On Millar Avenue, the Vision Was Scaled Back to Fit

There is a particular tension that arises when a city's vision for safety meets the daily realities of the businesses that line its streets—when the planners see pedestrians and cyclists where the merchants see delivery trucks and parking spaces. In Saskatoon's north industrial area, that tension has found its voice along Millar Avenue, where a proposed transformation has drawn objections from the very businesses the city says it wants to serve.

The city administration has proposed adding shared pathways for pedestrians and cyclists along both sides of Millar Avenue, a 4.2-kilometer stretch from 43rd Street East to Marquis Drive, along with a full reconstruction of the intersection at Millar and 51st Street . The intersection project alone was estimated at $6.2 million, and the pathway plan at $9 million, with no identified funding source . The improvements were prompted by safety data showing 161 collisions at or near the Millar and 51st intersection between 2020 and 2024, including a fatality in 2021 and two pedestrian injuries .

But when the transportation committee met last week, business owners pushed back. Jarvis Rein of Walwyn Properties, which leases space to about thirty small businesses along Millar, told the committee that the area is an industrial neighborhood with little bike traffic. "It seems to be adequate for the use that it's needed for," he said, pointing to Warman Road as an example of a single-path approach . Jess Staffen of the North Saskatoon Business Association said the organization consulted with thirty-five businesses along the stretch and heard a consistent message: "Most businesses that we have spoken to believe the current proposal is overkill" .

The committee ultimately endorsed a compromise. Rather than pathways on both sides, the revised plan calls for a shared pathway only on the east side of Millar, from 43rd Street to Marquis Drive. The intersection reconstruction was scaled back from full reconstruction to a less disruptive option, reducing the cost from $6.2 million to $2.6 million and the number of trees removed from thirty-one to thirteen . The original pathway plan would have required removing 157 trees and eliminating twenty-two parking stalls; the compromise plan's tree and parking impacts are not yet detailed .

For some business owners, even the compromise raises concerns. Eugene Dupuis of Dupuis Enterprises told the committee he had spent twenty years lobbying for a sidewalk so his employees would have somewhere to stand while waiting for buses—but after seeing the city's report, he said, "I'm almost sorry I asked" . City council must still give final approval to any plans, and the cost of the endorsed proposals remains unclear .

The debate reflects a broader question facing cities across North America: how to make industrial corridors safer for the people who work in them without disrupting the commerce that sustains them. For now, the committee's compromise moves the conversation forward—but the businesses along Millar Avenue are still waiting to see what the final plan will mean for their parking lots, their delivery access, and their bottom lines.

The images accompanying this article are AI-generated and serve illustrative purposes only.

Sources: CBC News, Global News, The Star Phoenix