Councillors question safety of Saskatoon Cycles proposed ideas of opening city streets

An open letter by Saskatoon Cycles Saturday encouraging the city to open up some city streets to cyclists and pedestrians during the pandemic is not sitting well with some on city council.

The letter stated that because of COVID-19, traffic in Saskatoon is at unprecedented low levels. The group is asking for the city to temporarily repurpose some space now dedicated to motor vehicles where it is “feasible,” with the physical distancing restrictions in the province.

Randy Donauer, the councillor for ward 5 in Saskatoon said the letter wasn’t a surprise.

“This has been going on on social media for a couple weeks now. To be honest with you, I’m a little disappointed,” he said.

“I think all lobby groups have to be very careful right now not to use a health crisis to further their own cause.”

Donauer said a couple of his residents expressed the same feelings, reaching out to him Monday morning. He questioned the safety of the idea that the open letter conveyed with corridors where people can “clump and group together.”

“Everythings fair when we’re in a normal situation, but I don’t think trying to use this is the right thing to do. We’re acting as a city on the best advice of the chief medical health officer, and they’re not recommending that we create anything that would group people together, (whether) it be on pathways or streets,” he explained.

Donauer said he has no intention of bringing the item forward at future meetings, or if the item will end up on the agenda.

“The public’s concerned about health and safety and paying their bills, and paying their mortgage right now. I don’t think the public’s interested at all seeing this council engage in a public cycling debate.”

Cynthia Block, ward 6 councillor for Saskatoon said she does have questions, mainly around the social distancing rules that would be affected by the proposed change.

“Safety is the number one priority,” she said Monday. “We’re going to have to keep an eye on it. There is a risk of creating spaces where people want to gather that could potentially make it a little more difficult to socially distance.”

Block says she has her eye on other cities with what they are doing during these unprecedented times and is continuing to consult with medical advisors.

“We have learned from other experts that there are some concerns about both runners and cyclists in terms of the overall distancing that’s most appropriate. I’m interested to learn more about that,” she said.

“We have to keep working with one another, talking to one another, and hopefully finding a process through council to be able to hear from everyone so we can make some solid decisions moving forward.”

Block said she is hoping to ask some of these physical distancing questions at the city’s upcoming special committee meeting Wednesday.

The meeting begins at 11 a.m. in council chambers, with councillors participating by teleconference.