Those large piles and ridges of snow along the sides of city streets, leftover from the November 8th blizzard in Saskatoon, will be up for conversation at Monday’s Saskatoon City Council meeting. A plan to remove those high and dangerous piles has been proposed by city administration…a plan that is scheduled to start next week once its approved by council. The city undertook a large snow clearing project after the snow event, that dumped 36 centimetres on the city over a 48-hour period, making roads driveable through 66 neighbourhoods in one week. However, the job of clearing the snow requires more time and equipment to complete. Neighbourhood snow removal includes…the removal of snow ridges and piles on both sides of local roads along lot frontages and at intersections; adjacent to fire hydrants in areas where the windrows are not removed; the removal of snow in the bulbs of cul-de-sacs. Snow ridges and piles on local roadways that are not impacting driveability…such as snow located on boulevards and medians, along vacant lots or open spaces, and along the side of lots…will remain in place. Residents are asked to move their vehicle off the street to provide space for equipment and so that crews can achieve the best result. The order in which crews visit neighbourhoods is being determined at random and then balanced by ward to ensure progress is taking place equally across the city. The schedule is also being aligned with the waste and recycling collections schedule.

City Council will hold their first official meeting since being elected today (Monday), and one of the topics will be removing pay parking on Saturday’s for the near future.
Council will look at ending suspending pay parking requirements on Saturdays, beginning at the earliest opportunity in December and until April of 2021. Council is looking into the idea after a reports from Tourism Saskatoon and Combined Business Group looking for support during the winter months. The idea is to promote local events, businesses, restaurants and services by making it easier to visit with no paid parking requirements.
City administration estimates the net impact on the 2020-21 budget could be $350,000.
If passed the city says free parking would take effect on December 12th, giving time to reprogram parking stations and the parking app properly.

Barriers between drivers and riders on Saskatoon transit will be up for discussion at today’s (Monday) City Council meeting.
While operators are currently behind vinyl barriers, due to COVID-19, the debate will be on whether a more permanent shielded solution should be invested in for the safety of drivers. City administration reports a total of 28 assaults on bus drivers over the past three years. Based on 31.3 million rides recorded since January of 2017 that represents about 0.89 per million customer interactions.
Administration estimates the cost would be between 7 to 21 thousand dollars for each barrier depending on the style used. With 140 buses in the Saskatoon transit fleet, a dollar figure could be just under $1 million to as high as $2.9 million. Ventilation costs would also need to be taken into consideration.
The report does provide alternatives including cheaper plexi-glass barriers and further de-escalation training for drivers.