Rapid transit, bridge top list
A majority of Saskatoon residents believe downtown bridges need to change to accommodate anticipated population growth, suggests a city survey conducted this spring.
More than a third — 37 per cent — of the 234 people who completed an online survey question about core bridges said rapid transit lanes should be incorporated on new or existing bridges. Twenty-two per cent said existing bridges should be widened and 17 per cent said a new bridge crossing should be looked into.
Only four per cent of respondents said the Senator Sid Buckwold, Broadway and University bridges should not be changed as the city’s population grows to 500,000.
“There’s a lot of people out there with common sense,” said Alan Wallace, the city’s manager of planning and development. “Doing nothing really means you just can’t move around in the city very effectively; whether you’re in a bus or a car; everything’s congested.”
The city anticipates traffic across the three bridges within Circle Drive will more than double once Saskatoon’s population reaches half a million people, which could happen by 2045, based on current rates of population growth.
“WHENEVER RAPID TRANSIT COMES UP, NOBODY SAYS IT’S A BAD IDEA, NOBODY SAYS WE SHOULDN’T PURSUE IT.” ALAN WALLACE
Unless the city prepares for the influx of traffic, Wallace anticipates roads will be more congested, wait times at lights and intersections will be longer and “people will become more frustrated.”
To address anticipated problems, the city is exploring a handful of options under its 30-year growth plan, including doing nothing and accepting increased traffic, creating rapid transit lanes on bridges and building a new downtown bridge.
The city will continue seeking input on its growth plan from residents this fall, but the spring survey points to rapid transit’s “favourable appeal,” Wallace said.
“People are ready for that notion, they’re ready for the notion of rapid transit. Whenever rapid transit comes up, nobody says it’s a bad idea, nobody says we shouldn’t pursue it.”
He said a convenient rapid transit system over an existing downtown bridge could solve the city’s anticipated congestion problems on its own if enough people abandon their cars and take the bus. But Wallace admitted it’s most likely that a “combi- nation of solutions,” including building a new bridge, will be employed over the next 30 years.
“The consultant is start- ing to tell us that, at 500,000, you better start thinking of a new bridge or some other way to accommodate more lanes to cross the river — so a new core bridge of some kind — but this is a longerterm proposition,” Wallace said.
City staff are compiling more detailed and specific plans based on public feedback obtained in the spring survey and residents will be asked to reflect on these plans in the fall.
Other priorities in the city’s 30-year growth plan are developing efficient public transit throughout Saskatoon and creating safe and walkable communities near major transit corridors.