Council approves Exhibition Way as new road name

​In conjunction with a new addressing strategy for the Lethbridge and District Exhibition, the southeast section of roadway Parkside Drive South will soon be re-named Exhibition Way South.

Lethbridge City Council on Tuesday voted 7-2 to approve the re-naming as per a recommendation from the Civic Works Standing Policy Committee, which heard a presentation on September 1.

The curved roadway configuration for Parkside Drive South has resulted in an ad hoc approach to the addressing of City assets in Henderson Park and on the Exhibition site for many years. With the redevelopment of the Exhibition site and building a new facility, an influx of addressing requests for construction permitting exposed this ad hoc approach and a lack of numerically sequential available addresses.

The proposal was reviewed by City of Lethbridge departments (Planning and Design, Tax and Assessment, Opportunity Lethbridge, Parks, Fire/EMS and Transportation) and by external stakeholders (Canada Post, Exhibition) – and no issues were identified.

As the two parcels that front onto this section of the street are both owned by the City, there are no residents who are directly affected. There will be no implications with Land Titles regarding the name change. Opportunity Lethbridge has consulted with Exhibition Park and Bully's who are in support of the change.

"The re-naming of this street presents the opportunity to highlight the significance of the Exhibition and will coincide with the Exhibition's branding for their new facility," says Acting Mayor Crowson, who is also Chair of the Civic Works SPC. "The re-naming of any existing road has always been a Council decision. This proposal was discussed by the Municipal Names Committee on July 12 and the group consensus was to bring the proposal forward to City Council."

"The existing Municipal Naming and Addressing Bylaw 6049 gives authority to the Municipal Names Committee to name roads, open space, parks and facilities that are not named through the public process or corporate sponsorship process," says Janet Gutsell, Senior Subdivision Planner.

It will cost approximately $2,000 to change street name signs. In the past, these funds have been recovered through the Transportation Department.