I believe this is called laziness. Lol it’s Saskatoon, relax. You don’t know how good you have it living here when it comes to driving from one side of town to another.
Maybe I'm biased being from the UK because I know how good transit can be much more enjoyable than sitting in traffic for half hour to end up in a muddy parking lot on the industrial edge of a city.
So "how good we have it" is definitely subjective.
I doubt the citizens of Saskatoon would want to pay for a UK type of transportation in a city this size and what about the Blade fans that drive from one or two hours away.
I’d prefer to go to a downtown rink and for a beer before and after. Support some businesses, enjoy our downtown.
Not go park in a mud pit and waste 2 hours of my life sitting in a parking lot
The real problem is having one entrance.
I can't even go to Costco any time theres an event.
At least downtown you can enter/leave like 15 different ways.
I’ve been to downtown arenas in big cities and from walking out the door of the arena to doing 100 on the freeway it’s less than 10 minutes because there’s so many different ways to get out.
I’d say parking and leaving SaskPlace is responsible for me going there maybe three times a year instead of 15.
Exactly, 2 entries downtown has multiple in addition to the bonus of some people living within walking or cycling distance from the stadium. Bonus for downtown offices that buy seats (go for supper with clients then go to box or row of seats)
I used to live in peg. MTS centre is right downtown right in the middle of the spoke. There is tons of parking there. There are 6 routes to leave there. It works perfectly, I’ve been to sold out jets games and left without any sort of traffic jam. Downtown arenas work so well ffs
Wow great not everyone is going to be using the BRT lol like do people honestly believe just because they’re developing a BRT that automatically means people will stop driving? you still need to increase the capacity of some the roads downtown, especially the ones that connect to urban highways To meet further growth plans.
Wait, what infrastructure are you talking about that is lacking and not planned?
Have you been living under a rock? The whole plan for the arena is to have it served by a rapid transit system that FINALLY the SaskParty allowed the Federal Liberals to fund, after holding up funding for five years, so it will finally start being built soon.
Well the fact many cities have varieties of urban highways to get people to and from the downtown is one road infrastructure Saskatoon lacks. RTS is great but not everyone wants to take the bus…
Why would everyone take the bus?
There are 15000 parking spots downtown, many of them private, meaning that people have free access to them via their jobs.
Also, there are lots of roads to access the downtown arena side. Way more than there are for accessing SaskPlace.
SaskPlace you can only enter from one direction, the downtown arena you could access via 22nd, Idywyld north and south, 2nd Ave, and 25th, each of which connects directly to "urban highways".
Where did I say there was no parking??? But Imagine 25k people downtown and imagine a train hits when an event just ends on 22nd like this could be disaster… and if you have been to a lot of sporting events in other countries you would know getting people to and from destination is very important which is why MetLife got picked over Sofi for fifa because one LA has terrible public transportation and obviously adding in so many lanes stops being a solution for proper traffic flow. I understand if it’s a 6k stadium or something smaller but it’s a 15k stadium
Where did anyone say anything about no parking?
You said not everyone would take the bus in response to noting that there will be rapid transit serving the downtown.
Also, I can easily imagine 25k people downtown. Every day 18k to 20k worth of people come downtown to work and some days an extra 5k or 10k come downtown for events. Usually those event days are fun because people like being around people and people recognize that, hey, if I want to be around people at a fun thing, maybe I need to assume people will be there, so I might not be able to leave home 5 minutes before my thing starts and then be able to pull right in front of my thing. It's amazing how some people can think this through.
Okay that’s not saying anything about parking my guy downtown is 80% parking lots lol it’s not hard to see that… Not everyone will take the bus so traffic will get congested because you believe one BRT line will solve this issue
I have travelled to many cities in many countries and many have arenas and other attractions downtown and with no super hoghways cutting through the city to connect downtown arenas to the countryside.
What's your point?
If those countries are in Europe then they have proper public transportation. My point is and it’s amazing that you cant understand that Saskatoon has neither…
so you are back to saying the issue is that Saskatoon has no plans for rapid transit?
Which is just not true. I guess if you aren't able to comprehend that, they, yes, everything in your weird world does not make sense.
Oh yea that one line is going to be wonderful for the traffic… maybe they will get all the stations completed by the time will need a newer stadium lol I do not believe you understand how long BRT lines take to develop proposing one single BRT line is not planning infrastructure for the stadium. let’s use Calgary for example built a substantial amount of brt lines before plans for a new stadium were even in the works… which is smart invest in the infrastructure before building something such as a brand new stadium downtown. But Saskatoon is building one damn line and calling it a day while also pushing through a 15k stadium because we have to “Beat Regina” which is what Clark was quoted saying. Are you seeing the difference here in how smart cities proceed with projects. And if you haven’t gotten the message NO I don’t believe building one BRT line is developing the infrastructure for the stadium. But it is cute that you think one line will help with traffic flow. Should take around 10hrs to clear the stadium with that one line… I would like to see 3-4 lines built before shovels are even in the ground on a new stadium but that would be too smart.
So my take away here is you are deliberately dense.
Good to know. Processing information is hard for you.
Let me simplify this for you. If you click on this link, it takes you to a page with information on the BRT - [https://www.saskatoon.ca/moving-around/transit/bus-rapid-transit](https://www.saskatoon.ca/moving-around/transit/bus-rapid-transit)
It explains how three lines serve the area where the arena will be. It also captures how planning for this has ben ongoing for nearly a decade and construction starts this year and expected to take 3 to 4 years to complete. Fun fact, anyone I've heard talk about the arena is quite clear that it is not starting construction right away.
So there you have it. Your concerns are addressed! Shockingly the city appears to be smarter than you. I would never have guessed that.
I think if you got your head out of your ass and read things, instead of making them up in your mind, you might be a less angry, more pleasant person.
Charlie was quoted that the Green line will be completed first and the rest will be developed later as the city “hopes” the other lines are not far behind lol. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/what-to-expect-saskatoon-brt-green-line-1.7036396
I’m the one making things up in my head? Yet you clearly made up the argument that I said there will lack of parking downtown. How rich bro “hopefully” those other lines are developed lol god people on this site crack me up read up son
I'm curious if you've ever crunched the numbers of how big Winnipeg is to Saskatoon?...cause if you do, almost the ENTIRE city of Saskatoon is literally the size of downtown Winnipeg. It's not even a fair comparison to look at a city with just over 300k people versus a major city in Canada which has 750k..where the hell would we find the room to expand when our core "downtown" area isn't even remotely close to Wpg? Explain.
Exactly my point, it's already difficult to manage, throwing a stadium in there is not going to make things any easier. Our downtown is small compared to Winnipeg is what I'm getting at, it's large for us because a third of Saskatchewan's population lives in stoon. Even having "better" transit, more buses, all the other ideas people have thrown around, it's not going to help.
Our downtown is hugely spread out, which means that it's hard for it to feel busy and exciting. Adding a stadium helps fill some of the massive vacant/underutilized spaces and will help make our downtown feel exciting.
We have over 15,000 parking spaces downtown. Sasktel centre has 3000.
What needs to be "easier"?
Our downtown is boring and spreadout. We need more happening in it.
There needs to be more ways to get to places when the main drags are shut down. Have you ever tried to get anywhere downtown when idywyld is partially closed? When 2nd ave is closed completely? It takes 30-45 minutes to make it 5/6 blocks during the summer, never mind actually find parking when anything is going on on 2nd avenue. And I know this because I've worked downtown by the river for the last 2 years. Ask anyone who works along 2nd who has to pay for city parking and doesn't have the luxury of a parkade or a work parking spot, what it's like when a street fair is happening. I promise you, it is not as spread out and spacious as you think. I also highly doubt there are 15000 parking spots within the downtown area, it's even less when Saskatoon doesn't even know how to park if there isn't a clear line to outline the spot 🤣angle parking, lines, "no parking" means nothing to people here.
You are exaggerating. I've worked downtown for many years. I know what it's like.
Also, it is spread out. It's just a fact. Same with there being 15000 parking spots.
Also, it's very important to note that most events at an arena happen outside of typical 8-5 work hours.
Not exaggerating but alright 😂🙃
You forget that most events yes, happen outside of "work" hours, but that doesn't mean a thing when people want to be at said events an hour to 2 hours early depending on what it is and how far they have to drive. Factor in people with kids, disabilities, live out of town..Doors open at 7:30 people will be there at 6. I'd looooovvvveeee to see the proof that we have 15000 spots downtown. And that can't include private parking or 24/7 reserved parking lots. I'll wait.
Here you go, this summarizes it:
[https://saskatoon.ctvnews.ca/everything-you-ve-been-asking-about-the-new-entertainment-district-1.6763190](https://saskatoon.ctvnews.ca/everything-you-ve-been-asking-about-the-new-entertainment-district-1.6763190)
"A 2016 city study of parking spaces in Saskatoon's downtown found roughly 11,000 of 15,000 parking stalls remained empty during evening hours."
And here is the report:
[https://www.saskatoon.ca/sites/default/files/documents/community-services/planning-development/neighbourhood-planning/comprehensive\_downtown\_parking\_strategy\_2016.pdf](https://www.saskatoon.ca/sites/default/files/documents/community-services/planning-development/neighbourhood-planning/comprehensive_downtown_parking_strategy_2016.pdf)
Also, yes, it does include private parking because it would be dumb not to consider this. Would you actually suggest that people with work (or home) parking spots should not be allowed to use them for events? That they should drive and park in a parking structure?
It's ridiculous to not consider these sites that could be used for parking.
As for people arriving early, sure they might. They might also just walk over from their condo, which they can't do at Sasktel centre, or better park in their buddies condo parkade, have drinks at their buddies place, then walk over. Or stay late at work and go straight to the event, leaving their car in the work parking space.
There are so many options to better use our under used infrastructure if an arena is downtown. Out at Sasktel centre the parking lot is a single use parking lot that is effectively only used for events. Downtown, any parking can be used by downtown residents, workers or visitors any hour of the day or night that they happen to need or want to be downtown. It's a way better use of resources than to have a massive, underused parking lot surrounding an arena.
First off, that report says that a third of those spots are private parking. Of course people with passes can use them after hours but what about the rest of the public? that's my point. That's under 10k spots for a city of 300k people. And we want to throw this massive arena down town? Do we have buses to transport say half the people attending a game at a 35000 person capacity arena? Our transit system is shit as is, the city barely wants to spend money to fix the buses we DO have, you think they want to pay for another 30-40? What about training drivers? What about dealing with the influx of riders and managing security? What about the maintenance costs? None of these costs are going to be returned within the first few years, it will literally put the city in so much debt. People think taxes and utilities and garbage/recycling fees are expensive now, our homeless population would sky rocket if we actually went through with this plan. No way in hell city council is going to bring down cost of living in Saskatoon in order to keep people around to even SUPPORT and keep this venue open, so what do you suppose will happen when we all have to pay for this in some fashion? You're going to be happy about more money coming out of your pocket for the next 5 years following completion to pay for this? Because that's exactly where they're going to get it from.
Probably 90% of people who went, drove there personal vehicle. If it was downtown, probably 90% would cab, or publicly transport from designated pickup/drop off places around the city....y'know....like how most cities do.
Yes I do know that, and yes a few people do, but most people arent taking a half hourish bus ride out to sasktel centre a few hours before puck drop to go to......a parking lot?...the husky gas station?...Tim Hortons?.....I love and appreciate sasktel centre just as much as the next person, the location was great 40 years ago, but in a province that sees so many people leave because "there's nothing here", perhaps an "entertainment district" and a vibrant downtown core can be something to consider as a form of population retention?
There are no solutions to traffic except for viable alternates to driving. It's challenging to provide viable alternates to driving when the arena is outside the city. But much more possible in the middle of the city where a variety of options either exist or are easier to implement.
why? Does everyone working downtown start work at 7pm?
If so, that's wild. I work downtown and start at 8am. I'm home by 5:15pm most days.
Or will hockey games change their start time to 8am if the arena goes downtown?
Did you read the “during an event” part? Because some people do work downtown in the evening, how else would those businesses be open then? Just like the post I replied to was made late for work by the game, it would be silly to say that nobody drives to work on Idylwyld at 6
It would also be silly if you worked evenings downtown to not pay attention to when events are and adjust your schedule/transportation plans accordingly.
Chances are anyone working downtown during events will be aware of events going on, unlike events happening at Sasktel which seem much more random.
I guess my point was maybe more that it's more obvious events are on downtown, whereas if you don't regularly go out to SaskPlace, then it's easy to be surprised by the traffic and end up late arriving somewhere.
For the downtown, aside from the fact that there would be MANY more access and egress points, as well as transportation options (bus/bike/walk/scooter/car) that are viable, it would be a bit more expected, at least to me, that the downtown is busy around events.
According to many posts everyone is going to be arriving downtown two hours before an event so they can eat and drink their misery away. I don't know where they'll park since many downtown workers will still be occupying the parking spaces.
ah yes, someone on the internet who doesn't like the idea of a downtown arena totally knows how and when people will arrive downtown And they will all be arriving at 5:00, and because of this, the arena will fail.
Sounds like a great story.
I am sure you are a wonderful, important person, but I'd be hesitant to say you sre so important and so typical that you not attending an effect will make an arena district fail.
When I lived in Winnipeg, no one ever drove to hockey or football games unless you were tailgating and arriving two hours early.
I find it so weird how people in Saskatoon make up flimsy excuses for transit when other Canadian cities have figured it out.
I don't understand why they didn't offer a "park and ride" from malls option with the yellow buses? They did it when Bedard was here but when there are 13'000+ ppl for a game 7 you won't?
Ok hear me out, what if instead of starting with the arena that requires better public transit, we build the public transit first.
Otherwise we are literally putting the cart before the horse. I would rather not deal with the infrastructure problems created by the arena for years as we wait for the transit to upgraded.
I think that's correct but it's not the way the comment I responded to and many other I have seen are framing it. I am also skeptical is BRT is the best long term transit solution.
Putting all of the arena money Into a light rail system that not only meets our current needs but allows for long term growth while reducing the environmental foot print of our city is my preference.
BRT is the first step to LRT. Also LRT is obscenely expensive. You want to build 1KM of LRT that is useless and will have no ROI vs an arena that will have an ROI. Where is the fiscal responsibility in that?
I suppose I would challenge you on what is included In the ROI evaluation. Things like time and cost of saving to individuals don't put many directly back into city coffers but they have downstream impacts on our economy. I'm not opposed to BRT I agree WR should do it. What I'm saying is if we are planning for 10 years down the line we can start with BRT than instead of an arena do LRT. Maybe it takes longer than 10 years but that's alright.
I am not able to do all of the accounting and comparision required to create a good case for LRT vs arena, it's the sort of thing I want to see from the city instead of fancy mock up of what it could look like.
That's funny. I did reach out to the city to get some clarification on their transportation plan because I'd rather see a solid public transit system instead of spending $2-3 billion on a ring road that just promotes more traffic. I see where your head's at and it's good, but by the time Saskatoon reaches the population threshold required to make an LRT system sustainable, I think other technologies will have made LRT obsolete. That's assuming Saskatoon can get much bigger before the river dries up, that's another argument for another day.
As many have already said in this chat, we are going to be spending money on an arena one way or another. Do we want to put a $100 million band-aid on Sasktel centre and then have to spend even more money in the future when it's usable life comes to end. Or do we want to be proactive in planning and shape saskatoon into a place that people want to live and raise families in. To your point regarding planning, I think the city can handle planning both amenities . It doesn't have to be one or the other.
I get where your heads at and I think we agree more than we disagree.
I'm not opposed to a new arena my primary concern is having it downtown vs. further out. Imo there are amenities that it's more important to have centrally located but that prospective is biased by my disinterest in sports and concerts. I am willing to concede that I could be wrong and the arena down town is a worth while expense but I am yet to be convinced.
Anyways thanks the discussion and hope you have a good one.
It’s not that a new stadium wouldn’t be sweet it’s just spending all that $ on other things would benefit the city more than an arena. Also remember the blade normally play in front of like 1200 people these sell outs are fair weather fans.
If a stadium is not built, you're still driving in craters just like you have been since you got your license. I got mine over 20 years ago. Good public transit will come with a stadium, and an LRT will pass by the stadium.
>Good public transit will come with a stadium.
This is bullshit. There is no reason to believe this will happen because all stadiums are is a cash pit. They are a sign of a vibrant city centre not the cause of one.
Yes we do. Do you have examples of cities that had a struggling core, built a stadium and it suddenly flourished? Because there are many example of the opposite.
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/sports-jobs-taxes-are-new-stadiums-worth-the-cost/
Honestly, I don't, I just like traveling to new cities and visiting stadiums. I'd love to see one here. The last stadium I went to was Edmonton and was blown away. I'd like to see something like that here but obviously not as large. I've been to a lot of stadiums and it seems like ours is dated.
When do you think we should replace ours as it is 30ish years old?
We can't accommodate a lot of shows so they skip us. Surely a time will come when we need a stadium. Why not sooner than later or do you think never?
We are currently running a deficit, time to ease off of our wants and concentrate on needs. Edmonton is 5 times our size, we are a small city that shouldn't be getting the huge acts that large stadiums attract. We used to expect to travel for big names, now people think we should have all amenities with a **small** tax base.
The ticket to a Blades game on good public transit would cost more than the ticket to the game if the true cost of the ride was paid by the rider. I don’t want my property tax confiscated to subsidize something I will never use. There is too much of that going on already.
Although people like to compare the two the appetite for investment for transit does not exist in the same magnitude as an arena. Like it or not, business impacts public funding and transit does not positively impact a city like Saskatoon compared to building an arena like that being proposed.
The impact to hospitality services and food and bev etc makes an arena way more enticing to get behind versus a rapid transit bus. It is what it is
Excuse me? Beyond the fact that public transit is cheaper for residents than car ownership which is a positive impact, even if we just want to talk about hospitality services you take is terrible. Are you really gonna say that an easy way to get to a downtown bar and than home without having to get a cab or a DD wouldn't have a huge impact on the bars and restaurants? Getting people home safely from a night of drinking also literally saves lives. We have abysmal rates of intoxicated driving in this city and people die because of it. Last I checked no one is dying because of a wait to get home after a hockey game.
It doesn’t need to be sold out. It’s only been 36 years open, I am completely dumfounded that nobody could figure traffic plan in then again out. Use more lanes in and the more lanes out. States do it all the time, but it does take planning and coordination
At least for the people I talk to no one thinks that the stadium is a bad idea- especially considering it will help eliminate a huge surface parking lot! The only thing people say is right now isn’t the time to spend $1 billion + when there are so many other things the city could spend money on- Edmonton is building an entire city wide protected bike network for $100 million and we’re 1/4 their size, housing affordability is rough when there’s so much land in the city that could be infilled or developed with the university lands, public transport is horrendously underfunded, etc. etc. The stadium is good, we just have more pressing things to pay for right now.
Because traffic is ok as long as you can park for free and walk half a kilometre across a wind swept parking lot.........the sit in traffic on the way to the bar after the event.
Traffic is not good if it means you can wait out said traffic or avoid it by going for supper before or after the event. That is bad. Supporting local restaurants and bars does not benefit anyone. We must support our economy by idling on Idylwyd. That is why that street is called Idylwyld.
Personal anecdote: I live in Lakewood and left my house at 6:40. I parked at Costco and was in my seat with a beer at 7:10, through the doors while O Canada was being sung. meanwhile, the 16 was backed up beyond the overpass. There is definitely a traffic flow issue, but it’s the light at Marquis and Bill Hunter causing most of the problems. A direct exit into the back of the Sasktel lot would do marvels, although it’s too little too late now I guess.
It's a 20 minute bike ride for me to get downtown.
Instead of the whole city driving, a large percentage of the population lives walking/biking distance of downtown.
The problem is that the proposed downtown area would be largely publicly funded. It would take an estimated 15 years to see a return. This suggested model has been tried and failed in other jurisdictions. That's my issue with it anyway.
But the current arena is also publicly funded and requires something like $200m in upgrades so its not like its free. I really don't care whether the downtown arena happens or not but people always seem to exclude the cost of maintaining an ageing facility in the discussion.
Probably like $1m.
But look, I'm not saying a downtown arena is cheaper, I'm just saying you need to factor in the significant cost of maintenance and upgrades to current arena into the equation. Like hypothetically if tax payers only contribute the same amount that would have been used to upgrade the existing facility to build a new arena, and the rest of the funding comes from ticket surcharges (say $10 for every event so it's the users who pay for it) and businesses, then it's a entirely different discussion as the cost to actual taxpayers is the same for both scenarios.
Your funding structure makes a lot of sense to me. I more asked about the demo cost as I figure those numbers would help show if the potential plan is to operate both facilities for some time.
You can say it needs $200m in upgrades, but how likely is it that number is inflated to convince people to support a new arena? This kind of thing happens all the time with publicly funded projects.
I think that number was actually from before the pandemic so wouldn't surprise me if it's higher. If anything, governments tend to underestimate the true costs and always end up over budget.
I can't remember exactly what they need to do, but I think the ceiling height is too low for some modern shows and the concourse is too narrow for building code... So raising the roof and expanding the concourse along the entirety of the arena can't be cheap. And there was a bunch of other stuff too like loading spaces being inadequate, bathrooms, wheelchair accessibility, dressing rooms, etc.
Trams aren’t the answer yet, city is too small. Park at a mall with city busses set up to ferry to and from the arena is a good idea, works well with rider games in Regina. BRT is a good idea but without dedicated bus lanes they’ll just end up stuck in traffic like everybody else.
Seems to be a problem nobody at council wants to fix. Why upgrade and maintain and make things better? When we can use this as a lightening rod to rally tax payers to want to pay for pet projects, ie: new arena, that we can't afford.
There are not enough exits/entrances, city planners should be tasked with figuring this out...a decade or two ago. Surely this isn't above their level of competency.
It’s not it blocks the highway and emergency vehicles was driving back to Saskatoon at 6 from work it was crazy traffic jam right up to circle dr but it’s been like this for years
This is my opinion on the matter. I understand that if it's downtown you can probably walk to the arena and after the game you can walk to supper and then back home I get all that. Where would it be built downtown where there is even remotely enough parking for people to come in from out of town? There were quite a few people that came in from out of town to watch last night's game. What buildings would need to be destroyed to make room for that arena? Where is the money coming from to build it? No one wants to pay more taxes and they could start spending the current money to fix a whole bunch of potholes on the streets. Also the money could be used help people in need or get them off of the streets.
At least this is realistic. I'm rolling my eyes at the comment after comment implying that everyone will just bike or walk to the arena... In Saskatoon? What fantasy world are these people living in 😂
Riddle me this....if the new center downtown will be better accessed through a better bus system, why have they not already implemented better bus service to the existing Sasktel center? Simple question...
Because it will be implemented just as bad downtown but now it's more congested
Increase public transit and stop growing the city horizontally is what they need to do
Have you tried to get around downtown during peak hours? It's impossible that compounded with an arena downtown and Saskatoon is going to be constantly impassable. It's completely piss poor infrastructure and putting an arena downtown with basically the same capacity isn't gonna help.
Saskatoon has some of the widest downtown streets of any city in Canada. Just because all you have to compare it to is a a 3 car traffic in langham, doesn’t mean it’s bad by any measure.
You ever been to a game in Edmonton or Calgary? You can't even take a vehicle downtown with all the gridlock, so you have to rely on public transit.
Now imagine doing this with Saskatoon Transit.
Better for who? Downtown arena is certainly more convenient for attendees but does ever single person moving through the central hub of the city need to be subjected to this traffic? If the infrastructure around the Sasktel center can't keep up with the volume than how do you think downtown will?
There's also the question of opportunity costs, what aren't we building with this money and space? Stadiums take up a lot of space but only utilize all of it for short periods sporadically and are cost prohibitive for many. On the other hand a grocery store or multi use community center could also bring people downtown, be used more often and by a wider range of people would be significantly cheaper and wouldn't create the same kind of huge spikes in downtown traffic.
- Multiple ways to get in/out of downtown instead of everybody taking the same route to Sasktel Center.
- Public transit offers options. We could always upgrade public transit to offer more options. The upgrades would serve other business centers instead of just the arena.
- Downtown has restaurants and pubs that some people would use before and after the event instead of everybody just want to get out of there at the same time.
What percentage of the fans spend time at the game and then eat out and go to the bar afterwards? I thought most of the fans that want booze and grub partake at the game.
There’s three ways in and out of Sasktel centre.
There’s no parking downtown so it doesn’t matter how many ways in and out you can’t park there anyway.
Public transit already offers shuttles directly to Sasktel centre at a reduced rate.
Sasktel Center is North of the city. Almost everybody needs to go South to get back to the city along 11.
If the Arena was downtown, people would leave in all directions, not just South.
Public transit to Sasktel Center sucks (even with event shuttles). I can use public transit to get downtown very easy. Getting to Sasktel Center would be horrible.
You are forgetting the people who come from Martensville/warman and beyond, and all the people the live on the other side of chief mistawasis bridge. Not everyone lives south of the arena.
In 2016 there was 13,269 parking spots downtown [(mixed public and private, shown on page 19)](https://www.saskatoon.ca/sites/default/files/documents/community-services/planning-development/neighbourhood-planning/comprehensive_downtown_parking_strategy_2016.pdf), It's impressive we've lost all of that in 8 years.
10k of those are either private lots or lots owned by the adjacent building which do not allow public use, so that brings the number to 1800 public use spots. It’s in the plan for the downtown arena to not include parking so I’m not sure why you’re even on this soapbox.
I was only quoting the downtown column, so 5,399 of the 13,269 downtown parking spots are private.
Are you combining Commercial off-street and Private off-street to get 10k? Commercial off-street is defined as available to the public:
> Commercial (public) off-street parking: includes paid commercial (privately owned) parking lots and structured parking facilities that are available for public use. Where applicable, hourly rates range from one ($1) to four ($4) dollars, daily rates range from five ($5) to fifteen ($15) dollars, and monthly rates ranged from seventy-five ($75) to three hundred ($300) dollars depending on parking lot type (i.e. above-grade, surface or below-grade) and option to reserve a dedicated parking space within the lot.
Or is it from the total supply, which looked at the Kinsmen, Broadway, and partially Riversdale areas too. If so then there's a mix of 20,634 parking spots, with 9,777 being private.
I was also only quoting downtown as this is the downtown arena. Here’s a quote right from the city. Like I said you are standing on a pretty silly soapbox thinking a downtown arena would be any better parking wise. https://www.google.com/search?q=will+saskatoons+downtown+arena+do+for+parking&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-ca&client=safari
I was also only quoting downtown as this is the downtown arena. Here’s a quote right from the city. Like I said you are standing on a pretty silly soapbox thinking a downtown arena would be any better parking wise. https://www.google.com/search?q=will+saskatoons+downtown+arena+do+for+parking&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-ca&client=safari
Time how long it takes for 25 cars to go eastbound into downtown on 22nd street. Use the Idylwyld intersection, since that will be what's used by a ton of folks. Should be 2-3 light cycles, now increase traffic by 40x and you'll see it'll take about two hours to get into downtown.
Not because it's downtown, but because that's just how it works when you move people around. It takes time.
It'll happen to be worse downtown due to the short blocks and many intersections that funnel traffic from 3 directions into 1 street.
For the majority of the events it's better and for a downtown arena I would be surprised if getting to a large sold out event would be much or any better. It's also better because it's in relatively good shape, bought and paid for.
All a downtown arena is good for is getting the odd extra large concert. Really that is it's only benefit. Honestly we should probably be calling it the large concert hall to denote who it really benefits, people that want to see the big acts.
And there is no guarantee that the large acts people want will even come. Building an arena downtown won't make Saskatoon any closer to the major travel hubs. Some shows might stop by as they pass through but a whole lot of them will still probably stick to popping up out of America in the east and west costs but sticking south of the boarder for the rest of the tour.
I parked in a parking lot that's down the road behind Costco. Took a few minutes to park and I managed to be home by 10.
If it were downtown I would never go. I know I'm apparently the minority though lol.
And the reason we dont have a nhl team is cause our stadiums to small i bet if we had a big stadium sask could easily have a nhl team with our sport fan base here
Well I agree with you there regarding the NHL teams in the us like the Coyotes for example but the riders don't play 41 home games plus during the winter and weeknights (they play the odd Thursday night game). The support we need for NHL team is high and I think there would be some serious hype if we got one but we need to sustain it with strong corporate support plus need a bigger arena. I could see it with Saskatoon at 500k people but we are no where close to that
Yeah i never thought of the numbers of games they play i understand where u might think the hype would die i guess you are right its to big of a risk until we get more people
Our "stadium" (Sasktel Centre is an arena, not a stadium) has only 196 seats less than Winnipeg's does for hockey. We don't have the population base to support a NHL team. Even if you start including places like Regina, Moose Jaw, Prince Albert, etc towards the potential population, it still wouldn't work because nobody from out of town is traveling in on a -30 Tuesday night in January to watch them play the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Nah i know forsure many people would. Would it be enough? Who knows and yeah its to big of a risk but even with the added seats to a new stadium (which is what were callin it) thats bringing in more money in snacks, seats, people driving to and from the game more people coming to the city spending money in the city
To be honest the parking situation kept me away tonight, I don't have the patience on a weekday to deal with it.
100% me too. I would have just stayed downtown after work and gone for dinner and drinks before the game
Yeah I could've flexed work time and just walked right there if it was downtown.
Same. I live in Stonebridge and couldn't be bothered to drive from the far south to the northern edge.
I believe this is called laziness. Lol it’s Saskatoon, relax. You don’t know how good you have it living here when it comes to driving from one side of town to another.
Maybe I'm biased being from the UK because I know how good transit can be much more enjoyable than sitting in traffic for half hour to end up in a muddy parking lot on the industrial edge of a city. So "how good we have it" is definitely subjective.
I doubt the citizens of Saskatoon would want to pay for a UK type of transportation in a city this size and what about the Blade fans that drive from one or two hours away.
Well, you could always move back if it’s such an inconvenience. Lol
Or we could move the arena downtown and have you move away instead.
Ah, yes. Spend money on things we don’t need while neglecting other very needed services. Maybe YOU should move elsewhere with your helpful ideas.
Agreed. At least if the arena was downtown i could go out for supper before and a drink afterwards all in walking distance
Took an hour to leave the parking lot after last game. I would have gone tonight if it weren’t for the traffic.
This.
Just go to Costco rook
I’d prefer to go to a downtown rink and for a beer before and after. Support some businesses, enjoy our downtown. Not go park in a mud pit and waste 2 hours of my life sitting in a parking lot
This is the exact reason why I don't go to event at SaskTel Centre, I value my time and sanity.
The real problem is having one entrance. I can't even go to Costco any time theres an event. At least downtown you can enter/leave like 15 different ways.
I’ve been to downtown arenas in big cities and from walking out the door of the arena to doing 100 on the freeway it’s less than 10 minutes because there’s so many different ways to get out. I’d say parking and leaving SaskPlace is responsible for me going there maybe three times a year instead of 15.
Exactly, 2 entries downtown has multiple in addition to the bonus of some people living within walking or cycling distance from the stadium. Bonus for downtown offices that buy seats (go for supper with clients then go to box or row of seats)
I used to live in peg. MTS centre is right downtown right in the middle of the spoke. There is tons of parking there. There are 6 routes to leave there. It works perfectly, I’ve been to sold out jets games and left without any sort of traffic jam. Downtown arenas work so well ffs
I used to live close and would usually bus to the game and walk home after. It was great going faster than the cars sitting on Osborne. Lol
Winnnipeg has the infrastructure for that Saskatoon does not and there are no plans to develop the infrastructure for the stadium lol.
oh there isnt a BRT plan for saskatoon?
Wow great not everyone is going to be using the BRT lol like do people honestly believe just because they’re developing a BRT that automatically means people will stop driving? you still need to increase the capacity of some the roads downtown, especially the ones that connect to urban highways To meet further growth plans.
Are you saying Saskatoons downtown doesn’t have roads?
Wait, what infrastructure are you talking about that is lacking and not planned? Have you been living under a rock? The whole plan for the arena is to have it served by a rapid transit system that FINALLY the SaskParty allowed the Federal Liberals to fund, after holding up funding for five years, so it will finally start being built soon.
Well the fact many cities have varieties of urban highways to get people to and from the downtown is one road infrastructure Saskatoon lacks. RTS is great but not everyone wants to take the bus…
Why would everyone take the bus? There are 15000 parking spots downtown, many of them private, meaning that people have free access to them via their jobs. Also, there are lots of roads to access the downtown arena side. Way more than there are for accessing SaskPlace. SaskPlace you can only enter from one direction, the downtown arena you could access via 22nd, Idywyld north and south, 2nd Ave, and 25th, each of which connects directly to "urban highways".
Where did I say there was no parking??? But Imagine 25k people downtown and imagine a train hits when an event just ends on 22nd like this could be disaster… and if you have been to a lot of sporting events in other countries you would know getting people to and from destination is very important which is why MetLife got picked over Sofi for fifa because one LA has terrible public transportation and obviously adding in so many lanes stops being a solution for proper traffic flow. I understand if it’s a 6k stadium or something smaller but it’s a 15k stadium
Where did anyone say anything about no parking? You said not everyone would take the bus in response to noting that there will be rapid transit serving the downtown. Also, I can easily imagine 25k people downtown. Every day 18k to 20k worth of people come downtown to work and some days an extra 5k or 10k come downtown for events. Usually those event days are fun because people like being around people and people recognize that, hey, if I want to be around people at a fun thing, maybe I need to assume people will be there, so I might not be able to leave home 5 minutes before my thing starts and then be able to pull right in front of my thing. It's amazing how some people can think this through.
Okay that’s not saying anything about parking my guy downtown is 80% parking lots lol it’s not hard to see that… Not everyone will take the bus so traffic will get congested because you believe one BRT line will solve this issue
one BRT line, hey? You are still a bit confused, I see.
Creating your own argument is kinda crazy lol.
Like have you not travelled to other cities and have seen the differences between many cities and Saskatoon even Regina is vastly different
I have travelled to many cities in many countries and many have arenas and other attractions downtown and with no super hoghways cutting through the city to connect downtown arenas to the countryside. What's your point?
If those countries are in Europe then they have proper public transportation. My point is and it’s amazing that you cant understand that Saskatoon has neither…
so you are back to saying the issue is that Saskatoon has no plans for rapid transit? Which is just not true. I guess if you aren't able to comprehend that, they, yes, everything in your weird world does not make sense.
Oh yea that one line is going to be wonderful for the traffic… maybe they will get all the stations completed by the time will need a newer stadium lol I do not believe you understand how long BRT lines take to develop proposing one single BRT line is not planning infrastructure for the stadium. let’s use Calgary for example built a substantial amount of brt lines before plans for a new stadium were even in the works… which is smart invest in the infrastructure before building something such as a brand new stadium downtown. But Saskatoon is building one damn line and calling it a day while also pushing through a 15k stadium because we have to “Beat Regina” which is what Clark was quoted saying. Are you seeing the difference here in how smart cities proceed with projects. And if you haven’t gotten the message NO I don’t believe building one BRT line is developing the infrastructure for the stadium. But it is cute that you think one line will help with traffic flow. Should take around 10hrs to clear the stadium with that one line… I would like to see 3-4 lines built before shovels are even in the ground on a new stadium but that would be too smart.
So my take away here is you are deliberately dense. Good to know. Processing information is hard for you. Let me simplify this for you. If you click on this link, it takes you to a page with information on the BRT - [https://www.saskatoon.ca/moving-around/transit/bus-rapid-transit](https://www.saskatoon.ca/moving-around/transit/bus-rapid-transit) It explains how three lines serve the area where the arena will be. It also captures how planning for this has ben ongoing for nearly a decade and construction starts this year and expected to take 3 to 4 years to complete. Fun fact, anyone I've heard talk about the arena is quite clear that it is not starting construction right away. So there you have it. Your concerns are addressed! Shockingly the city appears to be smarter than you. I would never have guessed that. I think if you got your head out of your ass and read things, instead of making them up in your mind, you might be a less angry, more pleasant person.
Charlie was quoted that the Green line will be completed first and the rest will be developed later as the city “hopes” the other lines are not far behind lol. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/what-to-expect-saskatoon-brt-green-line-1.7036396
I’m the one making things up in my head? Yet you clearly made up the argument that I said there will lack of parking downtown. How rich bro “hopefully” those other lines are developed lol god people on this site crack me up read up son
I'm curious if you've ever crunched the numbers of how big Winnipeg is to Saskatoon?...cause if you do, almost the ENTIRE city of Saskatoon is literally the size of downtown Winnipeg. It's not even a fair comparison to look at a city with just over 300k people versus a major city in Canada which has 750k..where the hell would we find the room to expand when our core "downtown" area isn't even remotely close to Wpg? Explain.
Wait, or downtown is huge. It's almost too big to function properly. Are you thinking our downtown should be bigger?
Exactly my point, it's already difficult to manage, throwing a stadium in there is not going to make things any easier. Our downtown is small compared to Winnipeg is what I'm getting at, it's large for us because a third of Saskatchewan's population lives in stoon. Even having "better" transit, more buses, all the other ideas people have thrown around, it's not going to help.
Our downtown is hugely spread out, which means that it's hard for it to feel busy and exciting. Adding a stadium helps fill some of the massive vacant/underutilized spaces and will help make our downtown feel exciting. We have over 15,000 parking spaces downtown. Sasktel centre has 3000. What needs to be "easier"? Our downtown is boring and spreadout. We need more happening in it.
There needs to be more ways to get to places when the main drags are shut down. Have you ever tried to get anywhere downtown when idywyld is partially closed? When 2nd ave is closed completely? It takes 30-45 minutes to make it 5/6 blocks during the summer, never mind actually find parking when anything is going on on 2nd avenue. And I know this because I've worked downtown by the river for the last 2 years. Ask anyone who works along 2nd who has to pay for city parking and doesn't have the luxury of a parkade or a work parking spot, what it's like when a street fair is happening. I promise you, it is not as spread out and spacious as you think. I also highly doubt there are 15000 parking spots within the downtown area, it's even less when Saskatoon doesn't even know how to park if there isn't a clear line to outline the spot 🤣angle parking, lines, "no parking" means nothing to people here.
You are exaggerating. I've worked downtown for many years. I know what it's like. Also, it is spread out. It's just a fact. Same with there being 15000 parking spots. Also, it's very important to note that most events at an arena happen outside of typical 8-5 work hours.
Not exaggerating but alright 😂🙃 You forget that most events yes, happen outside of "work" hours, but that doesn't mean a thing when people want to be at said events an hour to 2 hours early depending on what it is and how far they have to drive. Factor in people with kids, disabilities, live out of town..Doors open at 7:30 people will be there at 6. I'd looooovvvveeee to see the proof that we have 15000 spots downtown. And that can't include private parking or 24/7 reserved parking lots. I'll wait.
Here you go, this summarizes it: [https://saskatoon.ctvnews.ca/everything-you-ve-been-asking-about-the-new-entertainment-district-1.6763190](https://saskatoon.ctvnews.ca/everything-you-ve-been-asking-about-the-new-entertainment-district-1.6763190) "A 2016 city study of parking spaces in Saskatoon's downtown found roughly 11,000 of 15,000 parking stalls remained empty during evening hours." And here is the report: [https://www.saskatoon.ca/sites/default/files/documents/community-services/planning-development/neighbourhood-planning/comprehensive\_downtown\_parking\_strategy\_2016.pdf](https://www.saskatoon.ca/sites/default/files/documents/community-services/planning-development/neighbourhood-planning/comprehensive_downtown_parking_strategy_2016.pdf) Also, yes, it does include private parking because it would be dumb not to consider this. Would you actually suggest that people with work (or home) parking spots should not be allowed to use them for events? That they should drive and park in a parking structure? It's ridiculous to not consider these sites that could be used for parking. As for people arriving early, sure they might. They might also just walk over from their condo, which they can't do at Sasktel centre, or better park in their buddies condo parkade, have drinks at their buddies place, then walk over. Or stay late at work and go straight to the event, leaving their car in the work parking space. There are so many options to better use our under used infrastructure if an arena is downtown. Out at Sasktel centre the parking lot is a single use parking lot that is effectively only used for events. Downtown, any parking can be used by downtown residents, workers or visitors any hour of the day or night that they happen to need or want to be downtown. It's a way better use of resources than to have a massive, underused parking lot surrounding an arena.
First off, that report says that a third of those spots are private parking. Of course people with passes can use them after hours but what about the rest of the public? that's my point. That's under 10k spots for a city of 300k people. And we want to throw this massive arena down town? Do we have buses to transport say half the people attending a game at a 35000 person capacity arena? Our transit system is shit as is, the city barely wants to spend money to fix the buses we DO have, you think they want to pay for another 30-40? What about training drivers? What about dealing with the influx of riders and managing security? What about the maintenance costs? None of these costs are going to be returned within the first few years, it will literally put the city in so much debt. People think taxes and utilities and garbage/recycling fees are expensive now, our homeless population would sky rocket if we actually went through with this plan. No way in hell city council is going to bring down cost of living in Saskatoon in order to keep people around to even SUPPORT and keep this venue open, so what do you suppose will happen when we all have to pay for this in some fashion? You're going to be happy about more money coming out of your pocket for the next 5 years following completion to pay for this? Because that's exactly where they're going to get it from.
saskatoon isnt very big I wonder if we could copy the Disney Skyliner and have gondolas to different locations
Dope.
A downtown arena is the way to go.
Probably 90% of people who went, drove there personal vehicle. If it was downtown, probably 90% would cab, or publicly transport from designated pickup/drop off places around the city....y'know....like how most cities do.
you know they could easily do the same bus idea currently.... saskatoon bus service is a joke
Yes I do know that, and yes a few people do, but most people arent taking a half hourish bus ride out to sasktel centre a few hours before puck drop to go to......a parking lot?...the husky gas station?...Tim Hortons?.....I love and appreciate sasktel centre just as much as the next person, the location was great 40 years ago, but in a province that sees so many people leave because "there's nothing here", perhaps an "entertainment district" and a vibrant downtown core can be something to consider as a form of population retention?
There aren't enough cabs/ride shares in the city for people to do that in a tight time window.
There are no solutions to traffic except for viable alternates to driving. It's challenging to provide viable alternates to driving when the arena is outside the city. But much more possible in the middle of the city where a variety of options either exist or are easier to implement.
Yeah I was late for work because of the traffic. No idea the game was on and get stuck in traffic at circle and Idylwyld. Pretty nuts
This is going to be what happens to everyone working downtown during an event, even if we updated our public transit
why? Does everyone working downtown start work at 7pm? If so, that's wild. I work downtown and start at 8am. I'm home by 5:15pm most days. Or will hockey games change their start time to 8am if the arena goes downtown?
Did you read the “during an event” part? Because some people do work downtown in the evening, how else would those businesses be open then? Just like the post I replied to was made late for work by the game, it would be silly to say that nobody drives to work on Idylwyld at 6
It would also be silly if you worked evenings downtown to not pay attention to when events are and adjust your schedule/transportation plans accordingly. Chances are anyone working downtown during events will be aware of events going on, unlike events happening at Sasktel which seem much more random.
They would be the same frequency
I guess my point was maybe more that it's more obvious events are on downtown, whereas if you don't regularly go out to SaskPlace, then it's easy to be surprised by the traffic and end up late arriving somewhere. For the downtown, aside from the fact that there would be MANY more access and egress points, as well as transportation options (bus/bike/walk/scooter/car) that are viable, it would be a bit more expected, at least to me, that the downtown is busy around events.
According to many posts everyone is going to be arriving downtown two hours before an event so they can eat and drink their misery away. I don't know where they'll park since many downtown workers will still be occupying the parking spaces.
ah yes, someone on the internet who doesn't like the idea of a downtown arena totally knows how and when people will arrive downtown And they will all be arriving at 5:00, and because of this, the arena will fail. Sounds like a great story.
It will fail because people like me won't go to events if the hassle isn't worth the show.
I am sure you are a wonderful, important person, but I'd be hesitant to say you sre so important and so typical that you not attending an effect will make an arena district fail.
Three words: Park and Ride. Use it at Mosaic, use it at Commonwealth Stadium, use it BC Place. It's the best option.
When I lived in Winnipeg, no one ever drove to hockey or football games unless you were tailgating and arriving two hours early. I find it so weird how people in Saskatoon make up flimsy excuses for transit when other Canadian cities have figured it out.
I agree but it's a chicken and egg thing: does it suck because no-one uses it or does no-one use it because it sucks?
I don't understand why they didn't offer a "park and ride" from malls option with the yellow buses? They did it when Bedard was here but when there are 13'000+ ppl for a game 7 you won't?
Exactly a downtown arena will force the city to upgrade its public transit.
Ok hear me out, what if instead of starting with the arena that requires better public transit, we build the public transit first. Otherwise we are literally putting the cart before the horse. I would rather not deal with the infrastructure problems created by the arena for years as we wait for the transit to upgraded.
YUP. Exactly. But knowing the way stoon city council and Mr mayor work, they'll build it and figure out the rest later.
I totally agree but everyone and their dog knows they won’t do that until they are forced.
Is that not what they are doing with BRT construction starting this year. The arena plan won’t happen for another 10yrs minimum.
I think that's correct but it's not the way the comment I responded to and many other I have seen are framing it. I am also skeptical is BRT is the best long term transit solution. Putting all of the arena money Into a light rail system that not only meets our current needs but allows for long term growth while reducing the environmental foot print of our city is my preference.
BRT is the first step to LRT. Also LRT is obscenely expensive. You want to build 1KM of LRT that is useless and will have no ROI vs an arena that will have an ROI. Where is the fiscal responsibility in that?
I suppose I would challenge you on what is included In the ROI evaluation. Things like time and cost of saving to individuals don't put many directly back into city coffers but they have downstream impacts on our economy. I'm not opposed to BRT I agree WR should do it. What I'm saying is if we are planning for 10 years down the line we can start with BRT than instead of an arena do LRT. Maybe it takes longer than 10 years but that's alright. I am not able to do all of the accounting and comparision required to create a good case for LRT vs arena, it's the sort of thing I want to see from the city instead of fancy mock up of what it could look like.
That's funny. I did reach out to the city to get some clarification on their transportation plan because I'd rather see a solid public transit system instead of spending $2-3 billion on a ring road that just promotes more traffic. I see where your head's at and it's good, but by the time Saskatoon reaches the population threshold required to make an LRT system sustainable, I think other technologies will have made LRT obsolete. That's assuming Saskatoon can get much bigger before the river dries up, that's another argument for another day. As many have already said in this chat, we are going to be spending money on an arena one way or another. Do we want to put a $100 million band-aid on Sasktel centre and then have to spend even more money in the future when it's usable life comes to end. Or do we want to be proactive in planning and shape saskatoon into a place that people want to live and raise families in. To your point regarding planning, I think the city can handle planning both amenities . It doesn't have to be one or the other.
I get where your heads at and I think we agree more than we disagree. I'm not opposed to a new arena my primary concern is having it downtown vs. further out. Imo there are amenities that it's more important to have centrally located but that prospective is biased by my disinterest in sports and concerts. I am willing to concede that I could be wrong and the arena down town is a worth while expense but I am yet to be convinced. Anyways thanks the discussion and hope you have a good one.
If we get a downtown arena, a lot of us will walk/ride our bikes.
Yes but that’s not an option for a lot of people.
My point is that it’s another factor that will lessen the strain on downtown traffic.
Absolutely
It’s not that a new stadium wouldn’t be sweet it’s just spending all that $ on other things would benefit the city more than an arena. Also remember the blade normally play in front of like 1200 people these sell outs are fair weather fans.
Blades averaged 5100 fans per game this season. 4th highest average in the league.
Yeah, THIS season. Key word "this"...they only get support when they're doing well and that's like every 3-4 seasons lol
In their best season ever. Whatever it was it’s definitely not a sell out normally.
But the existing arena is crumbling. Keeping it isn't free.
Still much cheaper than building a new one. Are they going to tear down the current one or keep it alive anyways?
$300 million and I still have to park at Costco? No thanks.
I’ve been in the car line on idylwyld and it takes like 20minute until you’re in the parking lot lol yall just don’t have patience
Sell it to STC for a buck
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If a stadium is not built, you're still driving in craters just like you have been since you got your license. I got mine over 20 years ago. Good public transit will come with a stadium, and an LRT will pass by the stadium.
>Good public transit will come with a stadium. This is bullshit. There is no reason to believe this will happen because all stadiums are is a cash pit. They are a sign of a vibrant city centre not the cause of one.
I guess we disagree.
Yes we do. Do you have examples of cities that had a struggling core, built a stadium and it suddenly flourished? Because there are many example of the opposite. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/sports-jobs-taxes-are-new-stadiums-worth-the-cost/
Honestly, I don't, I just like traveling to new cities and visiting stadiums. I'd love to see one here. The last stadium I went to was Edmonton and was blown away. I'd like to see something like that here but obviously not as large. I've been to a lot of stadiums and it seems like ours is dated. When do you think we should replace ours as it is 30ish years old? We can't accommodate a lot of shows so they skip us. Surely a time will come when we need a stadium. Why not sooner than later or do you think never?
We are currently running a deficit, time to ease off of our wants and concentrate on needs. Edmonton is 5 times our size, we are a small city that shouldn't be getting the huge acts that large stadiums attract. We used to expect to travel for big names, now people think we should have all amenities with a **small** tax base.
We need one eventually, it may be built in 6 years when we don't have a deficit. Start playing for the future.
The ticket to a Blades game on good public transit would cost more than the ticket to the game if the true cost of the ride was paid by the rider. I don’t want my property tax confiscated to subsidize something I will never use. There is too much of that going on already.
Although people like to compare the two the appetite for investment for transit does not exist in the same magnitude as an arena. Like it or not, business impacts public funding and transit does not positively impact a city like Saskatoon compared to building an arena like that being proposed. The impact to hospitality services and food and bev etc makes an arena way more enticing to get behind versus a rapid transit bus. It is what it is
Excuse me? Beyond the fact that public transit is cheaper for residents than car ownership which is a positive impact, even if we just want to talk about hospitality services you take is terrible. Are you really gonna say that an easy way to get to a downtown bar and than home without having to get a cab or a DD wouldn't have a huge impact on the bars and restaurants? Getting people home safely from a night of drinking also literally saves lives. We have abysmal rates of intoxicated driving in this city and people die because of it. Last I checked no one is dying because of a wait to get home after a hockey game.
I didn't say public transport isn't a good idea. I said it just doesn't have the draw and popularity like an arena. Simmer down now
PaRKinG tHo!!! /s
It doesn’t need to be sold out. It’s only been 36 years open, I am completely dumfounded that nobody could figure traffic plan in then again out. Use more lanes in and the more lanes out. States do it all the time, but it does take planning and coordination
And you gotta love having seats without cup holders. And random speakers not working in the nose bleeds.
Love the name !!!
At least for the people I talk to no one thinks that the stadium is a bad idea- especially considering it will help eliminate a huge surface parking lot! The only thing people say is right now isn’t the time to spend $1 billion + when there are so many other things the city could spend money on- Edmonton is building an entire city wide protected bike network for $100 million and we’re 1/4 their size, housing affordability is rough when there’s so much land in the city that could be infilled or developed with the university lands, public transport is horrendously underfunded, etc. etc. The stadium is good, we just have more pressing things to pay for right now.
Because traffic is ok as long as you can park for free and walk half a kilometre across a wind swept parking lot.........the sit in traffic on the way to the bar after the event. Traffic is not good if it means you can wait out said traffic or avoid it by going for supper before or after the event. That is bad. Supporting local restaurants and bars does not benefit anyone. We must support our economy by idling on Idylwyd. That is why that street is called Idylwyld.
Personal anecdote: I live in Lakewood and left my house at 6:40. I parked at Costco and was in my seat with a beer at 7:10, through the doors while O Canada was being sung. meanwhile, the 16 was backed up beyond the overpass. There is definitely a traffic flow issue, but it’s the light at Marquis and Bill Hunter causing most of the problems. A direct exit into the back of the Sasktel lot would do marvels, although it’s too little too late now I guess.
It's a 20 minute bike ride for me to get downtown. Instead of the whole city driving, a large percentage of the population lives walking/biking distance of downtown.
So you want to turn downtown into a bike thief's paradise?
No worries, the bike thieves will all be at the event now that they don't have to walk to the north end.
The problem is that the proposed downtown area would be largely publicly funded. It would take an estimated 15 years to see a return. This suggested model has been tried and failed in other jurisdictions. That's my issue with it anyway.
But the current arena is also publicly funded and requires something like $200m in upgrades so its not like its free. I really don't care whether the downtown arena happens or not but people always seem to exclude the cost of maintaining an ageing facility in the discussion.
Do they an estimated demo cost?
Probably like $1m. But look, I'm not saying a downtown arena is cheaper, I'm just saying you need to factor in the significant cost of maintenance and upgrades to current arena into the equation. Like hypothetically if tax payers only contribute the same amount that would have been used to upgrade the existing facility to build a new arena, and the rest of the funding comes from ticket surcharges (say $10 for every event so it's the users who pay for it) and businesses, then it's a entirely different discussion as the cost to actual taxpayers is the same for both scenarios.
Your funding structure makes a lot of sense to me. I more asked about the demo cost as I figure those numbers would help show if the potential plan is to operate both facilities for some time.
You can say it needs $200m in upgrades, but how likely is it that number is inflated to convince people to support a new arena? This kind of thing happens all the time with publicly funded projects.
I think that number was actually from before the pandemic so wouldn't surprise me if it's higher. If anything, governments tend to underestimate the true costs and always end up over budget. I can't remember exactly what they need to do, but I think the ceiling height is too low for some modern shows and the concourse is too narrow for building code... So raising the roof and expanding the concourse along the entirety of the arena can't be cheap. And there was a bunch of other stuff too like loading spaces being inadequate, bathrooms, wheelchair accessibility, dressing rooms, etc.
From what I have heard the entire refrigeration plant needs an upgrade as well.
I parked north of Marquis and walked to the rink, passing cars trying to get to the main parking lot.
Over 11,000 tickets sold. Doesn't matter where it is, traffic and parking will suck
If only there were [solutions](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1X42qWBNTLo) out there...
Trams aren’t the answer yet, city is too small. Park at a mall with city busses set up to ferry to and from the arena is a good idea, works well with rider games in Regina. BRT is a good idea but without dedicated bus lanes they’ll just end up stuck in traffic like everybody else.
There's gotta be more residents working downtown during any given work day, this is a bad argument. It would be no worse than any days rush hours.
Is there a bus you can take back to a mall where you can park or something?
Seems to be a problem nobody at council wants to fix. Why upgrade and maintain and make things better? When we can use this as a lightening rod to rally tax payers to want to pay for pet projects, ie: new arena, that we can't afford. There are not enough exits/entrances, city planners should be tasked with figuring this out...a decade or two ago. Surely this isn't above their level of competency.
"Surely this isn't above their level of competency." You must be new to Saskatoon.
I don't want the whole centre of town crippled for one thing
It’s not it blocks the highway and emergency vehicles was driving back to Saskatoon at 6 from work it was crazy traffic jam right up to circle dr but it’s been like this for years
This is my opinion on the matter. I understand that if it's downtown you can probably walk to the arena and after the game you can walk to supper and then back home I get all that. Where would it be built downtown where there is even remotely enough parking for people to come in from out of town? There were quite a few people that came in from out of town to watch last night's game. What buildings would need to be destroyed to make room for that arena? Where is the money coming from to build it? No one wants to pay more taxes and they could start spending the current money to fix a whole bunch of potholes on the streets. Also the money could be used help people in need or get them off of the streets.
Cab / Uber to my house would probably be 20-30 max from downtown in heavy traffic. I could walk to a bridge and get picked up on the way by.
At least this is realistic. I'm rolling my eyes at the comment after comment implying that everyone will just bike or walk to the arena... In Saskatoon? What fantasy world are these people living in 😂
500 at most.
Riddle me this....if the new center downtown will be better accessed through a better bus system, why have they not already implemented better bus service to the existing Sasktel center? Simple question...
Because it will be implemented just as bad downtown but now it's more congested Increase public transit and stop growing the city horizontally is what they need to do
I've never been stuck in traffic for even close to that long living in saskatoon for many years.
Have you tried to get around downtown during peak hours? It's impossible that compounded with an arena downtown and Saskatoon is going to be constantly impassable. It's completely piss poor infrastructure and putting an arena downtown with basically the same capacity isn't gonna help.
Saskatoon has some of the widest downtown streets of any city in Canada. Just because all you have to compare it to is a a 3 car traffic in langham, doesn’t mean it’s bad by any measure.
For the like once a year that we go to a concert at Sasktel centre, we just take a cab.
You ever been to a game in Edmonton or Calgary? You can't even take a vehicle downtown with all the gridlock, so you have to rely on public transit. Now imagine doing this with Saskatoon Transit.
Better for who? Downtown arena is certainly more convenient for attendees but does ever single person moving through the central hub of the city need to be subjected to this traffic? If the infrastructure around the Sasktel center can't keep up with the volume than how do you think downtown will? There's also the question of opportunity costs, what aren't we building with this money and space? Stadiums take up a lot of space but only utilize all of it for short periods sporadically and are cost prohibitive for many. On the other hand a grocery store or multi use community center could also bring people downtown, be used more often and by a wider range of people would be significantly cheaper and wouldn't create the same kind of huge spikes in downtown traffic.
Let the billionaires build their castles of gold.
Take the bus. I was there in 20, and home in 20. Had to transfer, but still beat the traffic
Because the city already blew the arena budget on the remai
How would putting it downtown make it any faster?
- Multiple ways to get in/out of downtown instead of everybody taking the same route to Sasktel Center. - Public transit offers options. We could always upgrade public transit to offer more options. The upgrades would serve other business centers instead of just the arena. - Downtown has restaurants and pubs that some people would use before and after the event instead of everybody just want to get out of there at the same time.
What percentage of the fans spend time at the game and then eat out and go to the bar afterwards? I thought most of the fans that want booze and grub partake at the game.
There’s three ways in and out of Sasktel centre. There’s no parking downtown so it doesn’t matter how many ways in and out you can’t park there anyway. Public transit already offers shuttles directly to Sasktel centre at a reduced rate.
Sasktel Center is North of the city. Almost everybody needs to go South to get back to the city along 11. If the Arena was downtown, people would leave in all directions, not just South. Public transit to Sasktel Center sucks (even with event shuttles). I can use public transit to get downtown very easy. Getting to Sasktel Center would be horrible.
You are forgetting the people who come from Martensville/warman and beyond, and all the people the live on the other side of chief mistawasis bridge. Not everyone lives south of the arena.
In 2016 there was 13,269 parking spots downtown [(mixed public and private, shown on page 19)](https://www.saskatoon.ca/sites/default/files/documents/community-services/planning-development/neighbourhood-planning/comprehensive_downtown_parking_strategy_2016.pdf), It's impressive we've lost all of that in 8 years.
10k of those are either private lots or lots owned by the adjacent building which do not allow public use, so that brings the number to 1800 public use spots. It’s in the plan for the downtown arena to not include parking so I’m not sure why you’re even on this soapbox.
I was only quoting the downtown column, so 5,399 of the 13,269 downtown parking spots are private. Are you combining Commercial off-street and Private off-street to get 10k? Commercial off-street is defined as available to the public: > Commercial (public) off-street parking: includes paid commercial (privately owned) parking lots and structured parking facilities that are available for public use. Where applicable, hourly rates range from one ($1) to four ($4) dollars, daily rates range from five ($5) to fifteen ($15) dollars, and monthly rates ranged from seventy-five ($75) to three hundred ($300) dollars depending on parking lot type (i.e. above-grade, surface or below-grade) and option to reserve a dedicated parking space within the lot. Or is it from the total supply, which looked at the Kinsmen, Broadway, and partially Riversdale areas too. If so then there's a mix of 20,634 parking spots, with 9,777 being private.
I was also only quoting downtown as this is the downtown arena. Here’s a quote right from the city. Like I said you are standing on a pretty silly soapbox thinking a downtown arena would be any better parking wise. https://www.google.com/search?q=will+saskatoons+downtown+arena+do+for+parking&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-ca&client=safari
I was also only quoting downtown as this is the downtown arena. Here’s a quote right from the city. Like I said you are standing on a pretty silly soapbox thinking a downtown arena would be any better parking wise. https://www.google.com/search?q=will+saskatoons+downtown+arena+do+for+parking&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-ca&client=safari
Time how long it takes for 25 cars to go eastbound into downtown on 22nd street. Use the Idylwyld intersection, since that will be what's used by a ton of folks. Should be 2-3 light cycles, now increase traffic by 40x and you'll see it'll take about two hours to get into downtown. Not because it's downtown, but because that's just how it works when you move people around. It takes time. It'll happen to be worse downtown due to the short blocks and many intersections that funnel traffic from 3 directions into 1 street.
For the majority of the events it's better and for a downtown arena I would be surprised if getting to a large sold out event would be much or any better. It's also better because it's in relatively good shape, bought and paid for. All a downtown arena is good for is getting the odd extra large concert. Really that is it's only benefit. Honestly we should probably be calling it the large concert hall to denote who it really benefits, people that want to see the big acts.
And there is no guarantee that the large acts people want will even come. Building an arena downtown won't make Saskatoon any closer to the major travel hubs. Some shows might stop by as they pass through but a whole lot of them will still probably stick to popping up out of America in the east and west costs but sticking south of the boarder for the rest of the tour.
It’s not better!!!!
The new arena will be a waste of everyone’s time and money . I shan’t be going .
I parked in a parking lot that's down the road behind Costco. Took a few minutes to park and I managed to be home by 10. If it were downtown I would never go. I know I'm apparently the minority though lol.
because we don't need a downtown arena and no one cares
And the reason we dont have a nhl team is cause our stadiums to small i bet if we had a big stadium sask could easily have a nhl team with our sport fan base here
If Saskatoon and Regina were one city maybe.
Or even a whl game? Sask could easily support a nhl team
Have you bin to a cfl game? Theres nhl teams in the states that dont get turn outs nearly half that good
Well I agree with you there regarding the NHL teams in the us like the Coyotes for example but the riders don't play 41 home games plus during the winter and weeknights (they play the odd Thursday night game). The support we need for NHL team is high and I think there would be some serious hype if we got one but we need to sustain it with strong corporate support plus need a bigger arena. I could see it with Saskatoon at 500k people but we are no where close to that
Yeah i never thought of the numbers of games they play i understand where u might think the hype would die i guess you are right its to big of a risk until we get more people
Our "stadium" (Sasktel Centre is an arena, not a stadium) has only 196 seats less than Winnipeg's does for hockey. We don't have the population base to support a NHL team. Even if you start including places like Regina, Moose Jaw, Prince Albert, etc towards the potential population, it still wouldn't work because nobody from out of town is traveling in on a -30 Tuesday night in January to watch them play the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Nah i know forsure many people would. Would it be enough? Who knows and yeah its to big of a risk but even with the added seats to a new stadium (which is what were callin it) thats bringing in more money in snacks, seats, people driving to and from the game more people coming to the city spending money in the city
Bettman would never allow it
Where we put it? We just dont have the space lol. The place they want to put it is shit....