Jasper Avenue

Jasper Avenue begins at 125 Street in the community of Westmount as a local residential street. One block to the east, 124 Street turns east and becomes Jasper Avenue, which functions as its unofficial western terminus, with 102 Avenue taking over as the main east-west artery to west Edmonton. Jasper Avenue passes the community of Oliver through mixed retail and high density residential. East of 109 Street, Jasper Avenue passes through the downtown core and is home to many of Edmonton's oldest heritage buildings (for example the Hotel Macdonald) and some of Edmonton's tallest office towers, including Canadian Western Bank Place and Scotia Place. East of 97 Street, Jasper Avenue departs from both the downtown core and the 101 Avenue alignment, running northeast along the North Saskatchewan River valley through the community of Boyle Street. At 82 Street, the roadway turns north; however Jasper Avenue continues east as a local residential street through the community of Cromdale, ending at 77 Street.[1] The Jasper West area (west of 97 Street) is one of the major retail, living, commercial, and entertainment districts of the city.

Jasper Avenue looking west from 103 Street (1950).

Jasper Avenue first emerged as a commercial main street in the 1870s and 1880s, with the Jasper Avenue emerging of Edmonton's downtown main street in the early 1900s. In 1912, the Cities of Edmonton and Strathcona amalgamated, leaving Edmonton with two main streets – Jasper Avenue to the north, and Whyte Avenue to the south. Jasper Avenue continued to gain strength as a commercial centre through the 1930s and 40s, supporting streetcars as well as motorized vehicles, with the 101 Street intersection receiving Edmonton’s first traffic light in 1933.[2] The years following World War II saw unprecedented growth, with the oil discovery near Leduc in 1948 and the strategic positioning of Edmonton as a base for subsequent major oil construction projects. Growth continued in the 1960s with intensification of the downtown core, and in the 1970s a number of historical buildings were demolished in order to accommodate large towers and future growth. Jasper Avenue began to decline in the 1980s with the rise of indoor shopping malls, in particular West Edmonton Mall which supplanted Jasper Avenue as Edmonton's main shopping district. The mid-1980s saw the beginning of reinvestment in the downtown core and Jasper Avenue which included the underground LRT in 1985 and the subsequent redesign of the Jasper Avenue streetscape; however, at the same time Whyte Avenue emerged and subsequently supplanted Jasper Avenue as Edmonton's main entertainment district. While slow reinvestment continued into the 2000s, the downtown core has recently seen increased development, such as the rise of the Warehouse District and Ice District to the north, resulting in increased activity and redevelopment along Jasper Avenue.[2][3]

The original alignment of Highway 16 which entered Edmonton from the west along Stony Plain Road and 102 Avenue, followed Jasper Avenue between 124 Street and 95 Street, where it connected with Rowland Road and the Dawson Bridge, left Edmonton to the east along 101 Avenue.[4] In the 1950s, Highway 16 was moved to 111 Avenue and 118 Avenue, resulting in the inner city route becoming Highway 16A.[5] In the early 1980s, the Highway 16A designation along Jasper Avenue was phased out.

Looking east along Jasper Avenue.

Looking west along Jasper Avenue from 101 Street (2007).

List of neighbourhoods Jasper Avenue runs through, in order from west to east:[6]

• Westmount
• Oliver
• Downtown
• Boyle Street
• Cromdale

Starting at the west end of Jasper Avenue. The entire route is in Edmonton.

km[1]	mi	Destinations	Notes
0.0	0.0	125 Street	At-grade
0.1	0.062	124 Street to 102 Avenue / Hwy 16A west	Roadway turns east; eastbound right-in/right-out
		Through traffic follows 124 Street
0.5	0.31	121 Street	At-grade (traffic lights)
1.1	0.68	116 Street	At-grade (traffic lights)
1.6	0.99	112 Street – Edmonton General Hospital	At-grade (traffic lights)
2.0	1.2	109 Street to Hwy 2 – MacEwan University, Old Strathcona	At-grade (traffic lights)
2.1	1.3	108 Street (Capital Boulevard)	At-grade (traffic lights)
2.2	1.4	107 Street – Alberta Legislature Building	At-grade (traffic lights)
		Passes over Corona station (underground)
2.3	1.4	106 Street	At-grade (traffic lights)
2.4	1.5	105 Street	At-grade (traffic lights)
2.6	1.6	104 Street	At-grade (traffic lights)
2.6– 2.7	1.6– 1.7	Passes over Bay/Enterprise Square station (underground)
2.7	1.7	103 Street	At-grade (traffic lights)
2.8	1.7	102 Street	At-grade (traffic lights)
2.9	1.8	101 Street	At-grade (traffic lights)
3.0	1.9	Rice Howard Way (100A Street)	At-grade (traffic lights); no vehicle access from Jasper Avenue
3.0– 3.2	1.9– 2.0	Passes over Central station (underground)
3.2	2.0	100 Street – Hotel Macdonald	At-grade (traffic lights)
3.3	2.1	99 Street – Churchill Square, City Hall, Royal Alberta Museum	At-grade (traffic lights)
3.5	2.2	97 Street to Hwy 28 north – Canada Place, Shaw Conference Centre	At-grade (traffic lights)
4.1	2.5	95 Street (to Rowland Road)	At-grade (traffic lights)
		102 Avenue	No access from Jasper Ave (one-way eastbound)
4.5	2.8	103A Avenue / 92 Street	At-grade (traffic lights)
5.6	3.5	82 Street to Hwy 15 north / Hwy 16 east	Roadway turns north; westbound right-in/right-out
		Through traffic follows 82 Street
6.2	3.9	77 Street	At-grade
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Incomplete access       Route transition

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jasper Avenue, Edmonton.

• Downtown Edmonton
• List of avenues in Edmonton
• Transportation in Edmonton

• Experience Jasper Avenue - City of Edmonton - redesign Jasper Avenue between 109 Street and 124 Street