Avalon residents voice concern over proposed traffic measure

Some want city to again allow left turns onto Glasgow Street

Coun. Zach Jeffries warned Avalon residents that Monday ’s transportation committee meeting was not the proper venue for them to speak about a controversial proposal to restrict traffic.

They spoke up anyway. Jeffries noted the committee could not alter a proposal to close Glasgow Street permanently to left turns from Clarence Avenue. That matter is scheduled for debate at a city council public hearing meeting in two weeks.

A concrete barrier was installed along Clarence in the fall on a temporary basis, and the city administration recommends the measure become permanent.

“It’s been a disaster,” said Mark Regier, who lives on Mcaskill Crescent. “We bought into a nice, quiet crescent. What this (closure) has done is essentially dumped (traffic) onto every other street in the area.”

Five people, including representatives from the Avalon Community Association, spoke in favour of removing the barrier and allowing left turns onto Glasgow again.

Dorothy Lukkien, who has lived on Glasgow for 24 years, spoke in favour of closing the street permanently to left turns from Clarence. She said other attempts to calm traffic on Glasgow have failed to produce results. “The concrete barrier is the only measure that has significantly reduced traffic,” Lukkien said.

Paul Favreau countered that the move has “dramatically” changed the character of nearby streets.

“What they don’t say is that traffic on Mcaskill has tripled,” Favreau said.

Residents say motorists are travelling north of Glasgow on Clarence and turning left onto Wilson Crescent to access the Avalon neighbourhood and get to Broadway Avenue. They’re using streets like Mcaskill to get back to Glasgow.

Blayne Hoffman, who also lives on Mcaskill, said a petition he has circulated got 356 signatures from Avalon residents who oppose making the left-turn barrier permanent.

Hoffman submitted a proposal to help reduce traffic on Glasgow that included closing Turner Street, which intersects with Glasgow, and prohibiting left turns from Glasgow onto Clarence.

“It’s the only one that makes any sense and I’m sure the neighbourhood would agree,” Hoffman said.

Council’s public hearing meeting to debate the future of the barrier is set for at 6 p.m. on June 25.

LIAM RICHARDS Blayne Hoffman, a resident in the Avalon neighbourhood, stands at the intersection of Glasgow Street and Clarence Avenue in Saskatoon. The city installed a concrete barrier to restrict traffic.