Cycling safety improvements installed at Wiggins and College

Cyclists and drivers will notice a few new additions on Wiggins Avenue, aiming to improve road safety for all.

A bike box has been painted on Wiggins Avenue at the intersection of College Drive. The box is designed to help keep cyclists safe by giving them a designated space at the front of the traffic queue.

A bike box is designed to provide cyclists with a designated space at the front of the traffic queue. (Alex Brown/650 CKOM)

Another restriction barring northbound drivers making right turns onto College Drive at red lights has also been put into place.

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Cyclists and drivers will also notice a painted bike lane for northbound riders on Wiggins Avenue between Elliot Street and College Drive.

A “no right turn on red” restriction for northbound drivers making a right turn onto College Drive has been installed by the City of Saskatoon. (Alex Brown/650 CKOM)

Jay Magus, director of transportation for the City of Saskatoon, said the changes were made last weekend after unsanctioned lines to imitate a bike lane and a box at that intersection were spray painted onto the road by someone in the community last month.

“Two weekends ago, we removed that because it didn’t meet any standards. And then last weekend, we put in a more formal line painting,” said Magus.

A reduced speed limit of 30 kilometres per hour on Wiggins Avenue from 50 metres south of Elliot Street to College Drive went into effect on September 30, and new signage has been installed to inform drivers of the speed limit changes for that block.

Magus said all of the changes and signage are working in conjunction to significantly improve safety and reduce the potential for cyclist injuries and fatalities.

“Cyclists enter the box painted in green, which is in front of the vehicle queue, with the idea that they’re much more highly visible and that they get a head start in either going straight through the intersection into the university or turning left onto College and heading west the bike lane,” explains Magus.

“It gives some some dedicated space on the road for cyclists to cycle northbound. Traffic is on their left, they cycle on the right near the curb, and then they can enter the bike box when there’s a red light shown.”

The changes comes a year and a half after cyclist Natasha Fox was struck and killed by a cement truck while riding in that intersection. The Saskatoon Police Service has not said who was at fault in the collision, but Fox’s death sparked a push for safety improvements in the area.

A memorial for Natasha Fox, a teacher and cyclist who was struck and killed by a cement truck in May 2023, at the intersection of Wiggins Avenue and College Drive. (Alex Brown/650 CKOM)

“There’s significant safety improvements with a lower speed limit, (and a) reduction in fatalities and severe injuries if somebody gets hit where there’s a reduced speed limits,” said Magus. “It just gives people more reaction time.”

Cyclists have been using the bike box since its installation, and many said the changes represent a huge improvement to the intersection.

“It makes it easier for motorists and cyclists,” one bike rider said, while commuting early Wednesday morning on Wiggins Avenue.

“Doesn’t change anything for me, but it’s good,” another rider added.

One cyclist said she’s only just starting biking to work this year.

“I’ve only been using (the lanes) for a few weeks, but I do feel safer, honestly,” she said. “Because the cars can’t come up, I do overall feel safer.”

But, she added, she doesn’t feel that Saskatoon’s streets are built for cyclists.

“I don’t feel super safe, and I do ride on sidewalks even though I know I’m not supposed to,” she said.

For drivers, Magus said there’s a large onus on anyone behind the wheel, and said drivers should be careful around cyclists and pedestrians anywhere in the city.

“There will be cyclists on the driver’s right, which may not be different than normal, but what’s different is there are cyclists in front of you in the green box waiting to go through,” he said.

The third significant change to the area is a restriction banning right turns onto College at red lights.

“A lot of the new signage was related to to make drivers aware that if you’re northbound on Wiggins wanting to turn right and head east on College, you’ll have to wait till you have a green light,” Magus reiterated.

The transportation director noted that the bike box is a first for Saskatoon. Previously, a different sort of bike boxes were part of the city’s Protected Bike Lane Demonstration Project that was opened on 23rd Street in 2015. Another lane on Fourth Avenue was opened in May 2016.

“We had bike boxes at several intersections, (but) a bit of a different use. We had no bike box in front of traffic,” Magus explained.

“It was a smaller bike box on the side of the road which helps you do left turns. Kind of same, but probably a little more different.”

Magus said he hopes drivers will become used to the new lane and box before the snow falls.

“Snow does melt, but still be aware if the weather changes, that bike box is still there,” he said.

“In the spring as well; when the green paint is faded, until we have a chance to go in there and reinstall that green paint, we just ask folks to maintain their vigilance until it’s really established as part of Saskatoon’s transportation system at that location, so we can minimize any any accidents there.”