian access/detour will be provided with signs. 
• Please be aware that there are additional private projects and contractors working in the area.

Work will be completed in phases to cover open trenches as quickly as possible. However, some residents may temporarily lose access to their driveways. We will aim to minimize the duration of these disturbances and provide advanced notification of access impacts together with alternative arrangements if necessary.

Construction activity in the area will have rolling parking and access impacts in the community. When properties will be directly impacted and access will be restricted, contractors will notify property owners in advance to make appropriate arrangements and to understand any individual needs and circumstances. To support residents, The City is working to ensure parking alternatives are available when driveways or access are limitted.

Parking options for those impacted by construction include:

• Beginning, Monday, April 21st, underground parking will be made available in the Shoppers Drug Mart parkade at 17 Avenue and 7 Street S.W. for residents who lose private underground or garage parking and have registered their contact info with the city project team. Those residents will have 24-7 access to parking on floors 1 and 2. Please note, any parking stalls that are reserved are not available for use by residents
• The City project team has identified those residents with impacts to private parking and will be reaching out for contact info (name, phone number, email, license plate) to ensure they are not ticketed during their stay at the parkade. Contact info will not be shared with anyone except Impark which patrols the lot.
• If you have not provided your license plate, please email your name, phone number, email, and license plate to Eric.Wu@calgary.ca.

NOTE: Residents will be responsible for paying their parking tickets should their contact info not be registered with the city project team.

• Calgary Parking has relaxed permit parking restrictions in the area for the duration of construction from April 14 – June 30, within the following area: 17 Avenue on the north, 9 Street on the west Royal Avenue on the south, College Lane on the east. Residents can park anywhere that is not considered a No Parking zone, such as loading zones and other restricted areas.

Throughout construction residents may be impacted by temporary water disruptions. Impacted residents will be notified in advance.

We are working closely with city waste and recycling and private waste and recycling providers to ensure access to regular waste and recycling service is maintained.

This project is intended to improve flood protection against a 1:50-year weather event for impacted properties in the community, greatly reducing the potential severity of impacts on Calgarians. The project will also include aged utility replacement, upgrades and roadway paving.  

The City’s Community and Business Relations team will be meeting with interested residents, and we encourage you to sign up for our email list to stay informed about the progress of this work. We encourage you to reach out to our team directly should you have any questions or concerns.