MOOSE JAW — With residents using pathways and spray parks regularly in the summer, city council is curious about whether city hall can upgrade those infrastructure items to better meet people’s needs.
During council’s recent regular meeting, Coun. Dawn Luhning told city administration that she sees residents walking regularly on High Street West on a dirt path from Yara Centre to Ninth Avenue Northwest. She then wondered whether administration had plans to connect that path to the main network.
Furthermore, she said there are pathways near the intersection of Main Street and Thatcher Drive, but there is no way for people to cross from the north side to reach businesses on the south side.
Specifically, Luhning said friends stayed with her recently who wanted to play basketball at the Golden Ticket Sports Centre. However, they were unable to reach the building because there were no crosswalks and medians blocked their path. She then wondered if city hall planned to address that through the transportation master plan.
Bevan Harlton, director of operations, said connecting the gap between Yara Centre and Ninth Avenue Northwest is “absolutely on the radar” and something his department plans to address.
He pointed out that the trails master plan identified the High Street West dirt path as a gap in the network, while the engineering branch is conducting corridor studies at several locations throughout the city and looking at a cycling network, both of which could connect that gap.
Harlton added that with the issue of crossing Thatcher to reach the Golden Ticket venue, that location “warrants a discussion,” while his department will determine how to prioritize an upgrade there.
Meanwhile, Coun. Carla Delaurier said a resident contacted her about spray parks and asked whether the city could open them earlier than 10 a.m. She noted that parents with young children are usually awake well before that time and would like to use those venues, so she hoped the city could open at least one spray park earlier.
City manager Maryse Carmichael said that the query is something administration can review for next year, since changing the hours of spray parks would affect the budget and increase water consumption. She added that administration will respond to the resident’s inquiry.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, Aug. 11.
