{"id":2748,"date":"2025-10-24T04:48:01","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T07:48:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2025\/10\/24\/saskatoon-first-avenue-bus-conversion-gets-mixed-reception-at-open-house\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T04:48:01","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T07:48:01","slug":"saskatoon-first-avenue-bus-conversion-gets-mixed-reception-at-open-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2025\/10\/24\/saskatoon-first-avenue-bus-conversion-gets-mixed-reception-at-open-house\/","title":{"rendered":"Saskatoon First Avenue bus conversion gets mixed reception at open house"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Saskatoon First Avenue bus conversion gets mixed reception at open house<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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SaskatoonChanges to the transit system downtown would see First Avenue reduced to one regular traffic lane in each direction, with station platforms located in the centre of the road from 20th Street to 24th Street. Bus-only lanes proposed for downtown would eliminate some traffic lanes, parkingPhil Tank \u00b7 CBC News \u00b7 Posted: Oct 23, 2025 5:29 PM EDT | Last Updated: 8 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesAn artist\u2019s rendering shows what First Avenue might look like once bus-only lanes are built as part of the Link transit overhaul. (City of Saskatoon)Lila Wagner wishes Saskatoon Transit had stuck to its original plan for bus-only lanes downtown.But she\u2019s happy overall to see the $250-million Link transit transformation moving forward, including the plan for bus-only lanes as part of a significant redesign of First Avenue.Wagner, who belongs to the transit advocacy group Bus Riders of Saskatoon, attended an open house Thursday that included renderings of the proposed roadway after traffic lanes and parking spaces are eliminated to make way for the bus expressways in both directions.\u201cI think [Third Avenue] would have been a better option, but that\u2019s what they\u2019ve done,\u201d Wagner said Thursday. \u201cSo that\u2019s where we\u2019re going, is with First Avenue.\u201dCity hall had originally proposed bus-only lanes on Third Avenue, but opposition from downtown businesses convinced the city to move the lanes to First Avenue.First Avenue currently features two lanes of traffic in both directions as well as left-hand turn lanes in the centre and parking on both sides of the street. The reconfigured street would be reduced to one regular traffic lane in each direction and station platforms located in the centre, from 20th Street to 24th Street.The changes would eliminate 61 parking spots, but a study by the city showed the supply of on-street parking exceeds demand during peak periods.The City of Saskatoon is hosting open houses to get feedback on its transit transformation plans. (CBC News)Parking concerns remainThe city\u2019s special projects manager Rob Dudiak acknowledged some businesses remain concerned about removing parking stalls.\u201cIt\u2019s obviously mixed,\u201d Dudiak said of reaction to the changes in store for First Avenue. \u201cIt depends on your point of view and your perspective. [There\u2019s] lots of curiosity about what it\u2019s actually going to look like and what the implications are.\u201dIn addition to the move to First Avenue from Third, the bus lanes have also been changed so that they run in the same direction as adjacent traffic lanes instead of the original plan for bus lanes running in the opposite direction.As a result of the changes to First Avenue, motorists heading south on First will not be able to turn left onto 21st Street, so the city has decided to remove the concrete barrier at the intersection of Second Avenue and 21st to improve traffic flow.Dudiak said the Link revamp has been developed through public consultation and represents a lot of work, so the opportunity for substantial changes now is minimal.The new bus system, designed in line with bus rapid transit principles, is set to debut in 2028. Construction on First Avenue is scheduled to start in 2027. Only First Avenue and College Drive would feature bus-only lanes requiring major alterations of the streets.But the city also hopes to finish building 44 station platforms by the end of the year.Wagner, who said she relies solely on the bus for transportation in the city, said the new transit system holds implications for those who are not riding the bus at the moment.She described herself as \u201cvery poor\u201d and shared that she lives in subsidized housing downtown with her husband.\u201cI don\u2019t think people realize that once the price of gasoline gets out of reach for most people, they\u2019re going to be on the bus,\u201d she said. \u201cSo you want to have a good, very frequent bus system going.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Saskatoon First Avenue bus conversion gets mixed reception at open house SaskatoonChanges to the transit system downtown would see First Avenue reduced to one regular traffic lane in each direction, with station platforms located in the centre of the road from 20th Street to 24th Street. Bus-only lanes proposed for downtown would eliminate some traffic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2749,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[118,123,1],"tags":[116,122],"class_list":["post-2748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-indigenous","category-saskatchewan","category-uncategorized","tag-indigenous","tag-saskatchewan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2748\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}