Ninth Street residents want action on traffic, speeding

Residents along a portion of Ninth Street East continue to deal with increased traffic and speeding two years after Saskatoon city council reversed a decision to block freeway access from the street.

Franny Rawlyk and Paul Cragg, who live on the affected part of the street in the Nutana neighbourhood, appeared before council’s transportation committee on Tuesday to ask for a new solution.

In the spring of 2015, council voted to erect a barricade to prevent access from Ninth Street to Lorne Avenue, which turns into a northbound ramp that connects to the Idylwyld Drive Freeway.

Council then voted in the fall of 2015 to remove the barricade due to concerns it could set a precedent for other residents who want less traffic on their residential streets.

“We’re not the experts on how it should be addressed,” Rawlyk told the committee. “There’s six families with kids under five (who live on the street). Traffic volumes are still too high and traffic speeds are still too high.”

The committee voted unanimously to have city hall administration review the situation and produce some options.

Rawlyk said she has also noticed City of Saskatoon service vehicles using the stretch.

A roundabout was installed at the intersection of Ninth Street and McPherson Avenue in 2011 — one block east of the freeway ramp — but it was removed due to a lack of space, Rawlyk said. Stop signs have now been installed at the intersection.

Angela Gardiner, the city’s acting general manager of transportation and utilities, said concerns about traffic along Ninth Street have existed for some time.

Consultations with residents led to the recommended closure in 2015, Gardiner said.

“It’s not a residential street anymore,” Cragg said. “It’s what Eighth Street should be.”

Gardiner confirmed the problem is that motorists use Ninth Street as a “shortcut” to get access to the Idylwyld Drive Freeway.

There are not many solutions that can successfully address traffic volume, Gardiner said.

In 2015, five councillors switched their votes from the 8-2 decision to erect a barricade in May to eventually reverse that move with a 6-5 vote in October.

Catherine Folkersen, president of the Nutana Community Association, wrote a letter of support to the people concerned about traffic along Ninth Street.

It’s not a residential street anymore. It’s what Eighth Street should be.