‘Overall calming effect:’ Blockades on 9th Street one step closer to permanent

Saskatoon City Council took another step forward Monday into ensuring the blockades at the west end of 9th Street East become permanent.

Council carried a motion by a vote of 9-2 for administration to draft a report to make the blockades permanent, as well as continue the pilot project until a public hearing on the matter.

Coun. Troy Davies and Ann Iwanchuk voted against.

A committee report that was received by council Monday outlined a drop in traffic around the area, with the exception of Melrose Avenue.

Ward 6 Councillor, Cynthia Block said she went out around the area to get feedback from residents on the blockade.

“I’ve taken this file very seriously. I wanted to make sure that any decision that we made was not going to adversely affect other areas,” she said.

“I wanted a general sense of how people were feeling in the neighbourhood, and I got a very positive response.”

Even on Melrose Avenue, where traffic volumes increased by 140 vehicles per day with the traffic bridge opened, Block said “to date” she hasn’t had anyone complain.

“The overall calming effect has resulted, as was predicted by our administration. I was really pleased to see that part.”

Meanwhile, Iwanchuk remained opposed to the closure of 9th Street.

“The freeway has been there since 1966. It’s not that we just placed it there (recently). I don’t believe that the study provided clear enough results for me to be satisfied with closing a road,” she said during Monday’s meeting.

Mayor Charlie Clark stated that there would be a future report on the file, and a future vote on permanently closing the road by council.

Phase One of the construction of the adjacent Sid Buckwold Bridge project began in April 2019 and re-opened to traffic October 25, 2019.

The traffic study was done within three different time frames with the freeway closed, opened, and with 9th Street open and partially closed.