Downtown businesses facing bike lane snow-clearing conflict
Saskatoon city hall will try to find a way to stop those shovelling downtown sidewalks from dumping the snow in bike lanes — without changing the rules.
City council’s transportation committee voted Monday to work with the downtown business improvement district, Downtown Saskatoon, on communication and snow removal.
The city’s snow-clearing bylaw requires property owners to clear snow from adjacent sidewalks within 48 hours of a snowstorm. But the city’s contractor generally clears the snow from the bike lanes on 23rd Street within 24 hours of a big snowfall.
That 24-hour gap can result in snow being dumped into the bike lanes once they have been cleared, which is permitted under a change in the bylaw approved by council last year.
The city issued 21 call-outs to its contractor to clear the bike lanes last winter despite only five big snowfalls, the committee heard.
“When I hear 21 call-outs, that concerns me,” Coun. Bev Dubois said.
It costs about $30,000 a year to clear the 23rd Street protected bike lanes. Council voted to keep the 23rd infrastructure this spring.
Dubois asked if the $30,000 a year was included in the 2020-21 budget and was told it was included.
Dubois also asked how many use the 23rd bike lanes, but city officials could not provide an answer.
City administration offered politicians three options, including maintaining the current practice and communicating better with property owners.
The committee backed that option over making property owners responsible for clearing the bike lanes or having the city assume responsibility for both sidewalks and bike lanes.
The latter option would have cost an extra $30,000 a year, a city report says.
In addition to 23rd, snow being cleared from sidewalks onto bike lanes is also a problem on Idylwyld Drive and Spadina Crescent, the report says.
Council must still approve the decision made Monday.
Prior to the bylaw change last year, all snow cleared from sidewalks had to be placed on private property.