The Board Chair of the Meewasin Valley Authority says from the beginning there was a recognition the Northeast Swale, where a roadway now runs through it, to connect Saskatoon to the Chief Mistawasis Bridge, is representative of some of the most endangered ecosystems in the world – the grassland components in particular. Colin Tennent says they were disappointed by a recent City Council vote which increased the speed limit in the swale from 50 km/h to 60 km/h.

A draft of the Meewasin Monitoring Plan is expected to be complete by the end of this year. Tennent says he would have hoped City Council had waited until that plan is complete before voting to increase the speed limit and he says the plan would give a far greater understanding of things like wildlife movement in the area of the Northeast Swale, a better sense of the types of rare or endangered species which are present as well as how to best mitigate human effects on wildlife.

Tennent notes the MVA Board passed a resolution in 2012 that approved the Northeast Swale development guidelines which recommended a 50 km/h speed limit throughout the swale and those best practices had been supported previously by City Council.