Building a community street in Montgomery – construction is completed!

Improvements to Bowness Road, through the Montgomery community, have provided the right pieces to attract more people to live and more businesses to invest in the area. The result of the new street design, with construction substantially completed, provides a better place for people of all ages to travel, gather and visit. It’s the first of 24 streets to be completed as part of The City’s initial $60 million investment into its Main Streets program.

After extensive community engagement, construction has been underway since breaking ground in spring 2020. That’s great news for the community, businesses and The City.

“I’m excited to say our team and construction crews have wrapped up construction ahead of schedule and under budget” said Project Manager Caylee Dyck. “First and foremost, we’d like to thank the Montgomery residents and local businesses for their patience. After a year and a half, the payoff to the upgrades to Bowness Road have provided a much better space for the community. It’s a major milestone for the Main Streets program.”

Bowness Road has been transformed into a pedestrian-friendly, sustainable and multi-modal street with widened sidewalks, multi-use pathways, landscape improvements, and pedestrian oriented lighting improvements. The improvements support the recent growth of this community, both residential and local businesses.

“The Main Streets project has provided Montgomery businesses with improvements that are welcoming to customers; safer areas to walk and bike and have already resulted in an increase of pedestrian traffic,” said Marion Hayes, Executive Director of the Montgomery Business Improvement Area. “There has been an increase in new businesses opening which will provide the surrounding residents with more retail, services and job opportunities. The addition of community gathering areas and benches that were missing along Montgomery Way/Bowness Road previously are also a welcome improvement.”

To celebrate the distinct identity of the area unique elements have been added to the streetscape. This includes custom bike racks in community colours, streetlights that reflect the historical character, plantings that are natural to the area and street signs which include the secondary name of Montgomery Way to further the sense of community.

Jason Sokolosky, President of the Montgomery Community Association, told us: “The Montgomery Main Streets project has enabled our community to collectively reassess how we get to where we live, learn, gather and play. Safer and inclusive roadways, bike-lanes, and walkways support access for all of our neighbours and guests to enjoy all that our community has to offer.”

In early 2022, The City will continue dialogue with the community on design options for the Montgomery Gateways. These entrance features at both the east and west ends of Bowness Road N.W., will add to the unique character and create a sense of arrival to the community. The gateways will be constructed next summer.

“The transformation of the Montgomery Road Main Street demonstrates how the main street program can turn roads into community-friendly, vibrant streets that can better position them to support and attract business and residents,” said Program Manager Joyce Tang. "We look forward to continuing this important work and celebrating the completion of future main streets like 37 Street S.W., and 17 Avenue S.W. next year.”

Learn more at Calgary.ca/montgomerymainstreet.