Residents ask city to upgrade pedestrian walkway on bridge
The Senator Sid Buckwold Bridge pedestrian walkway might get a facelift if two members of Walking Saskatoon have anything to say about it.
Cameron McMillan and Warrick Baijius attended a meeting of the city’s standing policy committee on transportation on Monday to ask the city to consider widening the pedestrian pathway when the bridge gets upgrades in 2019.
McMillan said it will be the “perfect opportunity to fix the problems” and also save money in the long run by doing the upgrades concurrently.
He said some people already feel so uncomfortable about crossing the bridge that they would rather detour more than two kilometres to cross at the Broadway Bridge.
“It’s something we need to do if we want to keep those areas on the other side of the river accessible.”
Coun. Cynthia Block questioned whether the upgrades will still be necessary once the Traffic Bridge is reopened in 2018.
McMillan said it’s more difficult to divert pedestrian traffic, especially if people are walking with children or pets.
“It’s just not realistic to expect pedestrians to make such a long distance trip to another bridge ... we have a perfectly good bridge right there leading from Buena Vista straight down across the river.”
Baijius shared feedback from pedestrians and cyclists who have had problems crossing the bridge — falling victim to road spray, lack of adequate lighting at night and bicycles not having enough room to safely pass pedestrians or other cyclists.
The idea was referred to city administration for a report on the added design work needed to modify the walkway.