POPULATION NEARS 261K AS CITY RELEASES TWO GROWTH PLAN REPORTS
Two reports, which outline the work-to-date on the Growth Plan to Half a Million (Growth Plan), will be presented to City Council’s Standing Policy Committee on Planning, Development and Community Services on July 20, 2015.
“The importance of growth planning is underscored even more, as the annual mid-year population estimate now calculates Saskatoon’s population at 260,900 people,” Director of Planning and Development, Alan Wallace, says.
“Even if the city doesn’t grow at the high rates we’ve experienced lately, we’re projecting average population increases between 2% and 2.5% over the long term. That is like adding a city the size of Humboldt or Melfort to our city each year,” Wallace explains. “The work we’re doing now will ensure we are ready for that and future growth.”
The first report is the Growth Plan Summary Report #2: Long-Term Possibilities, which provides a detailed assessment of the preliminary long-term recommendations for:
- A new transit system with Bus Rapid Transit (BRT);
- Redevelopment along major corridors like 22nd Street, Idylwyld Drive, 8th Street, College Drive, and Preston Avenue; and
- A new core area river crossing at 33rd Street, combined with bus lanes on the University Bridge.
The second report is the Growth Plan Engagement Summary Report #4, which shares what was heard during the third round of public engagement from February to June 2015.
“This input is being used to finalize the long-term recommendations and set the direction for our priorities on implementing the Growth Plan’s core initiatives of Corridor Growth, Transit, and Core Bridges,” Wallace says.
The resulting draft Growth Plan will be presented for confirmation during the final round of public engagement in the fall of 2015.
Once complete, the Growth Plan will help to guide future infrastructure investments so residents will have more choices for how they live and move around the city as Saskatoon grows to half a million people over the next 30 years.
For more information on the Growth Plan, or to sign up for project update notifications, visit www.growingfwd.ca.
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