From: doukhoborarchivescanada@gmail.com   
      
   If I Was Mayor of Saskatoon (Part One) –By Daryl Kabatoff   
      
   If I was mayor of the City of Saskatoon I’d end of the money grab of the 30   
   km/hour school zones… The schools should post reduced speeds but with   
   illuminated, blinkin’ and more frequent signage. There should be no fine   
   print on traffic speed signs,    
   it is unreasonable for drivers to slow down to read fine print on street   
   signs, then check the time of day to see if the information conveyed applies   
   to them. There should be no reduced speeds in school zones when the students   
   are inside the schools, so    
   at the start of classes the speeds on the illuminated and blinkin’ signs   
   should return to 50 km/hour and cease blinkin’. The speed should only be   
   reduced to 30 km/hour for 30 minutes before the start of classes, during the   
   lunch hour, and for 30    
   minutes at the end of the school day.   
      
   An end to reduced speed limits near high schools… the high school students   
   should have learned how to cross streets before graduating from grade 8. High   
   school students who impede traffic by recklessly crossing streets should face   
   fines to help pay for    
   the cost of the new brightly blinkin’ 30 km/hour school zone signs and to   
   reduce home and business taxes.   
      
   Reimburse the money of the ticketed drivers who were fined for exceeding the   
   poorly marked 30 km/hour school zone limits. Drivers who were ticketed in   
   these zones for speeds up to and including 55 km/hour should have their fines   
   cancelled and money    
   returned. This reimbursement should be funded by ticketing drivers who are in   
   violation of traffic laws. Enforcing the fines for unattached trailers left on   
   streets will go a long way in raising money to reimburse the drivers who were   
   ticketed in the    
   school-zone money grabs. The poorly made and poorly placed signage has   
   resulted in not just traffic fines, but in increased insurance rates, together   
   these increased costs resulted in the loss of mobility to many citizens, City   
   Council should work to    
   refund all these losses incurred by their negligence.   
      
   Increased the number of speed limit signs. Some 60 km/hour zones are so poorly   
   posted that drivers have not seen the existing one or two signs and instead   
   travel at slower or faster speeds. Signs indicating speed limits should be   
   posted regularly along    
   streets and freeways, on every second or third light pole or power pole.   
   Several of the 50 km/hour zones can be increased to 60 km/hour, and several 60   
   km/hour zones should be increased to 70 or 80 km/hour.   
      
   Improved traffic flow by increasing speeds on Chief Mistawasis Bridge and on   
   the roadways leading to and from this bridge. Improved traffic flow by   
   connecting Clancy drive to 18th Street, passing beneath Circle Drive… this   
   will alleviate the congestion    
   on 22nd Street and Circle Drive. Improved traffic flow by widening sections of   
   Circle Drive so that merging onto this freeway will become far less dangerous.   
   Taylor Street should be moving 4 lanes of traffic at 60 km/hour, if a high   
   school insists upon    
   lower speeds during school hours, then get your blinkin’ signs to   
   communicate the lower speeds in a clear and in an unambiguous manner. Put some   
   study into alleviating congestion on Circle Drive between Avenue C and Millar   
   Avenue. An overpass at    
   Highway 12 and Marquis Drive is required but should be delayed due to   
   mismanagement of city finances, and when it does finally get built it should   
   have enough clearance to allow farmers to transport their grain bins.   
      
   Improved traffic flow by re-routing the Yellowhead Highway to either one or   
   two miles west of Dalmeny Road, and connecting to the existing Gordie Howe   
   Bridge via a new road located between Cedar Villa Estates and the CN rail   
   yard. This would be hundreds    
   of millions of dollars cheaper than building a proposed bypass on the far east   
   side of the city; furthermore having traffic totally bypassing the city will   
   negatively affect local businesses and result in an additional hundreds of   
   millions of dollars of    
   lost revenue. If the provincial and federal governments desire to fund a   
   bypass, then utilize Grasswoods Road and a new Grasswoods Bridge and have CPR   
   locate their new bridge there as well. It would be in error to get   
   Saskatoonians to pay for a traffic    
   bypass for it would negatively impact businesses for decades to come, as was   
   done in Regina.   
      
   Widen 20th Street, line both sides with identical facades either matching or   
   blending in with the architecture of the Bessborough Hotel. Consider   
   reorganizing a few downtown streets to allow for 20th Street to extend   
   straight to the Bessborough Hotel, or    
   at least prevent new buildings from further blocking the present view of the   
   hotel when viewed from 20th Street. Similarly improve the traffic flow on   
   Idylwyld Drive by widening the street to 6 or 8 lanes and perhaps give the   
   buildings lining the street    
   a European style similar to, matching or blending into the style of the   
   Bessborough Hotel or the old Eaton’s building on 3rd Avenue South.   
   Beautifying the city will improve the lives of the merchants, the residents   
   and the visitors.   
      
   Reduced property taxes via the enforcement of existing traffic laws. Ticket   
   drivers who hang any obstacles to vision, such as dream catchers, on their   
   rear-view mirrors. Ticket the drivers who debadge their vehicles and obscure   
   their license plates.    
   Ticket the drivers who tint their front windows. Ticket drivers who fail to   
   come to a complete stop at red lights and stop signs. Ticket the owners of the   
   unattached trailers left on the streets.   
      
   Removal of red-light cameras, it is a cash grab that largely benefits those   
   who own the cameras.   
      
   End to dedicated bike lanes, instead seek to improve road surfaces where   
   bicycles are numerous. Most bicyclists in Saskatoon don’t want bicycles and   
   bike lanes, they instead want automobiles and their own houses.   
      
   The city should work to remove lead from pipes and also bury power lines to   
   insure the city doesn’t suffer power outages during ice storms.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)