The calming of Martindale's collector

we may have found the most welcoming community in calgary.

In July, Sustainable Calgary contractors and volunteers completed our work in Martindale - the last of 3 weekends (and many school days!) installing the Martindale Calm Collector. Students from Manmeet Singh Bhullar School, Ecole la Mosaique and Kids in Motion (YMCA) imagined this precedent-setting transformation to support safe and fun routes to school by walking and biking.

Residents stopped to chat, offer help, coffee, cold drinks, thumbs up, encouragement

During construction, a steady stream of residents stopped to ask questions, give encouragement, thanks, thumbs up, wave. Our last weekend residents offered help, coffee, cold drinks; they chatted with each other about traffic calming and child safety – or just sat nearby and watched us work. What an overwhelming welcome.

Guys. We might have to move to Martindale.

Special thanks to Jaspreet for refreshments, Sandeep for valuable insights, and Dwayne for circling back to paint with us - on his Calgary-based Tuff-Hill e-bike no less!

hazardous drop-off and pick-up zones signalled a need for change

Stepping Towards a Greener Tomorrow video dropping soon! Landscape Architecture intern Tripty Kaur featured above.

Martindale residents have been calling for change on Martindale Boulevard for at least a decade. High-speed traffic and hazardous driving behaviour are a problem, particularly at school drop-off and pick-up times. Parent Councils, school staff, students, and most recently, residents who stopped to chat, have all chimed in. Soon you’ll be able to hear about it from students themselves - in a video we are so excited to release!

Pollution in school drop-off zones is another hazard that receives less attention; but Canadian schools far exceed the World Health Organization’s daily and annual maximum exposure - and kids are much more vulnerable to air pollution than adults.

Designed for kids and by kids.

learn more about this process

the martindale calm collector: a precedent-setting first step towards safer school streets

The Martindale Calm Collector is the very first of its kind: the first time Calgary has seen curb bumpouts on a collector, and one of the first times it’s seen planters as traffic calming in Calgary.

You’ll see in pictures below we used a combination of approaches to traffic calming. Some curb bumpouts have paint only, while others incorporate physical barriers - concrete traffic calming curbs and planters.

Painted streets alone do have benefits: a recent study cites a 50% decrease in collisions involving folks walking or wheeling near road art; a 37% decrease in crashes leading to serious injury; and less conflict (risk of collision) between people driving and walking.

But our photos below highlight the difference between paint-only and physical barriers, just two months after finishing: paint erodes more rapidly when vehicles can drive on it. Presumably, its effect erodes as well. The difference was obvious to Martindale residents who came to chat with us as well, and who would love to see high-quality permanent changes made to the street.

Painted asphalt protected by concrete traffic calming curbs withstands the test of time.

Painted curb bumpouts without physical protection have faded substantially within two months.

Want more safe routes for kids? take action!

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dedicated people and funders made the martindale calm collector possible

Our last weekend in Martindale signals a wrap to the Stepping Towards a Greener Tomorrow project, which we were able to extend by 16 months due to funding from ActivateYYC, The Calgary Foundation, Arusha, and ActivateParks. We definitely couldn’t have done it without the persistence (ahem, stubbornness, ahem!) of a team of folks at Sustainable Calgary and partnering organizations who care so deeply about this work. It feels incredibly satisfying to bring this work to a close - and a touch bittersweet. Here’s hoping another project brings this kind, motivated, competent and talented band together again.

Here’s hoping another project brings this kind, motivated and talented band together again.

special shout-outs to Srimal and Gio for leading the charge.

Installation has been led by Srimal and Giovanni, this last weekend joined by Mohammed, Brett, Dwayne, Celia, and Matina, with Jon Yee behind the camera. The day was another scorcher (City of Calgary Council, let’s throw Martindale some shade! The good kind!), but the conversation was delightful – spanning philosophy, poetry, economics, language. Getting to know new people is truly one of the best parts of this work.

Thank you as always to West Hillhurst Paint for the vibrant colours; to Calgary Momo House for drool-worthy vegetarian Nepalese food; to Keith Simmons for building the planters, and Yarko Yopyk for building the seating - they are both beautiful and durable! Thanks Ecole la Mosaique, Manmeet Singh Bhullar School and Kids in Motion for developing concepts; to Tripty Kaur for interpreting their ideas and translating them into thoughtful, imaginative concept and technical drawings; to Srimal for strategizing-project-managing-jack-of-all-trading-dad-joking; to Giovanni for gorgeous artwork and organization; to our incredible volunteers; and to ActivateYYC and City of Calgary for making this a team effort.