City did good job explaining traffic changes, official says

The City of Saskatoon’s approach to consulting residents and telling them about significant traffic changes can be considered a “job well done,” city council’s transportation committee heard.

At its Tuesday meeting, acting director of transportation Jay Magus addressed concerns raised this summer over two controversial road closures.

Proposed partial restrictions of traffic on Glasgow Street and Ninth Street prompted some in the Avalon and Nutana neighbourhoods to question how the city conducts consultation.

“I guess in short I would say that I don’t see any failure in the communication,” Magus told the committee. “Quite often I’ve heard, ‘It’s not that we don’t understand what you’re telling us. We just don’t like it.’ So I took that to be, job well done. Everybody’s informed.”

Some residents believed the proposed permanent closure of Glasgow and the temporary closure of Ninth were supported by city surveys designed to endorse the closures. Council ultimately rejected a permanent restriction of traffic flow onto Glasgow and supported a one-year restriction on Ninth.

Mayor Charlie Clark, who did not attend Tuesday’s committee meeting, asked for a review of how engagement with residents could be improved.

A city report says 378 of the 527 recommendations stemming from the city’s neighbourhood traffic reviews have been implemented.

“There were three issues ... resulting in division within the community,” the report says.

The three issues cited are Glasgow, Ninth and a closure of part of 14th Street located at Temperance Street and Lansdowne Avenue.

The report adds that 23 of the recommended changes from the traffic reviews have been removed and calls it a “very successful program.”

The neighbourhood traffic reviews will conclude in 2020 and be replaced by community traffic reviews that will cover much larger zones rather than individual neighbourhoods.

Until then, the city administration plans to continue with the neighbourhood traffic review process as it exists, the report states.

Coun. Cynthia Block, who represents Nutana, asked about a possible policy for consultation that will outline how it will be conducted.

Magus said the city approaches consultation on a case-by-case basis, noting that some changes only require limited engagement with residents. “We try to be as flexible as we can,” Magus said.

The city councillor for the area is usually involved in the process, he added.

“So if not enough people get a say, it’ll be my fault,” Block laughed. “Gotcha.”

In September, council endorsed a new policy that would allow affected residents to cast a ballot on traffic calming measures.