Tag Archives: Clarence Avenue

Clarence Ave. & Main Street Engagement Session

City of Saskatoon, VVCA, VVCA News & Events, , ,

The City of Saskatoon completed a traffic review at the intersection of Clarence Avenue and Main Street this summer after several residents reached out with concerns about safety. Channelization on Main Street is recommended to address these safety concerns. 

A second engagement session is planned to collect feedback and additional comments from community members in Nutana and Varsity View on the recommended channelization.

WHEN: Wednesday, February 1, 2023, from 6:30-8 pm
WHERE: Albert Community Centre loft (3rd floor, wheelchair accessible)

BACKGROUND: To improve safety at the intersection and address collision patterns, channelization on Main Street is recommended. This involves modifying the existing medians on Main Street at both approaches to create right turn only lanes. Drivers on Main Street would be required to turn right at the intersection and would no longer be able to drive straight through or turn left onto Clarence Avenue.

Clarence Avenue Water Main Replacement Project

City of Saskatoon, VVCA News & Events, , , ,

The remaining phase of the Clarence Avenue Water Main Replacement Project (Phase 4) is anticipated to begin in the week of April 19th, 2021 and will take approximately 3 months to complete barring weather delays and unforeseen circumstances. 

Phase 4 of construction will take place on: 

  • Temperance Street from Munroe Avenue to Wiggins Avenue; 
  • Munroe Avenue between Temperance Street and back lane of 1200 block of Temperance Street; 
  • Back lane between the 1200 block of Aird Street and Temperance Street. 
  • Wiggins Avenue between back lane of 1200 block of Temperance Street and Temperance Street; 

 In the next two weeks: 

  • On Monday, April 19th, the contractor will begin the replacement of the water and sewer service connections in the back lane of 1200 block of Aird Street and Temperance Street. o There will be a short disruption to the water and sewer services to those properties adjacent to this work on Tuesday, April 20th. If your water and sewer services will be affected you will be provided notice 48 hours in advance of this work. 
  • o Following the completion of the work, your water and sewer services will be restored and the Drinking Water Advisory (DWA) will remain in effect until a green Lifted DWA is delivered to you. 
  • The contractor will also begin the installation of the temporary water system on Monday, April 19th in preparation for the upcoming water main replacement work which is scheduled to begin in early May. o If you are required to have a temporary water line connected to your property, the contractor will be in contact with you prior to the installation of the line. To receive temporary water service, a functioning outdoor faucet without backflow prevention will be necessary in order to connect to the temporary water system. Please speak with the contractor to confirm you have this type of faucet. 
  • The replacement of the water and sewer service connections on the 1100 block of Temperance Street will begin the week of April 26th. o There will be a short disruption to the water and sewer services to those properties adjacent to this work. If your water and sewer services will be affected you will be provided notice 48 hours in advance of this work. 
  • Following the completion of the work, your water and sewer services will be restored and the Drinking Water Advisory (DWA) will remain in effect until a green Lifted DWA is delivered to you. 
  • Weather permitting, the contractor will also begin sidewalk rehabilitation work on Temperance Street between Munroe Avenue and Wiggins Avenue the week of April 26th. Once work begins it will take approximately 1 week to complete. During this work the road will be closed to traffic. 

Throughout the project: 

  • • Some noise and vibration is anticipated as a result of the work. 
  • • Access to parking will be restricted. Residents and visitors to the area are required to find their own alternative parking. 
  • • If blue, black or green cart collections are affected, residents directly adjacent to the work are required to leave their carts as close to their normal pick up location [without placing it in the adjacent work area] prior to 7:00 am on the day of collection. The contractor will coordinate the pickup of your cart. 

Thank you for your continued understanding and cooperation while this necessary work is carried out. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our Customer Care Centre at 306-975-2476 or by e-mail at customercare@saskatoon.ca. 

Clarence-Avenue-Water-Main-Replacement-Project-Phase-4-MapDownload

Clarence Ave water main project starts Monday, June 22

City of Saskatoon, VVCA News & Events, , ,

The City will be installing new water mains on Clarence Avenue between 8th Street and College Drive starting Monday, June 22 at 7:00 a.m. This work is expected to take  about 5 months to complete, weather permitting and barring any unforeseen circumstances.  
Detours will be in place guiding motorists around the construction zone while this work is underway. 

Phase 1– Clarence Avenue from 8th  Street East to 12th  Street East – beginning June 22 for approximately  4  weeks.    
Phase 2– Clarence Avenue from 12th Street East to Colony Street – approximately 5 weeks. 
Phase 3 – Clarence Avenue from Colony Street to College Drive – approximately 6 weeks.    
Phase 4 – Temperance Street from Munroe Avenue to Wiggins Avenue – approximately  7 weeks. 

For more information on the Clarence Avenue Water Main Replacement Project, please visit saskatoon.ca/watermain. 

Clarence Water Main Work

City of Saskatoon, Nutana, VVCA News & Events, ,

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the City of Saskatoon has reviewed all construction projects planned for 2020. It has been determined that the Clarence Avenue Water Main Replacement Project will proceed as planned, but with some modifications to the original planned construction area (see map). This work includes essential upgrades to existing infrastructure that, if delayed, could mean further, unplanned disruptions. The replacement of older water mains brings several benefits:  Decreased susceptibility to breakage, failures and service disruptions  Restoration of roadways, resulting in smooth ‘like new’ surfaces  Replacement or rehabilitation of sidewalks within the work area To ensure the least amount of restrictions to driveway access and parking, construction will be phased:

 Phase 1:
o Clarence Avenue from 8th Street East to 12th Street East, including the intersection of Clarence Avenue and 12th Street East

 Phase 2:
o Clarence Avenue from 12th Street East to Colony Street

 Phase 3:
o Clarence Avenue from Colony Street to College Drive

 Phase 4:
o Temperance Street from Munroe Avenue to Wiggins Avenue
o Munroe Avenue between Temperance Street and back lane of 1200 block of Temperance Street
o Back Lane of 1200 block of Temperance Street
o Wiggins Avenue between back lane of 1200 block of Temperance Street and Temperance Street

During this project, all lead water service connections and sewer service connections between College Drive and 8th Street East, and on the 1200 block of Temperance Street, will be replaced.

Clarence Ave Water Main Replacement

City of Saskatoon, Nutana, VVCA News & Events, , ,

Water Main and Lead Connection Replacement Project – Public Information Session Invitation

Earlier you were notified that during the 2020 construction season the City will be completing a water main and lead connection replacement project on Clarence Avenue between College Drive and 8th Street and on Aird Street between Clarence Avenue and Munroe Avenue. Since this notification, we have also added additional locations to this project which include:

  • Temperance Street from Clarence Avenue to Wiggins Avenue South;
  • The back lane of Aird Street and Temperance Street from Munroe Avenue to Wiggins Avenue South;
  •  Munroe Avenue from Temperance Street to Aird Street.

The water main and lead connection replacement project scheduled in your neighbourhood this construction season will include the following improvements and will occur in phases in order to minimize the disruptions to residents:

  • Replacement of water mains;
  •  Lead connection replacements;
  • Restoration of roadways, resulting in smooth, ‘like new’ road surfaces; 
  • Rehabilitation of sidewalks.

For a detailed overview on the project and to have your questions answered, you are invited to attend a come and go public information session:
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
Albert Community Centre
610 Clarence Avenue
6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

You are also encouraged to sign up to receive updates prior to and during the project. To sign up, please e-mail constructionupdates@saskatoon.ca and provide your name, address and contact information.

Highrise at College & Clarence

City of Saskatoon, VVCA News & Events, , ,

The Varsity View-Grosvenor Community Association, together with our residents, has spent hundreds of hours developing an understanding of what this means for our community and what our position should be..

For those who have not heard the site is South East corner of College and Clarence. The corner is presently zoned for a mixture of 4 and 3 storey residential use with a 6 m. setback from College. The proposal is for a non-conforming 12 storey building with a 2.1 m setback.
The City is only obligated to let residents within 75 m of the new building know about the change in zoning. This is woefully inadequate. The Grosvenor-VVCA board gave up evening and weekend time to distribute the better part of a thousand extra flyers to residents.

The information presented at the meeting was incomplete. The reduced setback was not highlighted, and, in consequence, its implications were not discussed. Other aspects were disingenuous. Residents had concerns regarding traffic flow. In response, the expert stated that the new high rise would result in minimal additional delay for a vehicle crossing the College-Clarence intersection at rush hour. This is correct but has no bearing on travel time, which is the residents’ concern. Think of being in a queue at the supermarket, when the supermarket gets busier your time with the cashier does not change. However, the length of the queue changes, this determines how long it will take you to get out of the store. A final problem is that while many experts were on hand at the meeting, there was insufficient time to answer all concerns and no opportunity to view the experts reports after the meeting.

Based on the vote at the meeting (19 against, 1 in favor and 14 abstentions) and considerable further correspondence with the City planning department the Community Association is against this non-conforming development for these reasons:
• Inadequate consultation (see above)
• Potential adverse affects on parking. The current zoning requirements for visitor parking seem low. Residents around other high rises report increased parking problems because visitors cannot gain access to the spots reserved for them.
• The reduced setback limits future road improvements to College. The road immediately in front of the proposed high-rise is one of the few parts of College that will be reduced to two lanes by the new BRT routes.
• Residents report increased flooding in our neighborhood following storms. The City informs us that this will not be a problem because storm water from the roof, driveways, and paved surfaces will be collected and slowly run into the storm drains. As we are not aware of other developments in Varsity View where water from driveways is collected, we doubt that the developer will agree to this requirement.
• The ability of City water supply, sewer services, parks, and schools to absorb the additional demands of this building and the demands of conforming development that is already approved are unknown. Brunskill School is at capacity. It is unclear how the City/School Board will address the additional needs that densification brings.
• The high rise sits at the gateway to our community. It will have a negative affect on the single-family homes in the vicinity. Some of these have hundreds of thousands, or maybe millions, of investment. They anchor our neighborhood.
• High density housing decreases cohesion and increases crime. This is particularly true for the mix of high-density housing and low income groups (who do you think lives in high rises once they lose their new sheen?). Some developers suggest it is particularly true for residents who live more than 6 floors from the ground – they no longer feel part of the community and so are less inclined to help look after it.
• There is an abrupt transition from this high rise to single detached dwellings which is contrary to Saskatoon’s Official Community Plan.
• Although everyone denies this, approving a non-conforming high rise will set a precedent for our entire neighborhood. Prior to this proposal 2 to 4 storey buildings were planned for College. If a high rise gets approved our entire neighborhood could get similar additions. Another high rise is proposed for Cumberland and 8th. It is impossible to believe assurances about future development if Council does not respect its own zoning policies.

I am going to finish with a quote from the Hemson report, the bible for Saskatoon’s developers. Regarding infill: “where existing infrastructure capacity is insufficient, the cost of new infrastructure can be very high”. Unfortunately, the considerable densification that has already happened in Varsity View occurred in parallel with ever increasing taxes. It is unreasonable that we should pay more for development that detracts from our community.

Okay, maybe not finished. Firstly, your board is not against densification. We are against non-conforming densification. We believe in planning and zoning so that we can predict problems and manage the outcomes.

Finally, it is very important that you let your councillor know where you stand. We will only sway council if we are united on non-conforming development. Write or email Councillor Cynthia Block with your views.

Jon Naylor, VVCA President
president@vvcasaskatoon.com