College Drive Link bus route sees pauses as more information is gathered

By Brody Langager of Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Concerns raised about the new bus lanes being built along College Drive resulted in some project pauses.

Decisions around greenlighting the Link bus route was deferred in May after city councillors brought forward questions to city administration.

Cary Tarasoff, a former mayoral candidate and Saskatoon resident, also brought forward several design and safety concerns in a previous council meeting that garnered attention and support from Coun. Robert Pearce and Coun. Scott Ford.

Concerns revolved around whether bus platforms were placed in efficient areas, and whether they would be able to hold everyone using those bus stops. There were also questions about why a pedestrian overpass was being removed in favour of an at-grade crosswalk.

Terry Schmidt, the city’s general manager of transportation and construction, answered a wave of questions from councillors Wednesday. He said College Drive changes will add roughly three minutes of travel time to drivers on that road.

Schmidt said design changes with things like signage could be coming, due to public engagement.

Coun. Zach Jeffries asked if these transit lanes could be utilized by emergency services. Schmidt said there have been talks with emergency services for those kinds of opportunities, and that other communities are already doing this.

Pearce had a hard time believing that the bus platforms at College Drive would be able to fit 200 people, but Schmidt said there were similar examples in Calgary.

“What we are hearing from Calgary is they’re not aware of any passenger capacity issues at the BRT station platform,” Schmidt said, adding that platform size was reviewed under a robust system.

He said the platforms underwent various test scenarios, including one where a full bus stopped at a station that was also full, which Schmidt said wasn’t likely.

“I’m concerned about the safety of the people trying to get on that platform,” Pearce said, adding that he still couldn’t envision that many people on these bus platforms.

Pearce asked about the snow-removal plan for these bus routes, and Schmidt said it is still being finalized.

Jeffries brought forward three amendments that passed. He asked for additional information on the pedestrian overpass, more information on traffic cameras, digital signage and real time adjustments to traffic-light timing for College Drive, and more info on expanding left turn lanes.

He wondered if there was a way to save the pedestrian overpass, and what it would cost to modify it so it’s more accessible.

Those amendments put a pause on the pedestrian overpass removal, but Schmidt said they could work on other parts of the bus project in the meantime.

City administration said they would try to have that additional information by the July city council meeting.

“It lets people know that council fully and carefully considered all the options and considerations about this project,” Jeffries said.

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