More downtown revitalization work is happening in 2019.
The latest phase due to happen this year will be on the 1100 block of 100th Street, and 12th Avenue between 99th and 100th Street.
At the moment, administration is working through detail design of the project.
The indication in a draft letter to residents from City Engineer Bob Anthony is that construction is to begin in May and go on for eight weeks. The project would include underground pipe replacement and streetscape revitalization. According to the letter, the streetscape improvements would include new sidewalks, streetlights, trashcans, benches and trees.
In relation to that, the city is looking to restrict access on 100th Street, referring to access to parking lots from the 1100 block.
According to a Jan. 21 city memo from City Planner Ryan Mackrell, administration is recommending council declare 100th Street an arterial roadway in the city, and recommending to property owners on the 1100 block of 100th Street that they be notified their private access or curb crossing to the street will be removed.
If they do want vehicular access across a city sidewalk, those owners will need to apply to the city for approval, with plans and specifications showing that the access works in a safe and functional manner.
This would be consistent with the Downtown Master Plan and Transportation Master Plan, according to city officials.
“One-hundredth [Street] really should be arterial,” explained Jennifer Niesink, director of planning and development, to members of council gathered for a planning committee meeting Monday night.
According to the memo from Mackrell, three existing private curb crossings would be affected. Those are the parking lot between the Beaver Hotel and Moon’s Kitchen, the lot between Western Financial and the former Ray’s Barber Shop, and to the lot of the vacant building at 1191-101st Street, next door to B&D Meats.
Right now this policy will only apply between 11th and 12th Avenues; it could extend up the street to the 1300 block when construction happens on those roads in the future. The intention is to send letters to property owners on the street about what is happening.
An informational presentation for affected property owners and businesses is also planned, at a date to be determined.
The indication is that council supports administration’s recommendation. Planning committee voted unanimously in favour of recommending to council that 100th Street be declared an arterial roadway. That means a resolution to that effect will go to the full council to be voted on next Monday, Jan. 28.
Afterwards, it is expected the city will start mailing out the notifications to residents.
As part of Monday’s planning committee discussion, Councillor Greg Lightfoot relayed concerns expressed to him about the bulb-outs at the corners downtown. Lightfoot said he had some complaints about how the corners were “tighter to get around,” and said he heard of incidents where some drivers had “taken out the corner posts.”
These comments were directed to the city's intentions to put in a bulb-out at the Capitol Theatre location.
Niesink said a full report has been done, and is recommending a bulb-out be put in to stop the turning movements at the corner of 11th Avenue and 100th Street at the corner next to the theatre.
It’s not actually a turning lane but a parking lane that is used as a turning lane, Niesink said.
She said there is also not enough room for a functional turning lane there, “which is why everyone hits the theatre and the big post there,” said Niesink, referring to the frequent collisions between semi trucks and the theatre marquee over the years.
She also referred to pedestrian safety as another reason for the bulb-outs.
City Engineer Anthony said he had initially been concerned about delays to traffic by putting in the bulb-out at the corner, but a consultants’ traffic study that was done showed there is not a significant delay to traffic there, he said.
Lightfoot asked if the city had received any complaints about bulb-outs elsewhere downtown and Anthony noted that bollards had gotten hit occasionally.
He said some research was done into bollards installed in neighborhoods in Saskatoon, and it was noted that in the first year or two there were issues with people hitting them there.
But “people learn and they get better at it,” said Anthony, who said a lot of the time it was “lazy driving.”
Anthony made the point that the lanes were designed to get traffic to slow down to accommodate the pedestrians in the area.
“Run over a bollard you could run over a toddler.”
The 100th Street and 12th Avenue rehabilitations are the third such downtown projects. The first phase rehabbed 101st Street from 11th to 12th Avenue and 12th Avenue from 100th to 102nd Street. The project ran from late June to Oct. 16 of 2017.
The next phase was in 2018, continuing along 101st Street beyond 12th Avenue into the City Hall area, extending up to Central Park.
