Saskatoon council finds Millar Avenue pathway compromise after deadlock

Saskatoon City Administration recommended major changes to this intersection at Miller Avenue and 51st Street. But with one councillor missing, that proposal was defeated on a tied vote Wednesday. A plan for less extensive changes also failed on a tied vote. Businesses in the area opposed full reconstruction of the intersection, but some councillors stressed the need for safety. I go through this intersection right now at peak times. It sucks. It's bad. And it's getting worse. This is personal to folks that own businesses in that area, but this is also personal to me. This is an intersection that my wife travels every day to work. So I know it's incredibly unsafe. City officials also recommended shared pathways for cyclists and pedestrians on both sides of Miller. But some on council feared another tied vote and another defeat, so a compromise for a pathway only on the east side got support. Some advocates complained about the influence of businesses in the debate. And it has set back active transportation in the city over and over again for years. And I can't understand why they keep saying that they care about safety and they care about active transportation and then repeatedly vote or lobby against anything that would be a good solution. Some councillors thought businesses were unfairly targeted by speakers backing the major changes. They called for a more respectful tone. But a representative for dozens of businesses, Alon Miller, shrugged off those concerns. Rhetoric doesn't bother me. I deal with that all the time. So it's not a great big thing. So it wasn't a... It's not about business versus citizens or business versus cyclists. This is actually about two sides to a coin that come together to make one coin. Most of the dozen speakers at Council represented businesses opposed to the more extensive changes. But most of the letters received supported the more substantial upgrades. Phil Tank, CBC News, Saskatoon.