One Saskatoon city councillor says he is not optimistic all the talk of rail relocation is going to go anywhere.
The City of Saskatoon recently released a study that found relocating rail lines outside of the city is a better option than building overpasses.
Trains slow down traffic, and at times impede emergency vehicles.
“In the case of Montgomery, it’s actually a safety issue,” Ward 5 Coun. Randy Donauer said. “Whether emergency vehicles can get in there.”
He added trains are already quite long, and he’s heard they will likely get longer, which will probably make the problem worse.
Donauer told Global News the price tag is a major stumbling block.
“(It’s) almost $600 million, I’m not sure if (railways) are going to want to share that,” he said. “They don’t really have any reason to, so we’ll talk to them, see what they have to say, but I’m not overly optimistic we’re going to see the rails move out of Saskatoon anytime soon.”
“It’d be great if it did, but we’ll see what they say.”
Donauer added that legally, the railways have the upper hand.
“The railways were here first, the Supreme Court has ruled we have no say over them, they have the final trump card,” he said.
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