Swale supporters want plan for freeway redrawn

The Saskatoon Freeway remains a line on a map, and the Northwest Swale Watchers still want it erased and redrawn elsewhere.

Ecological activists appeared in front of a city council committee on Monday to maintain their position that the planned highway be moved so it does not slice through the swale.

City hall officials were not able to answer whether or not it was too late to consider a new route, although the provincial government has already embarked on a functional planning study.

“The (Northeast) Swale Watchers remain committed to a different route for the proposed Saskatoon Freeway,” Louise Jones told the planning, development and community services committee.

The Saskatoon Freeway, once known as the perimeter highway, is being planned by the provincial government to allow highway traffic to bypass the city.

Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure spokesman Doug Wakabayashi said members of the Northeast Swale Watchers have been invited to take part in a committee that is planning the highway.

“At this point, it gets really difficult to move parts of the road without affecting the rest of it,” he said in an interview on Tuesday.

The freeway is expected to have two lanes in each direction and a speed limit of 110 km/h. It would be located less than one kilometre northeast of the extension of Mcormond Drive that connects to the Chief Mistawasis Bridge.

That stretch of Mcormond just opened in October, along with the new bridge.

The Saskatoon Freeway would connect to Highway 11, just south of Saskatoon, and then loop around the east side to connect with Highway 16 northwest of the city.

The route has been approved by both the province and the City of Saskatoon. The province has formed five technical committees to begin planning the freeway over the next three years, but there is still no timeline or start date.

The last estimate for the cost of the project — $2 billion — dates back five years. The province awarded Snc-lavalin Inc. a $4.4-million, four-year contract as the engineering consultant.

The council committee voted unanimously to study the resources that would be needed to protect the swale, an increasingly rare example of native prairie habitat. The committee also heard that legal protection of the swale could create a conflict with the planned freeway.

“We have a chance to do something in this area that could be a model for conservation areas,” Mayor Charlie Clark said.

Candace Savage of Wild About Saskatoon said the city should look at preserving natural areas like the swale the same way it looks at saving buildings with heritage value.

“Great cities tell great stories,” Savage said. “The swale tells a great story, and one that only Saskatoon can tell.”

Great cities tell great stories. The swale tells a great story, and one that only Saskatoon can tell.