Officials with the Town of Banff and Parks Canada are asking visitors to leave their cars at home and take public transit if possible in anticipation of a very busy Canada Day long weekend.
If you need to bring your car, however, town officials are asking you to park at the free Train Station Lot because most lots will be full by 11 a.m.
Visitors can walk, cycle or take Roam Public Transit to every attraction in and around Banff, the town said.
The town and Parks Canada said they are anticipating upwards of 30,000 extra vehicles per day this long weekend.
“The Town of Banff has ample room for people to explore our pedestrian zone, the plaza at Bear Street and all the trails and parks around town, but with a limited area of four-square kilometres, our town has finite roads and parking that cannot accommodate vehicles if everyone chooses to drive everywhere,” Mayor Corrie DiManno said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Parking, then walking, cycling or taking transit is the right thing to do in a national park, to reduce emissions that cause climate change, and because it is a much more enjoyable experience… We can’t accommodate all personal vehicles.”
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The warnings come after the Town of Banff reversed a decision to allow visitors to park on downtown residential streets, a measure that was originally planned to deal with heavy traffic during the Canada Day long weekend.
In a statement on Tuesday, town manager Kelly Gibson said the town’s administration decided to reverse the decision after listening to feedback from residents.
“We did not adequately communicate this part of our traffic mitigation plan to our community to give enough time for people to review the measure, and we received overwhelming opposition from our residents yesterday,” Gibson said.
“We are sorry for the consternation this decision caused and we hope we can rebuild the relationship with residents who rely on the town to act in the best interests of our community.”
The Town of Banff is reversing a decision on one of the measures it had planned for dealing with the heavy traffic descending on the small mountain town for the Canada Day long weekend. pic.twitter.com/CUCIPEscQE
— Banff Town (@Banff_Town) June 29, 2022