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Further meetings about the Exhibition Local Area Plan

City of Saskatoon, Your Community

The City of Saskatoon’s Local Area Planning team is excited to announce the second LAP meeting for the Exhibition Area:
Tueday, February 26th 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Seventh Day Adventist Christian School – Gymnasium (2228 Herman Avenue)
Refreshments provided.  Everyone is welcome!

The meeting will discuss the community’s vision for the future, outline high level goals for the LAP, discuss the neighbourhood survey results and confirm topics for discussion at future meetings.

Future meetings: All will be held at Seventh Day Adventist Christian School at 7:00 p.m.
Wed., Mar. 13 Topic – Private Property Maintenance
Wed., Mar. 27 Topic – Neighbourhood Safety
Wed., Apr. 10  Topic – Land Use & Infill Development

The presentation slides and meeting minutes from the first LAP meeting on Wednesday January 23, 2019 are now available.

Stakeholders are also encouraged to complete the survey.

Local Area Planning is a community-based approach to developing comprehensive neighbourhood plans that enable residents, business owners, property owners, community groups, and other stakeholders to have direct input into the future of their neighbourhood.

Once completed, a LAP establishes the vision and goals to guide the growth and development of a neighbourhood.  It also identifies specific recommendations for improvements within a neighbourhood.

The study area boundary for the Exhibition LAP is Taylor Street to the North, Broadway Avenue to the East, Ruth Street (East of Lorne Avenue) and Circle Drive (West of Lorne Avenue) to the South, and the riverbank to the West (see attached study area map).

For further information on the LAP please visit saskatoon.ca/LAP as regular updates will be posted to this web page.

If you have any questions about the LAP, the LAP Process, or this meeting, please contact : Keith Folkersen, Senior Planner
Neighbourhood Planning Section
City of Saskatoon
Phone: 306-986-1690
E-mail: keith.folkersen@saskatoon.ca

More about Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)

City of Saskatoon

The Project Team would like to sincerely thank everyone who participated in the engagement exercises over the last couple of months, as well as all those who reached out via email and phone.  The Team is putting together a report now to communicate to City Council what it heard, with a decision on routing hopefully to be made soon.

The Team will send out an email regarding the date the report will be submitted to Council once it is confirmed and on the Agenda.

Again, thank you for helping us create the bus rapid transit system that will best meet the needs of our growing City.  #YourFutureCity #GrowYXE

From November 6 to December 7 the BRT Team held 19 engagement events.  961 people attended and let us know about their preferred routes in the Downtown and the Nutana areas.  All comments and feedback gathered will go into the report to Council.

The trend on using transit to get around Saskatoon remains positive, with annual ridership steadily increasing and expected to top one million rides per month in 2019.

“Any increase in ridership is encouraging to see, but 8 per cent is incredible,” says Jim McDonald, Director of Saskatoon Transit.  “It shows people are recognizing transit as a viable alternative.  However, in order to keep increasing our ridership numbers, we must continue to focus on the customer first.”

In 2017, Saskatoon Transit implemented the first high frequency transit corridors (8th Street and 22nd Street), decreasing the amount of time riders had to wait for the next bus.  In 2018, Saskatoon Transit added more high frequency routes and saw more riders using the Transit App to plan their trips.  As Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) implementation nears improvements will continue, with a 2019 focus on ensuring bus stops are located in the best places for customer service.

According to McDonald, “The key to our success is overall improved service, a better customer experience and technology that supports both.  Changes already made will support a successful BRT system in Saskatoon.  The new system, which features a plan for crisscrossing, high-frequency routes, will connect different parts of the City.”

For more information, or to find schedules and other trip planning tools, visit saskatoontransit.ca or download Transit App to plan your trip using real-time bus tracking.

On January 31st the Plan for Growth team will be presenting about, and gathering feedback on, a number of Plan for Growth initiatives including corridor planning, transit villages, the University Endowment lands and more.  You are invited to attend from 3 – 8 p.m.  at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites University (1838 College Drive).  Please note BRT is not a part of this engagement directly but does inform many of the other planning aspects involved.  Find out more at saskatoon.ca/engage.

Information will be added to the Growth Plan website as it becomes available at saskatoon.ca/growth.

If you have any questions about BRT, or would like to participate in future engagement activities, please contact BRT@saskatoon.ca.  If you have any questions about the Plan for Growth in general, please contact the Growth Plan Implementation Team at growth@saskatoon.ca.

Lead Water Pipes

City of Saskatoon, Your Community

Saskatoon’s water supply is one of the safest in the world.  Test results are reported to the Saskatchewan Water Security Agency as part of the City’s Permit to Operate.

Saskatoon’s water supply is virtually lead-free.  The lead level content in the City’s drinking water when it enters the water distribution system is 100 times lower than the Health Canada limit.  Health Canada recently updated its directive for exposure to lead and advises that people should not be exposed to lead, as it can cause adverse health effects even at very low levels and recommends reducing lead exposure as much as possible.

Treated City water flows from the Water Treatment Plant to water mains (or pipes) located underground throughout the City.  Water enters individual properties through a water service connection. If your home was built before 1950 there could be lead within its plumbing system.  As a precaution, homeowners and occupants should be aware of how to reduce the risk of lead exposure from drinking water.

Got Time? We can use your help!

Your Community

The QEXCA offers residents a chance to join together, plan and provide programs and events, and get to know your neighbours. Take part in your Community Association and help make your community an even better place to live!

There are many ways you can volunteer:

  • flood /shovel an outdoor rink
  • help edit the newsletter or website
  • act as liaison with churches
  • help develop partnerships with local businesses
  • coordinate indoor programs
  • provide leadership as a Board member

Community Association volunteers make friends, share their knowledge and expertise, get exercise or build their resume with positive work experience.

Contact us at qexca.saskatoon@gmail.com to find out how you can take action and improve life in your community!

At this year’s AGM, the positions of President,  Vice President, Secretary and up to ten Directors-at-Large are open for nominations.

We are looking for School Liaisons.  These are not Director positions and are not required to attend Board meetings.  Each School Liaison is responsible to maintain communication between the QEXCA and the administration (and often the School Community Council) of one of five schools in the Community and report, at least quarterly, to the Community Relations Coordinator.
There are three (3) vacancies:

  1. École canadienne-française, Pavillon Monique Rousseau – Ideally, this person will be fluently bilingual, French and English, and able to translate QEXCA documents for the Francophone community.
  2. Frances Cree Bilingual School – Ideally, this person will be of aboriginal ancestry.
  3. Aden Bowman Collegiate Institute – Ideally, this person will have some experience working with teens.