Council 'confusion' leaves Saskatoon downtown bus plan in peril
BY Phil Tank of CBC News Saskatoon
Saskatoon city council cast a series of votes Wednesday that left the future of a plan for bus-only lanes downtown uncertain.
First, council rejected a motion to defer its decision on building dedicated bus lanes on First Avenue downtown between 20th and 25th streets and direct city administration to gather more details.
That vote was determined by a 6-5 margin.
Then, council voted by the same margin to reject the plan that would see those bus lanes and four stations built.
Shawna Nelson, executive director of Downtown Saskatoon, had asked earlier in the meeting for a pause in the plan to allow more time to address the issues raised by downtown businesses.
"We did — I think, I'm sorry there was a lot of confusion going on in the chambers there — but I feel like there is a pause," Nelson said in an interview.
"And there is going back to take a look at some of the issues and also some of the unknowns and some of the operational details that were not in place."
Veteran councillors Randy Donauer and Zach Jeffries voted against the deferral and then against the concept plan minutes later. Donauer voted in favour of the concept plan four weeks ago at council's transportation committee meeting.
Coun. Bev Dubois also voted to support the plan at the committee meeting on April 7, but cast votes in favour of the deferral and against the plan on Wednesday.
Coun. Senos Timon voted in favour of the deferral and in favour of the plan.
Once both votes were conducted, Mayor Cynthia Block called for a short break to determine how to proceed. Block voted against the deferral after speaking against it and then in favour of the plan.
All remaining council members from 2019 — Block, Donauer, Dubois, Jeffries and Coun. Troy Davies — had voted in favour seven years ago of locating the bus lanes on First Avenue.
Davies voted in favour of the deferral and against the plan on Wednesday.
In the end, council opted to task city administrators with gathering more information on operational plans, such as how snow will be cleared from the bus lanes and how emergency vehicles will be affected.
It's not clear how long that process might take.
City hall is already building bus-only lanes along College Drive this summer as part of the $262-million Link transit upgrade based on bus rapid transit principles.
Most of that money, $183 million, is coming from the federal and provincial government under a funding program to improve public transit. The revamped system is supposed to debut in 2028.
Wednesday's process began in the morning with 11 speakers and ended more than five hours later.
Some speakers pilloried the process that produced the bus lanes plan as lacking a genuine intention to gather input, while others praised the plan as the product of extensive and meaningful engagement.
Robert Clipperton of the Bus Riders of Saskatoon transit lobby group called the engagement on the bus lanes "unprecedented" and expressed disbelief that anyone could question the sufficiency of input.
But Nelson criticized the city for a lack of engagement with her organization, which represents downtown businesses.
"Let's pause," Nelson urged council. "Let's regroup. Work with us, not around us."
Conversely, Michael Mehak, appearing on behalf of Midtown Plaza, which is located along the planned bus lanes route, lent his full-throated support to the bus lanes plan.
Mehak said he'd met three times with city officials about the plan.
However, Keith Moen, executive director of the North Saskatoon Business Association, called the plan "overkill" and criticized the elimination of 61 parking stalls to make way for the bus lanes. Moen also asked for a pause on the plan.
Here's how Saskatoon city council voted on two motions related to the plan for bus-only lanes on First Avenue downtown.
On a motion to defer approving the plan for up to a year to gather more information:
For: Davies, Dubois, Scott Ford, Robert Pearce, Timon.
Against: Block, Donauer, Jeffries, Holly Kelleher, Kathryn MacDonald, Jasmin Parker.
On a motion to approve the plan:
For: Block, Kelleher, MacDonald, Parker, Timon.
Against: Davies, Donauer, Dubois, Ford, Jeffries, Pearce.
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