A new draft traffic bylaw has been prepared and will now undergo intensive discussions by city council.
The draft was introduced at Monday's municipal services meeting, but with both the city manager and city clerk absent it was decided to tentatively set aside the night of May 7 for councillors to discuss the traffic bylaw in depth.
The bylaw would replace the existing Traffic Bylaw No. 1716 and was written using bylaws from Regina and Yorkton as well as parts of bylaws from Saskatoon, Prince Albert and Swift Current. The applicable provincial legislation is from the Highways and Transportation Act and the Traffic Safety Act.
Whether the bylaw will be adopted as drafted remains to be seen, as councillors indicated they were likely to have a number of questions about some of the provisions - including one that would force people to register their bicycles.
Councillor Trent Houk's eyebrows were raised about the bylaw provision that would force bicycle owners to purchase a one-time registration permit for $5.
"I can't really see how we're going to enforce that," said Houk.
"Are bylaw enforcement going to pull over kids and check them for their sticker on their bike," he asked.
Fire Chief Pat MacIsaac responded a number of cities had this provision due to a cost of enforcement and also because it was a cost-effective way to retrieve lost property for property owners.
Councillor Grace Lang also wondered why the bylaw was repeating a provisions that were already covered under the Highway Traffic Law. Councillor Don Buglas also noticed there was nothing about buses.
The hefty 43-page draft bylaw will be looked over at length at a meeting in May.
