Central Ave. snow clearing spurs chilly debate
City council struck down a proposal to heighten snow clearing priority for Central Ave. Monday night, urging everyone to be reasonable and calling the recent March snowfall an anomaly.
Council’s executive committee heard from downtown business owner Gord Vaadeland, who shared his experience and aired some grievances. He said business owners did not expect Central Ave. to take priority over emergency routes and other main arterials, but questioned the implication of the city’s snow clearing policy. He said Central Ave. is marked as a Priority 2 route, but wasn’t done right away. He said it wouldn’t be a stretch to suggest that planning crews had fallen victim to the sometimes poor portrayal of downtown on social media, leading to it falling behind.
“There may be a misunderstanding, or maybe an aspect or a bit of culture that doesn’t value the downtown to the level we hear downtown is valued,” he said. “I haven’t talked to many business owners that feel warm and fuzzy about the relationship between city hall and the downtown business community.”
Vaadeland said businesses struggled for two days with poor access to their doors, leaving clients stuck on the street. He said with the upcoming “big dig” of Central Ave. to replace aging infrastructure and the recent announcement of the University of Saskatchewan campus downtown, there is an opportunity to improve the relationship between the city and downtown.