SASKATOON – While the experience of being stuck behind a seemingly endless string of rail cars is hardly ideal, it is the harsh reality of commuting through a growing Saskatoon.
“Part of the city was built around the rail line, so there’s history there as well,” said Ward 1 Councillor, Darren Hill.
Hill acknowledges the difficulties many drivers in his ward continue to face, especially since two rail lines run through the area.
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Still, he remains less than optimistic that they will be moved anytime soon.
“I think it may be realistic talk in the future. I don’t imagine it’s going to happen in my lifetime. It’s extremely expensive to relocate those lines. My understanding is billions of dollars,” said Hill.
The North Downtown Master Plan has undergone its second community conversation and features two design concepts, fuelled largely by projects on the go, including the 25th Street Extension to the new Saskatoon Police Service Headquarters.
One of those proposals includes folding the existing rail line into a design for a 240 acre residential neighbourhood, bordered by 1st Avenue, 24th Street and Idylwyld Drive.
If a rail line were to be removed from the city, railway companies would need to hop aboard.
“When people say whether it’ll happen in their lifetime or not, I know one thing for sure. If you don’t start talking about it in this lifetime, it’ll not happen in the next lifetime either,” said Mayor Don Atchison.
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