Saskatoon Construction III

[The S'toon Goon]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon...-at-optimist-hill-in-saskatoon-1.7015965

This seems like a cool idea for optimist hill.

[phone]

Originally Posted by The S'toon Goon

The mayor of Humboldt seems to think that they will be the community to see the population gains.

https://saskatoon.ctvnews.ca/humboldt-ra...jected-demand-from-potash-mine-1.6627390

The existence of Humboldt completely slipped my mind

I have always gotten the sense that Humboldt is a fairly insular and solipsistic place, even though I haven't been there. I get this impression because there doesn't seem to be as much integration between Humboldt and Saskatoon as what you'd expect given that the two places are only a little more than 100km distant. For example, I hear a lot more about Melfort and Kindersley than I do about similarly sized Humboldt, and (to me anyway) both of those places feel psychologically "closer" to Saskatoon despite being significantly farther away geographically.

But I do think that Humboldt is well poised to capture some growth as a result of the Jansen mine.

[Dalreg]

Well coming from someone who lived in the Humboldt area for many years, It is a nice smaller city all to itself. Doesn't really need the connectivity to Saskatoon to thrive. As for calling it Solipistic, maybe hold off until you actually have visited the community.

[phone]

You're right, it's a dumb comment and I apologize.

[olliebass]

https://hudsonmayfairkelsey.files.wordpr...ential-shelter-1701-idylwyld-drive-n.pdf

This was sent to me tonight. I welcome the addition of needed shelters to our city. I'm unable to find a source for this info besides the councillors supposed wordpress site. Anyone have more info?

[Saskabusher]

So that's the old liquor store? Amazing. I'm all for it. The need is there, NIMBYS will always be there, but action must be taken. It's kind of isolated, in a way; the screams shouldn't bother anyone. All the best to anyone who enters.

[Echoes]

BRT funding from the higher orders of government has finally come through:

Funding of $152M announced for Saskatoon bus system, leisure centre

[bryceyourself]

Originally Posted by Echoes

BRT funding from the higher orders of government has finally come through:

Funding of $152M announced for Saskatoon bus system, leisure centre

Holy man, great news. I didn't think Moe even knew Saskatoon existed.

[YIMBYxe]

Great news to finally see BRT funding come through!

Also the feds have written a letter to the city in response to the housing accelerator fund application, requesting that the city permit 4 homes per lot as of right, allow 4 storeys within 800m of BRT, remove parking mins near BRT, develop more residential near universities. This will be brought to Council on Nov. 22.

https://pub-saskatoon.escribemeetings.co...da&lang=English&Item=117&Tab=attachments

On Dec. 6 at PDCS, committee will review a report recommending the removal of mandatory minimum parking requirements citywide.

These changes have the potential to lead us down the path toward a more affordable city, less dependent on cars.

[FarmerHaight]

Originally Posted by Echoes

BRT funding from the higher orders of government has finally come through:

Funding of $152M announced for Saskatoon bus system, leisure centre

This is great news! Although I wish Saskatoon was building true BRT with lanes along the entire route except the College Bridge. Many of the streets where the first BRT line will run are overbuilt (22nd, College Drive) and could easily see a lane repurposed to bus lanes without impacting congestion significantly. Plus, this would greatly benefit other bus routes running on those roads.

But I guess we can't let perfect be the enemy of good, and who knows how long it would take to scrape together the additional $350M for true BRT.

Originally Posted by YIMBYxe

Also the feds have written a letter to the city in response to the housing accelerator fund application, requesting that the city permit 4 homes per lot as of right, allow 4 storeys within 800m of BRT, remove parking mins near BRT, develop more residential near universities. This will be brought to Council on Nov. 22.

We had some recent provincial government announcements here in BC that will have a similar effect, except here rapid transit stops will see towers up to 20 storeys within 200m, 12 storeys within 400m, and 8 storeys within 800m

There are several neighbourhoods in Saskatoon ripe for densification. Nutana, Varsity View, City Park, Riversdale, and Caswell Hill are just a few that come to mind. And with improved transit service along arterials like 8th St, 22nd St, 2nd Ave/Warman Rd, Idylwyld Dr, Broadway Ave, Taylor St, etc., you could add quite a few neighbourhoods to that list.

[Echoes]

BRT funded and the potential end of exclusionary zoning and parking minimums. A likely decision on the arena next year, and hopefully the new library getting back on track and starting construction. The market building at River Landing re-opening. Jansen mine is full steam ahead and BHP expanding its downtown footprint. If a couple of the major infill projects on the shelf get started next year, my optimism for this town will be at a high not felt in years.

[Echoes]

Originally Posted by bryceyourself

Holy man, great news. I didn't think Moe even knew Saskatoon existed.

It should be noted that by all accounts, the only holdup on funding - for years - was the province. I'd guess that the only reason they finally came to the table is due to the Sask Party's tanking support in Saskatoon.

[prairieguy]

Is it just my imagination, or is there also not a school/community centre(White Buffalo)/city facility going up in the inner city/core? I can't recall if it is proposed for the current Princess Alex School site or if it was going to the Kind Edward school site?

Can someone confirm? if so, that would be another pretty major build on the horizon.

[Echoes]

No word on that project in a while: https://www.saskatoonpublicschools.ca/division/citycentre/Pages/default.aspx#/=

I think Princess Alex has already been demolished to make way.

[phone]

There's some kind of commercial signage up on the SW corner of Broadway and Taylor where Clement Farms used to be. Looks like minor site work has been taking place there for a little while now. Anyone know what's going on there?

[mitchellk12]

Originally Posted by phone

There's some kind of commercial signage up on the SW corner of Broadway and Taylor where Clement Farms used to be. Looks like minor site work has been taking place there for a little while now. Anyone know what's going on there?

Nope, but I'd always that little area to be a perfect spot for a 4-6 storey apt/condo with some small retail or restaurant on ground level.

[Antigonish]

Unfortunately the corridor land use zoning classifications for the BRT don't accommodate anything higher than a 5-over-1, even with the transit station zoning option. Still, "missing middle" development is always welcome, and I think the most important change you'll see are the multi-unit build options on existing single detached R1/R2 lots within the corridors. You could see hundreds of new townhome or laneway housing options as part of the infill process.

As far as I know, the BRT plan isn't true BRT either, although there is supposed to be "signal priority" on interchanges which is something. I still feel like they messed this one up big time.

[phone]

It's definitely not true BRT, and it shouldn't be called BRT, but it is a fleet of new buses and substantially improved network infrastructure. Would true BRT be preferable? No doubt. Would there have been money for it? Likely not. I'd hate for this to turn into an example of perfect being the enemy of the good.

[FarmerHaight]

Originally Posted by Antigonish

Unfortunately the corridor land use zoning classifications for the BRT don't accommodate anything higher than a 5-over-1, even with the transit station zoning option. Still, "missing middle" development is always welcome, and I think the most important change you'll see are the multi-unit build options on existing single detached R1/R2 lots within the corridors. You could see hundreds of new townhome or laneway housing options as part of the infill process.

As far as I know, the BRT plan isn't true BRT either, although there is supposed to be "signal priority" on interchanges which is something. I still feel like they messed this one up big time.

Originally Posted by phone

It's definitely not true BRT, and it shouldn't be called BRT, but it is a fleet of new buses and substantially improved network infrastructure. Would true BRT be preferable? No doubt. Would there have been money for it? Likely not. I'd hate for this to turn into an example of perfect being the enemy of the good.

Definitely not true BRT:

BRT buses will have lanes to themselves on two stretches of roadway totaling 2.7 kilometres: one on First Avenue, another on College Drive near the University of Saskatchewan.

Buses will share the road with other drivers on the BRT network's remaining 35.3 kilometres.

True BRT would require 100% dedicated lanes with the exception of maybe the College Bridge so long as there were que jumps right up to the start of the bridge.

The plan is for the BRT to offer a system-wide headway of 10 minutes from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. CST and 20 minutes during the rest of the day.

These headways are pretty poor for any rapid transit system. Sure, they're better than what Saskatoon transit riders are used to. But when you're competing against someone hoping in a car and making a 20-minute drive, waiting 20 minutes just for your bus to arrive really hurts the competitiveness of BRT. Although this system will still be a boon for those who don't or can't drive.

I think the biggest problem with this BRT plan is the lack of capacity. Saskatoon is not a transit-friendly city, but it's easy to imagine severe overcrowding on this system if the city takes TOD seriously. Especially on the core segment from the new Sask PolyTech campus through downtown, I can foresee a lot of full busses and passengers being passed up. If the BRT had 100% dedicated lanes, you could probably seen 3 minute frequencies without bus bunching. But with mixed lanes, I doubt each line will achieve anything better than 8 minute headways. The bus I ride several times per week in Vancouver runs at 8 minute frequencies on a route with significant dedicated lanes, yet there are still plenty of issues with bunching and overcrowding. (It should be noted that this regular bus runs on more dedicated ROW than the entire Saskatoon BRT will have and has que jumps and signal priority, yet Translink has not branded it as "Rapid Bus" which is our BRT-lite, let alone "BRT").

[phone]

If these improvements succeed within their scope of potential, converting lanes to bus-only and building more hard infrastructure generally in a decade from now will be a much easier sell than it would be now. You just know that half the city would consider losing a lane of SPV traffic on 8th Street to be the crime of the century. Maybe it would be different if the local populous was more transit-friendly to begin with, but that's not the case. That said, transit-friendliness will almost certainly improve as a matter of demographic changes, as more people move here from large global cities where functional transit systems are expected as a part of ordinary urban life, even accounting for Saskatoon's modest size. The political element of transit improvements will be an easier sell if, on top of changing demographics, there's a decently functioning but strained transit system advocates can point to as needing improvement, rather than one that's both poorly functioning and poorly used. As much as I'd like to snap my fingers and have Saskatoon transform into a TOD-paradise with dedicated busways, light rail, pedestrian-only streets, and density exceeding five-over-ones, it is not going to happen overnight, and somewhat incremental change is the only way that we are going to get there.