Saskatoon city council holds off on endorsing controversial freeway project

Saskatoon city council opted not to endorse a proposed freeway around Saskatoon that would pass through two sensitive natural wetlands at its regular business meeting Wednesday.

Instead, the council voted to defer a decision and have Mayor Charlie Clark send a letter to the provincial government requesting more information from the province.

"If we simply don't endorse it, it leaves everybody sort of in this sort of no man's land going forward," city solicitor Cindy Yelland said when answering questions from councillors.

Councillors were asked to approve the second phase of the Ministry of Highways project, running from Highway 11 south of Saskatoon around the east side of the city up to the South Saskatchewan River.

While the ministry doesn't require the city council's endorsement, administration says it will provide certainty to landowners and developers as the city plans more than 20 years into the future.

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Councillors were presented with a slew of messages in opposition to the roadway, with roughly 50 people writing letters and comments to the council and five speakers opposing the project because of the alleged environmental damage it could cause.

"For those of you seeking certainty from today's decision, do you really want to be certain of this plan and its consequences," Candace Savage, a member of the Swale Watchers advocacy group said.

"Please do not rubber stamp this flawed project."

The Swale Watchers say this project will cause “irreversible harm” to the Northeast and Small Swales — natural low-lying wetlands that support a diverse range of sensitive species.

(Source: Sask. Ministry of Highways)

Councillors spent hours relaying dozens of concerns from citizens as they took turns asking questions of a member of the Ministry of Highways who attended the meeting.

Concerns ranged from invasive species, noise mitigation, and harm and responsibility for potential damage to the Northeast or small swale.

"If this freeway is endorsed … it will be extremely difficult to maintain the ecological integrity of the swales regardless of how much buffers or setbacks we provide," John Paul Wasan, a member of the Saskatoon Environmental Advisory Committee, said.

"It is not in the interest of the city and in the efforts that council has made to protect the swales."

Councillors were weary of approving a project that isn't slated to begin construction for another 15 to 25 years. They wanted to know what protections the province would provide, and if an environmental impact assessment study would be completed before the project was approved.

"Ensure that we minimize impacts during construction and making sure that everything is healthy and thriving after post-construction," said Brent Miller, one of the project leads with the Ministry of Highways.

Miller said the province will work with the city regardless of its position on the freeway, and it could make a variety of changes like reducing medians and narrowing parts of the freeway but is hesitant to reroute the freeway beyond the swales past Warman or Martensville since its main purpose is to be used by Saskatoon motorists.

Should any environmental impacts be “unavoidable,” the ministry proposes to mitigate them by taking measures to preserve drainage patterns, building fences to restrict wildlife access to the road, and adding wildlife crossings.

Many councillors wanted to see an environmental impact assessment before making a decision, but with the project potentially decades away, Miller said that would not be possible.

"If we were to do one now, we'd be asked to do another one closer to the time of construction," Miller said.

"We don't want to jump the gun too early."

Since the swale would form a part of the road drainage network, the ministry says it would use forebay systems to pre-treat potentially toxic road runoff to “ensure that surface water inputs into the swale do not cause adverse impacts to the ecological function.”

Uneasy with the option of endorsing the project many years out, Coun. Cynthia Block raised a separate motion asking the province to provide guiding principles for how the environmental mitigation opportunities, as well as the future environmental impact assessment, will be implemented, prior to voting.

"I am feeling increasingly uncomfortable with going ahead with the plan that is in complete opposition to everything else that we have worked through as a council," she said.

"Environmental impact assessments don't need to be followed, at all."

Coun. Randy Donauer didn't vote in favour of deferring a decision and wondered how not endorsing the project may harm the city's relationship with the provincial government and accompanying funding requests.

"I'm hearing more and more that if this council can't ever decide what we want, they'll just go somewhere else because they just want a partner they can work with," he said.

"We got a 1,700-page report and somehow that's not enough information."

The Saskatchewan Government has been working with the city on the proposed ring road since 1999. It’s intended to connect Highways 11 and 14 while bypassing the city.

--With files from Rory McLean