The City of Saskatoon (COS) hosted the first in a series of traffic review meetings on January 21st at the Albert Community Center.  The purpose of this meeting was to collect resident and stakeholder feedback on new and existing traffic concerns in the Varsity View area.  This is the first of three meetings that will occur between the City, residents and stakeholders, with follow-up meetings being planned for spring and fall 2014.  It should be noted that this review is considering the Varisty View area, but not the Grosvenor Park area, as Grosvenor will have it’s own separate review.

During this session, residents and stakeholders were asked to give their feedback and suggestions on current traffic issues and potential solutions.  COS traffic engineers were in attendance to offer up suggestions on how other areas have overcome traffic issues.  Many issues and concerns were brought forward, but paramount to all these seemed to be the topic of pedestrian safety.  There was much discussion around the idea of lowering speed limits in the neighbourhood, as well as employing certain types of traffic calming measures such as speed bumps, curb extensions, and diverters to name a few.  It was pointed out that COS installed yield signs at all uncontrolled intersections in the fall of 2013.  Some residents felt that these yield signs were already having an effect on traffic behaviour.

Bicycle lanes were also an important topic.  Some in attendance confirmed that a proposal to add a bike lane to Wiggins Avenue has been temporarily set aside in lieu of the bike lane initiative just announced for downtown Saskatoon.  Others expressed concerns that a high volume of cyclists use sidewalks instead of roadways in the Varsity View area.

The Varsity View Parking Permit Zone was also discussed.  COS traffic engineers came prepared to speak to some concerns already expressed by residents.  In particular, extending the permit zone to include the side of the streets surrounding President Murray Park, as well as potentially extending the zone further back in Varsity View from where it is now.

The COS is hoping to collect feedback from residents and stakeholders on their concerns and potential suggestions.  The following website has been put in place by the city to post information on the traffic review process, and collect your feedback.  Please visit the website to submit your concerns and solutions on how we might face our traffic related challenges:

http://shapingsaskatoon.ca/discussions/varsity-view-neighbourhood-traffic-review

PLEASE NOTE, the deadline for submitting feedback in Varisty View is March 31st, 2014.