News Releases

Each year, the Project Management Institute, North Saskatchewan Chapter (PMI-NSC) recognizes one project that best demonstrates exceptional performance, leadership and delivers significant value and return on investment for the customer.  This year, the City of Saskatoon’s Neighbourhood Traffic Review program was awarded this prestigious honour for its community-wide approach to resolving traffic issues that is built around finding solutions through engagement with residents.                                                                                                                

“Rather than looking at each traffic issue individually, we take a step back and consider the traffic movements, safety requirements and culture within the entire community,” explains Angela Gardiner, Acting General Manager of Transportation and Utilities. “We encourage people to take an active role in the traffic review process for their neighbourhood so we can hear about issues that matter to them.”

A typical neighbourhood traffic review is a complex, year-long process aimed at improving the quality of life in the neighbourhood by making adjustments to how people use local and collector streets. The process begins with community meetings to collect feedback on issues such as speed, pedestrian safety, traffic volume and short cutting. In addition, residents can also provide feedback through online forums.

Studies are then conducted to measure vehicular speed, traffic volume and pedestrian usage, which are analyzed and used to develop recommendations presented for feedback by residents. The City completes eight neighbourhood traffic reviews each year.

“Each Saskatoon neighbourhood is unique and this approach allows us to get right to the core of the issue,” says Gardiner. “Our approach values the feedback of the people who are using the area every day to help solve the issue.”

The City was presented with the “Project of the Year” award today at the PMI-NSC Annual General Meeting.  

Learn more about the City’s engagement process at saskatoon.ca/shapingsaskatoon

Mayor Donald Atchison today condemned the attack at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

"I was shocked and saddened at the tragedy in Orlando, Florida. Once again the world stands united against an act of terrorism and hate.  Today we grieve for the victims and offer our condolences to their families and friends.  Our thoughts and prayers are also with those who are in the hospital recovering from the attack."

“Members of the LGBTQ2 community, those with different religious beliefs, or ethnicity should be safe in our communities.  Acts of terrorism and hate must not divide us rather we must unite as a community against them."

Flags on civic buildings, already at half-mast, will now take on additional significance.  The City of Saskatoon will follow the protocols established by the Government of Saskatchewan and the Government of Canada to determine timing.

Lost-time injuries for City workers were at the lowest-recorded level in 2015, while overall average days lost to absenteeism also continued to decline and remain well below the national average for public sector employees.

“We are encouraged with the positive direction reflected in this report,” says Catherine Gryba, General Manager of Corporate Performance.  “We always look for ways to be more efficient and at the same time make health and safety a top priority in the work we do for our citizens.”

The results highlighting successes in health, safety and absenteeism are outlined in a report to be presented June 13, 2016 to the Standing Policy Committee on Environment, Utilities and Corporate Services.

The report* to the Committee shows:

-Incidents of injury/illness from the Saskatchewan Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) decreased from 121 in 2014 to 102 in 2015. 
-In 2015, lost-time injuries reached the lowest recorded frequency of 3.70 lost time days.  This is a 20% decrease from the 2014 reported lost-time injury frequency of 4.60.
-In 2015, the COS total, as well as the City (18%), Boards (10%) and Police (25%), had reductions in lost-time injuries.
-There was an overall decrease of 11% in injury severity and resultant number of work days lost per 100 employees for COS.
-Overall, for all civic employees, average days lost to absenteeism, total hours of absenteeism, and total costs of absenteeism was reduced in 2015.  The City’s average days lost is below the Statistics Canada public sector.
-Costs, hours and incidents of medium-term absences (more than 10 days and not long-term disability) continue to decrease over the last few years. 
-The majority of absenteeism is driven by short-term absences at 64% of total cost.  Incidents of short-term absences continue to increase at the City.

“These trends are the result of an increasingly successful safety culture at the City that values the wellbeing of our employees,” Gryba says.  “The trends also demonstrate everyone working for the City of Saskatoon wants to make safety a key aspect of civic operations – from beginning to end.”

Proper management of absenteeism supports the City’s Strategic Goal of Continuous Improvement and being the best-managed city in Canada.

*Throughout the Committee report, the City of Saskatoon (City) is used to denote all areas that are under the direction of the City Manager.  COS is used to denote the overall grouping of the City of Saskatoon, Saskatoon Police Service and the civic Boards. The Boards are comprised of the Saskatoon Public Library, Mendel Art Gallery (Remai Modern), SaskTel Centre and TCU Place.

Another piece of Saskatoon’s Bridging to Tomorrow project was unveiled during today’s Standing Policy Committee on Transportation. The committee was presented with a rendering of what the pathways on the south side of the new Traffic Bridge will look like.

“The rendering shows three meter wide pathways on each side of Victoria Avenue extending down the new bridge embankment and connecting to the existing Meewasin Trail,” said Dan Willems, Director of Major Projects. “The design concept will provide greatly increased functionality by enhancing pedestrian and cyclist access between the new Traffic Bridge and the Meewasin Trail in Rotary Park.”

The City’s Bridging to Tomorrow contractor, Graham Commuter Partners (GCP), will formally submit the design to the Meewasin Valley Authority over the summer months to complete Development Review. The new pathway connections will be completed with the new bridge, which remains scheduled to be complete in October 2018.

Anyone can follow Bridging to Tomorrow construction progress at saskatoon.ca/bridging. The webpage includes video updates, photos, and live webcams showing construction of the new Traffic Bridge and North Commuter Parkway. Construction viewing areas are also in place at River Landing and on the Meewasin Trail just north of the GCP construction trailer site, and from the Meewasin Trail located just east of the cul-de-sac at the north end of Kinnear Avenue (north of Silverwood Golf Course).

If you are heading to SaskTel Centre to see Garth Brooks on Friday and Saturday, the City recommends you leave early, carpool with three or more people, and load a long playlist of Garth’s greatest hits. Most importantly, drivers are encouraged to use one of the designated routes  and obey temporary signage for direct access to parking.

First Two Phases Completed Ahead of Schedule

City motorists now have full access to Broadway Bridge and east/west access to 5 Corners, signalling a completion of the first two phases of the Broadway Improvement Project, well ahead of schedule.  “The entire project is moving along really well,” says Celene Anger, Director of Construction & Design. “Water main replacement work is progressing faster than originally anticipated, thanks to the great weather and some hard work on the part of our contractors.” 

An early finish at the intersection of Broadway and 11th Street has allowed for work at the 10th Street intersection to start early.  Connection replacements on the 600 block of Broadway Avenue are also complete and concrete repairs are taking place ahead of road resurfacing. 

The Broadway Improvement Project includes extensive water main upgrades and road resurfacing to Broadway Avenue and surrounding areas.  This large project is continually being assessed and revised to help minimize its impact on the community, allowing businesses to remain open and events to take place as normally as possible.

“Broadway is open for business;  and to make that happen, we have regular meetings with local business and property owners. Based on their feedback, we’re going to approach remaining roadwork a little differently,” says Anger.  “Instead of waiting and coming back to pave when all the water main work is done, we’re going to finish this section completely – now - and then move on.  Resurfacing between 10th and 12th Street will happen as soon as the water main work at the 10th Street intersection is done, allowing the 600 and 700 blocks of Broadway to be completely opened to vehicles and events much sooner than originally thought.”

Final resurfacing of 600 and 700 blocks should begin around the third week of June, weather permitting.

Saskatoon Transit has started using Dufferin Avenue as an alternate route during this part of the project.

For more information please visit saskatoon.ca/broadway.

Saskatoon Water is phasing-in a new Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) system for water meters.

“Water meters will have a communication module added to take advantage of the benefits of AMI, which include remote meter reading, and monthly billing based on current usage, not estimates,” says Reid Corbett, Director of Saskatoon Water. “A Saskatoon Water technician requires access to the inside of homes to complete the conversion, which takes about 10 minutes.”

Saskatoon Water will notify residents with a letter when technicians are in their neighbourhood. Once a resident receives this letter, they can book an appointment online at saskatoon.ca/watermeter. It’s important to note that only residents of the areas where work is occurring can book an appointment. Currently appointments are available for water meter customers in Holiday Park, King George and Riversdale.

Between appointments, technicians will visit adjacent homes that have not made a booking to request access to their water meter. If residents are not home, they will leave a door hanger explaining the program and asking residents to make an appointment.

“We are expecting it to take approximately five years to convert all of Saskatoon’s 72,000 water meters to work with the new AMI system,” says Corbett. “The key to our success is cooperation from our customers, which includes booking an appointment online as soon as they receive our first letter.”

About 62,000 water meters newer than 1994 will have the black circular scan pad on the outside of the home replaced with a communication module. Once the communication module is in place, the wiring system that currently links the scan pad to the water meter will be attached to the new communication module.

About 10,000 meters installed prior to 1994 will be completely replaced and have the communication module added in order to work with AMI. Replacement of older water meters is part of the regular maintenance program.

To learn more about the AMI program visit saskatoon.ca/watermeter.  

The City is pleased to announce that based on results of the Request for Qualifications (RFQ), three teams have been chosen to move on to the Request for Proposals (RFP) stage for the Saskatoon Interchange Project for Boychuk Drive & Highway 16 and McOrmond Drive & College Drive.

Eight applicant teams responded to the RFQ. Following a comprehensive evaluation of the submissions, the teams that will participate in the RFP process, listed alphabetically, are:

• Flatiron Constructors Canada Ltd. (Flatiron Constructors Canada Ltd., WSP, Amec Foster Wheeler)
• Graham Infrastructure LP (Graham Infrastructure LP, ASL Paving Ltd., Tetra Tech EBA Ltd., ISL Engineering and Land Services Ltd., Clifton Associates Ltd.)
• PCL Construction Management Inc. (PCL Construction Management Inc., Cima+ Canada Inc., Trek Geotechnical Inc., Pinchin West Limited, Catterall & Wright)

The City's project team is currently working with its advisors to finalize the RFP document which will be released to the short-listed firms in June 2016.

The Saskatoon Interchange Project has bundled these two interchanges together as a way of reducing overall costs of construction. The McOrmond Drive/College Drive interchange is fully funded by adjacent land developers. The Boychuk Drive/Highway 16 interchange is funded by both federal and provincial governments (14.7 million each) with an additional $15.7 million coming from levies collected by The City of Saskatoon from developers of the Rosewood subdivision.​

From the May 30, 2016 Meeting

7.1.9 Landscape Design and Development Standards for Parks and Open Space

Decision

*Committee received the report as information and asked Administration to report back on feedback from residents plus housing, industrial and commercial industries and developers.

Background

*The construction of parks and open spaces that require irrigation and a high level of maintenance have become common in the city’s new subdivisions/neighbourhoods. This has contributed to increased pressures on the environmental and financial sustainability of parks and open spaces.
*Implementation of renewed Landscape Design and Development Standards (LDDS) is one of many continuous improvement initiatives identified during the 2014 Parks Maintenance and Design Civic Service Review. Since 2014, the Parks Division has been working towards implementation of a number of initiatives to ensure that required long-term maintenance services can be provided in a safe, efficient, cost–effective, and environmentally responsible manner.
*LDDS will provide formalized landscape design standards and well-defined approval processes, as identified and recommended in the Master Plan.
*LDDS is intended to be a dynamic document that outlines reasonable minimum and maximum parameters of park and open space design and development, as well as a mandatory landscape design review process. The standards will be a continuous improvement tool used by the Parks Division.

7.1.11 Saskatoon Fire Department Purchase of Used Platform for Mobile Command Vehicle

Decision

*The Committee received the report as information.

Background

*The current Mobile Command unit is no longer practical for its intended use.
*After extensive research, it has been determined that the best option is to retrofit a used Class A motorhome, designing and equipping it to be sustainable for many years to come.
*The purchase price of the used platform is $126,000 (taxes included). Additional funds will be required to retrofit the unit in accordance with identified needs.
*It is expected the unit will be complete and ready for use early in 2017.

7.2.5 City Centre Plan Phase 4: Civic Precinct Master Plan Project Update

Decision

*The Committee is forwarding the report to City Council for information.

Background

*The Civic Precinct study area encompasses approximately five city blocks, centred on City Hall.
*The purpose of the Civic Precinct Master Plan is to define a new Civic Precinct area and improve the quality, character, and cohesiveness of the public realm in the Civic Precinct.
*The timing and preparation of this Plan considers several proposed projects and initiatives that will have a significant impact on the public realm within the Civic Precinct over the long term.
*The Plan will be divided into two phases. Phase one consists of background analysis and stakeholder engagement, and phase two consists of detailed design and plan development.
*The Plan will result in a priority list of, and phased approach for, improvement projects for the public realm within the Civic Precinct.

7.2.6 Vacant Lot and adaptive Reuse Incentive Program – Gardens as an Interim Use

Decision

*The Committee is recommending to City Council that the proposed amendments to the Vacant Lot and Adaptive Reuse Incentive Program Policy No. C09-035 be approved.

Background

*The purpose of this report is to amend the Vacant Lot and Adaptive Reuse (VLAR) Incentive Program to add incentives for gardens on vacant lots as an interim use.
*The Administration recommends the VLAR Program be amended to include incentives for garden plots on vacant land as an interim use.
*The incentive will be in the form of a cash grant equal to 50% of the annual value of the municipal property taxes to a maximum of $500 per year for residential properties, and $1,200 per year for non-residential sites, for up to five years.
*Non-profit organizations may have on-site sales of produce in residential areas in compliance with the garage sale provisions of the Zoning Bylaw No. 8770.
*The establishment of a garden on a vacant lot will not affect the opportunity for future incentives under the VLAR Program when the lot becomes developed.
*Communication with the stakeholder group will continue as a means to identify additional opportunities to support urban agriculture and local food.

7.2.7 Redevelopment of the South Caswell Transit Facility Site

Decision

*The Committee resolved:

1. That the report be forwarded to City Council for information;
2. That Administration report further to the Committee on:
(a) a revised concept plan and timing;
(b) a funding strategy and the phasing of the redevelopment of the South Caswell Transit Facility Site by the end of 2016 or as soon as practical; and
(c) safety and security measures that will be implemented as soon as the South Caswell Transit Facility site is vacated.

Background

*An Expression of Interest has demonstrated there is interest in the South Caswell area from the development community in Saskatoon.
*There is considerable site preparation costs associated with the area development project. At the same time, there are significant opportunities and community expectations associated with redevelopment.
*Next steps in the process include community engagement in a renewed concept plan process, preparation of detailed site improvement plans and funding sources, and a plan for the marketing and sale of the land. Alternate procurement methods will be explored.