Contaminated sites could pose issue for rapid transit plan, mayor says

An impediment to the City of Saskatoon’s plan to improve transit and accommodate growth could be lurking underground.

The city has tested the soil at several locations where transit stations are planned for the bus rapid transit (BRT) system. The results of the tests will not be known until later this month, but Mayor Charlie Clark says contaminated sites, like former gas stations, pose a big issue for Canadian cities.

The testing took place along the proposed BRT red line, which is expected to run on 22nd Street on the west side of the river and on Eighth Street on the east side.

“Brownfields (contaminated sites) along some of these major streets are a real problem,” Clark told reporters Tuesday at city hall. “We have a lot of gas stations that have been abandoned, left there and the owners are just sitting on them and not allowing them to be sold and redeveloped.”

Clark, who was promoting an event to gather residents’ input on the city ’s various growth plans, said he would like to see clearer rules from the province and the federal government on contaminated sites.

The City of Saskatoon has limited tools to force sites to be sold or redeveloped or to compel owners to clean up contamination, he said.

“We frankly don’t think the taxpayers of Saskatoon should have to pay to clean up contaminated sites where somebody was operating a gas station or a fuel distribution site for many years, generating a profit off of it, and then leaving it as a barren and wasted piece of land,” Clark said.

The city’s brownfield renewal strategy is among a number of planks in its overall growth strategy, which will be featured at a community open house Wednesday.

The event is scheduled for the Western Development Museum from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Its purpose is to share information with residents and gather input from them on initiatives like the BRT system, BRT corridors, a downtown cycling network and a reimagined Idylwyld Drive.

Lesley Anderson, the city’s director of planning and development, said it’s a chance for people to see how the various plans are integrated.

“There is a lot of information to be shared, so we encourage people to come to the Western Development Museum,” Anderson said.

Clark noted Saskatoon and its surrounding region has been identified as the fastest growing metropolitan area in Canada.