Here’s our letter to City Council about the Victoria Ave Bikeway Project…
Today city staff put forward to the Standing Policy Committee on Transportation their recommendation that Option 4 be adopted for the Victoria Avenue Bikeway, Pedestrian, and Traffic Safety Improvement Project — specifically Protected Street-Level Bike Lanes with Parking along Victoria Avenue between 8th Street East and Taylor Street East.
If approved in principle at today’s meeting, this recommendation will then be presented to City Council for approval on Apr 26th.
Here is our letter to City Council:
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Apr 2, 2021
City of Saskatoon
Re: Victoria Ave Bikeway
Saskatoon Cycles is excited to see the City of Saskatoon moving forward with safe cycling
infrastructure. The addition of a protected bike lane on Victoria Ave from 8th St to Taylor St is
important in the creation of a properly connected and comfortable cycling network.
Today’s leaders have to confront the poor car-centric planning decisions made well before their
time. While you are not responsible for those earlier decisions, it is your responsibility to make
positive changes now to address problems. Building the Victoria Ave bike lane is one step
forward in making our city comfortable for all users of public space of all ages and abilities.
Options 2 and 3 are preferred over 1, 4 & 5 (See chart below) as their design includes continuation and keeping of
the existing design . We believe this would also align with the City of Saskatoon’s Climate Action
Plan and assist in the reduction of GHG emissions that the city has committed to.
Canada trails many other countries when it comes to cycling infrastructure. Let’s change this
and become leaders by integrating safe and comfortable bicycle infrastructure into an overall
transportation system. We need to make serious investments in alternatives to driving. This
includes making transit efficient, comfortable and affordable. We need to build cycling
infrastructure to ensure people can get to where they need to without fearing for their lives. We
need to ensure that using sidewalks is a dignified experience. Change is difficult but with some
political will we are confident the City of Saskatoon can achieve these goals.
If needed Saskatoon Cycles is willing to provide statistics and economics on infrastructure
spending to justify the expenditure on bike lanes that is beneficial to taxpayers for many
generations to come. We also encourage clearly separating out the dollar amount spent on
cycling infrastructure from overall neighborhood improvement expenses.
Thank you
Board of Saskatoon Cycles
contactus@saskatooncycles.org
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