Bike lanes continue to be a highly contested topic in Saskatoon as a wave of people have submitted letters or requested to speak at Saskatoon’s final city council meeting of the year.
A report was brought forward on Dec. 5 to the transportation committee envisioning several options for bike paths along Avenue C North from Spadina Crescent to 45th Street West, with a price tag of $8.8 million.
Many concerns were highlighted in the meeting from residents due to industrial and high-volume traffic north of Circle Drive, but the matter was pushed forward to city council to allow stakeholders to discuss.
Many residents showed their support for the bike lane and possibly lowering the speed limit along these designated bikeways to 30 km/h. Many also voiced concerns and were not in support of the project or the reduction of the speed limits.
Jason Hanson, a Saskatoon resident, submitted a letter of support, saying the reduction of speed will make bikeways safer and make active transportation more welcoming.
Mike Winter from Walking Saskatoon submitted a letter of support as well, but stressed that there were still some dangers associated with the road. He said proper placement of safe street crossings is needed.
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Anne Marie Schulte said she is a regular cyclist in Saskatoon and submitted a letter saying this bike lane would be an important connection between the north and south ends of the city.
Bertrand Bartake, a local architect, weighed in on the conversation in support of the bike lane as well, saying this “is not a war on cars issue. This is an issue of equity and reality.”
Bartake submitted a letter saying that Avenue C North is the only street west of Idylwyld Drive that connects neighbourhoods in the south across Circle Drive to the north.
“Could the design be improved across the entire route? Definitely. But perfection is the enemy of progress and Avenue C North is the only reasonable location for a multimodal corridor connecting Riversdale to industry in the north,” Bartake wrote.
Saskatoon medical health officer Dr. Jasmine Hasselback endorsed the project as well, saying the project will have benefits to residents’ well-being.
“The proposed project enables Saskatoon residents, particularly those without access to a vehicle, whether due to age, lack of a driver’s licence, personal choice or necessity, to utilize walking and cycling as a means to access opportunities such as employment, education, businesses and food,” Hasselback said.
Not all letters submitted were supportive, however, with Ross Elliott, a cyclist in the city, saying this project has the potential to make things worse for many people just to benefit a few.
“I am afraid some of the plans will make drivers angry and actually make it more hazardous for bicyclists with drivers’ aggressive actions,” Elliott said.
Virginia Morley of Energy Doctor Home Renovations sent a letter saying the project was not practical.
“We are NOT Vancouver, this is not practical at all. Perhaps some of the $8 million could go to serving the taxpayers better by having better snow removal in the residential areas so people can park properly, helping the homeless, and making the streets safer,” Morley said.
Morley also took issue with how the project would eliminate some parking for local businesses, adding that they’ve seen very few people in the area on bikes.
Catherine Steier, who owns a business along Avenue C North, brought up safety concerns regarding a bike lane on the street.
“Bikes lanes on Avenue C North are dangerous and unneeded. The amount of traffic and big trucks that drive down it will make it even more dangerous than it is when you add these unneeded bike lanes,” Steier said.
It was noted in the meeting that there was dedicated funding set aside in the city to fund the land acquisition needed for this project, which was a concern raised in the transportation meeting.
Glenn MacKay, a lawyer representing the Saskatoon Travelodge Hotel located along Avenue C North, said that this project could come at a significant cost to the business.
He said the land required by the city to fulfill this project would result in a loss of roughly 47 parking spots as well as the business’s sign.
“We simply can’t encourage a project that is going to bring bikes into an already dangerous roadway,” MacKay said.
He said Travelodge has no intentions of selling the land for this bike lane and that legal actions could be taken to protect its interests.
Trent Lalonde, a Saskatoon resident, spoke at the meeting, wondering why there wasn’t consideration for utilizing Northridge Drive for a bike paths, saying it is a lower traffic area and has a bike and pedestrian overpass connecting with 45th Street West.
He had concerns regarding the budget for the project, saying the city isn’t hitting projections for capital projects in the city, adding that the cost of everything is going up.
“It is not a high traffic road. You could easily adapt that on the west side of it to accommodate bicycles and active transportation if you so desire,” Lalonde said.
He said this was a way for the city to accomplish what they are trying to do without clashing with local businesses and reducing costs.
Merlin Toth, another resident in Saskatoon, supported the bike lane project and showed a travel heatmap from the Strava website showing that cycling and walking is occurring in the airport area.
“This heatmap represents only the people who take the time to record their travels on Strava. Many of the people who use active transportation because they have no other choice do not use Strava,” Toth said.
Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce CEO Jason Aebig said that city administration needs to do an extensive pedestrian and cyclist traffic audit of daily use for Avenue C North, saying that should have been part of the conversation, instead of relying on business owners, cyclists and pedestrians to inform the city on the usage of the road.
“We have an administration and consultants to do that,” Aebig said.
He said the city needs to be clear on what the assumptions, counts and demands are, “because having this conversation without that information is poor governance and it leads to poor policy decisions.”
Aebig gave a range of recommendations to offset costs for businesses along Avenue C North, saying that this project will impact them.
Through the city’s sidewalk infrastructure plan, it was noted by city administration that eventually sidewalks would be added to the northern part of Avenue C North regardless of whether the bike lane went through or not, with director of transportation Jay Magus saying the difference of the multi-use path and a sidewalk being half a metre.
Council approved the report in a 6-5 vote, putting this on the city’s to-do list for them to address at some point in the future with no deadline set.
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