News Releases

The City is continuing to receive reports of members of the public disrespecting work zones and compromising worker and public safety. The single biggest issue continues to be disregarding work zone signage and barriers and entering work zones.

“The City has strict practices for work zone set-up and management and it’s something we take very seriously,” says Cory Funk, Traffic Operations & Control Manager. “It can be frustrating when our crews take a great deal of time and care to ensure their work zones meet safety protocols, but then to see signage, cones or barriers ignored and the work zone compromised.”

Funk understands that road users can experience frustrations when they see a work zone in place where there doesn’t appear to be any work underway. However, he says it’s just as important that people respect signage even when workers are not present. Barriers remain in place for a number of reasons that aren’t always visible such as when road or roadside hazards are present or when fresh road treatments are setting.

It’s also important to note that work zones can come in various forms and are not just the typical roadwork construction areas that people are accustomed to seeing. A work zone is a signed zone around any work area that’s in place to protect workers and members of the public. The landfill is a permanent work zone and visitors will note the permanent placement of work zone signage and barriers. Parks can also include work zones when crews are using equipment to undertake maintenance and improvement work. Since not all work zones look the same, Saskatoon residents are advised to watch for workers and signage wherever they go.

The Respect Work Zones campaign supports the City Council Strategic Priority (2016-2020 Term) of Transportation. This year, through the Building Better Roads program, City Council is investing $61 million to build, maintain and repair sidewalks and roadways in local neighbourhoods in addition to other projects around the city. 

The City of Saskatoon is very pleased with the progress that has been made on the construction of the North Commuter Parkway and new Traffic Bridge. The two bridges and accompanying roadways are part of the Bridging to Tomorrow project, which remains on track for completion in October 2018.

“At the North Commuter Parkway, all of the in-river piers are now in place,” says Dan Willems, Director for Major Projects and Preservation. “The structural steel for the remaining two spans of the bridge are have been installed and the bridge is progressing on time and as planned.” 

As for North Commuter Parkway roadway work, new southbound lanes on Central Avenue from Attridge Drive to Fedoruk Road opened to traffic earlier this summer and new northbound lanes are now being reconstructed. Sound wall construction is nearly complete along Attridge Drive west of Central Avenue and is ongoing along Attridge Drive east of Central Avenue. The six-lane North Commuter Parkway will connect Saskatoon’s Marquis Industrial Area to neighbourhoods on the east-side. It will also accommodate pedestrians and cyclists.

The new Traffic Bridge looks similar to the old traffic bridge but is slightly wider and taller in order to accommodate wider traffic lanes, wider pathways on both sides, and overhead clearance for emergency vehicles. Once complete, it will once again serve as a convenient link for drivers, pedestrians and cyclists crossing the South Saskatchewan River.

“All of the Traffic Bridge trusses are now in place and bridge deck construction continues. Crews are also working on the Saskatchewan Crescent overpass and retaining walls in Rotary Park. The retaining wall on Victoria Avenue is now complete and utility work is ongoing in the area,” says Willems.

Bridging to Tomorrow project updates, including detailed monthly summaries, links to live cameras at each bridge site, and quarterly video updates, are available at saskatoon.ca/bridging.

In person, anyone can watch Traffic Bridge progress at the River Landing viewing area. North Commuter Parkway construction can be viewed from the Meewasin Trail just east of the cul-de-sac at the north end of Kinnear Avenue (north of Silverwood Golf Course). 

Citizens are increasingly more satisfied with City services says the latest Civic Services Survey.  This is one of the many results from the 2017 Civic Services Survey and Citizen Budget, both of which will be presented next week to the Governance and Priorities Committee.

The results are one important way the City gathers input to understand the needs and perceptions of citizens, and to identify areas which need added focus in the coming year.  City Council and Administration will consider the information gathered to help shape the City’s Corporate Business Plan and Budget for 2018.

“It’s great to see citizens’ continue to have an overall high level of satisfaction with the many services the City provides.  Since 2013, overall satisfaction provided by the City has seen an increase,” says Carla Blumers, Director of Communications. “When comparing the latest results with 2013, satisfaction increased from 83% to 88% for telephone respondents.  It is even more encouraging when you see online respondents overall satisfaction moving from 73% to 85%.”

In 2015, the City established a performance target of overall satisfaction with civic services of 90% or more. “Looking at the 2017 Survey results, it shows how close citizens feel the City is to getting over the goal-line,” says Blumers.

The majority of respondents on the survey continue to rate the quality of life as high (89% telephone and 85% online).  These results have held steady since 2013.

“While the most important issue facing the City continues to be roads and sidewalks, significantly fewer citizens identify this as the most important issue when compared with the 2013 results,” says Blumers.  The investment in the Building Better Roads program since 2014 is definitely making a difference.  In 2013, 35% of telephone and 31% of online respondents cited roads as the number one issue. By 2017 the percentage declined by 15% for telephone and 17% for online respondents. 

Civic Services Survey Highlights:

• 89% of telephone and 85% of online respondents rate the quality of life in Saskatoon as good or very good. A majority feel the quality of life has remained the same or improved within the last three years.
• 79% of telephone and 74% of online respondents agree the City is on the right track to making Saskatoon a better city 10 years from now.
• Roads and sidewalks continue to be the most important issue facing the city, followed by crime/policing, taxation levels, social issues and spending.
• Several specific services saw increases in satisfaction from online respondents, including: repair of water main breaks, removing contaminants from waste-water, maintenance of roadways and freeways, and street maintenance in one’s neighbourhood.
• Overall satisfaction with the quality of City information and communications is strong among both telephone and online respondents (85% telephone, 88% online).
• When interacting with the City, citizens give high ratings for customer service related activities such as staff being courteous, helpful, knowledgeable, and practicing open and accessible government. Respondents provide lower ratings for community engagement related activities such as using input from the public in decision-making, and allowing citizens to have meaningful input.
• The majority of residents believe they receive good value for what they pay in property taxes (84% telephone and 76% online). This question was last asked in 2014 where results were significantly lower.
• The majority of citizens would prefer a combination of user fees and property taxes as the most appropriate way to pay for services and balance the City’s operating budget.

Citizen Budget Highlights:

• The combined engagement results from the online Citizen Budget tool and Civic Services Survey show that citizens prefer to keep service levels/spending the same for eleven categories.  The exception is a slightly higher preference to increase service levels/spending on roads and affordable housing.
• However, the percentage of citizens who identified a preference to increase service levels/spending for Road Maintenance is significantly lower than the previous year (52% in 2017 versus 63% in 2016).

A total of 500 telephone and 800 online surveys were completed for the Civic Services Survey. There were nearly 1,600 unique visitors to the online Citizen Budget tool and 554 citizens submitted a response.

The Civic Services Survey and Citizen Budget are one of many citizen inputs that will help to inform City Council during discussions on the 2018 Corporate Business Plan and Budget plans.

The detailed findings of the 2017 Civic Services Survey  and the 2017 Citizen Budget are available at saskatoon.ca/financialfuture.

Saskatoon road users may be noticing fresh line paint on a number of roads and crosswalks around the city. So far this construction season, 734.4 kilometres of roadway have had fresh lines painted and an additional 8.3 kilometres of durable line markings (lasting 7 to 10 years) have been applied on high traffic roads like Circle Drive and Idylwyld Drive. The city’s 1,004 crosswalks have received their first coat of paint, and 376 have also now received the second and final coat of paint for the season.

“Our line painting program has been running smoothly this season with few disruptions from maintenance issues, weather, or anything else,” says Jay Magus, Acting Director of Transportation. “The recent heavy rainfalls did mean there were a few days we couldn’t get out there, as we can’t paint when the road surfaces are wet, however our program remains on schedule.”

The City is testing a new surface-applied durable marking product on crosswalks at high traffic locations this season. It was applied to 36 intersections on major arterial roads like 22nd Street, 8th Street, and College Drive. The more durable marking should mean the crosswalks stay in place longer and result in a reduction in the amount of time crews need to be set up in high traffic areas.

Some of the remaining line painting work to be carried out in 2017 includes:

• Approximately 200 kilometres of lines left to mark;
• 628 crosswalks remain to receive a second coat of paint;
• Installation of durable chevrons in the gore points around Circle Drive.

The projected budget for the 2017 line painting program is approximately $1.1 million. The program is expected to wrap up for the season at the end of September. Learn more by visiting saskatoon.ca/betterroads and clicking on ‘Line Painting’.

Today, in a report to the Standing Policy Committee on Environment, Utilities and Corporate Services, City Administration highlighted opportunities to divert organics from the landfill.

“Every year, 32% of all material put into our regional landfills is organic food and yard waste. And, organics still make up 58% of our single family residential garbage.” says Brenda Wallace, Director of Environmental and Corporate Initiatives. “If we want to reach our target of diverting 70% of our waste from the landfill, organics represents our single biggest opportunity.”

Wallace says a successful waste diversion program is critical to deferring the closure of the landfill. The costs to close the existing landfill and establish a new landfill are estimated at $26 million and $100 million respectively.

The diversion of organics was identified within the Waste Diversion Opportunities report presented to Council in May 2017. Outcomes from this report will be the focus of community discussions planned for the fall. Preliminary results from a recent Waste and Recycling Survey completed by Insightrix in July 2017 indicate that 79% of residents strongly or somewhat support city-wide food and yard waste (Green Cart) collection for all households.

The Green Cart Program has grown significantly since 2015, with 11% of single-family households now subscribing. However, the current Program is financially unsustainable and is not likely to divert an amount significant enough to influence the City's waste diversion targets to sustain the landfill.

The Organic Opportunities Report can be found on saskatoon.ca/wastediversion.

Exploring options for a city-wide organics program supports the Strategic Goal of Environmental Leadership including the four-year priority to promote and facilitate city-wide composting and recycling and the long-term strategy to eliminate the need for a new landfill and to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions tied to City operations. In addition, it supports the Waste Diversion Performance Target to divert 70% of waste by 2023.