Broadway BRT issue needs consultation

The feelings of the Broadway business community on proposed bus-only lanes through the district remain a mystery.

Whether anything resembling a consensus can be reached could be determined by a possible survey of businesses in the area, but even that poses a challenge.

The survey has been suggested as a way to resolve mixed messages from Broadway businesses. The Broadway Business Improvement District (BID) has lent support to the idea of transit improvements, including hosting one of the routes with increased frequency along the historic business stretch.

The Broadway BID remains skeptical, however, about building bus-only lanes to run in both directions in the middle of Broadway Avenue from Eighth Street to the Broadway Bridge.

The City of Saskatoon’s proposed improvements to transit are based on bus rapid transit (BRT) principles, which ideally entail bus-only lanes with frequent service throughout a transit system.

In Saskatoon’s plan, busonly lanes would only be introduced on College Drive, Broadway and downtown on Third Avenue.

The downtown business community has suggested moving the bus-only lanes to First Avenue. Some Broadway merchants have circulated a petition, which claims support from the BID, suggesting the rapid bus route be moved to the Idylwyld Freeway.

So does Broadway want frequent bus service or not? City council wants a clear message before it moves forward, but even a survey might not resolve that.

The Broadway BID represents about 160 businesses, including law firms, architects and individual entities like massage therapists.

That might surprise many, who think of the district principally in terms of the retail merchants or restaurants that line Broadway Avenue.

The 11-member Broadway BID board currently only includes two members representing merchants on Broadway Avenue. The BID area includes parts of the streets that intersect Broadway.

That explains, in part, why opinions differ. The Broadway Avenue merchants that rely on foot traffic and customers who need parking will have different concerns than architects located in a building on a side street.

A survey of all the businesses in the BID could well fail to resolve concerns over the bus-only lanes.

Part of the Broadway area’s appeal lies in the wide variety of businesses there, from a movie theatre/concert venue to a blues bar to a gourmet cheese shop and butcher to a bicycle repair and sales outlet.

Some of the merchants lining Broadway — perhaps all of them — are concerned about the impact of the bus-only lanes on parking, walkability and, ultimately, their viability.

Less than a decade ago, the Broadway 360 plan emerged from a joint effort by the Broadway BID, the City of Saskatoon and the Nutana Community Association.

Broadway 360 was intended to set a framework for growth in the area, while preserving the character and ambience of the city’s first business district. Ambience comes up often when discussing Broadway. Some have already suggested that converting the stretch to accommodate the transit plan amounts to driving a bus through the Broadway 360 plan.

One of the five pillars determined by Broadway 360 was “Pedestrians First.” Buses every 10 minutes could well make the Broadway district a less appealing place to walk.

Others argue that improved transit service could bring more people to Broadway. But it seems obvious that some sort of further consultation is needed.

Perhaps a broader range of residents should be consulted, since Broadway really belongs to the entirety of Saskatoon, not just the businesses that operate there.

Should the Broadway 360 process be repeated with a view to the impact of the city’s transit plan?

That seems arduous, although the 2009 plan appears outdated in light of the transit scheme. Broadway 360 2.0 might be a good idea, even if it’s an awful name.

How does the area retain its ambience with bus-only lanes running through it?

Plus, the city no longer faces aggressive deadlines to qualify for federal public transit infrastructure money.

The city would be wise to take the time and do the proper consultation to make sure the right decision is made for both Broadway and Saskatoon.