Calgary's new plan for its inner-city West Village take cues from western Europe, with features inspired by Rome and Barcelona, as well as London's most famous traffic-control device.

The ambitious, long-range redevelopment plan for the area across 11th Street S.W. from downtown aims to reinvent a commuter raceway accented by car dealerships into a popular and pedestrian-friendly district that's home to thousands of urban denizens -- all while keeping traffic flowing in and out of the core.

A big part of that slick transformation is some infrastructure to match.

To bring people from the West LRT's Sunalta station over the CPR tracks, city planners envision a "grand staircase" that would become a major gathering place, similar to the Spanish Steps of Rome.

It would lead to a 16th Street promenade with a large, sun-kissed pedestrian median, reminiscent of the bustling La Ramba in Barcelona.

"It's that melting pot of urban activity, that meeting place where you enjoy the day," said senior planner Joe Mueller.

"That's why we used the term grand staircase -- it sounds a little grand, maybe -- but the idea is to make that a very generous entrance into the area," said Mueller.

And the vaguely British element? It's a roundabout that would replace the spaghetti-like tangle of ramps that take up hectares of land along 14th Street S.W.

Instead of winding exits between Bow Trail, 14th Street and 9th Avenue, the north-south artery would be interrupted by a traffic circle that would feed and be fed by an adjacent, parallel street, according to the draft area redevelopment plan.

It would free space along 14th Street for office highrises that could become West Village's landmark pieces -- an impossible feature with the existing roadways, Mueller said.

"The current situation shoves development away, creates that auto-dominated zone, whereas the new proposal is clearer but also enables that roundabout to be embraced by development parcels," he said.

Mayor Dave Bronconnier first revealed the city's vision of a West Village, similar to the East Village makeover, when he announced Calgary wouldn't bid to host the Expo 2017 world showcase.

Instead, the city would encourage population, office and commercial development for the proposed Expo site, which stretches from 11th Street to Crowchild Trail, between the train tracks and Bow River.

The plan won't become reality for a decade or two, but more than 100 people visited an open house last week to glimpse West Village's stylish future.

"Not only does the community need it, the city needs it," said Peter Rishaug, a Sunalta resident and member of the city's community advisory committee for West Village.

That portion of the inner city "is in effect a dead zone of industrial and contaminated lands," Ald. John Mar said.

Mueller said he heard a lot of enthusiasm for the 14th Street roundabout, but also acknowledged some worries that it could be confusing and poorly designed.

"Here's an opportunity for it to be transformed, similar to what we did for East Village and to reclaim a large portion of the river front."

The city's plan involves a realignment of the Bow Trail feeder roads, as well as environmental remediation and creation of a new park near Pumphouse Theatres. The civic work might total $300 million or more

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