Saskatoon council shelved bike corridor on street where cyclist later killed by cement truck

Almost a decade before a 33-year-old Saskatoon cyclist was killed at the corner of a busy Saskatoon street, city council deferred the construction of a cycling corridor that would have run through that intersection.

Natasha Fox, 33, was hit by a cement truck at the intersection of Wiggins Avenue and College Drive, in front of the University of Saskatchewan, at about 4 p.m. CST on May 24. She was declared dead at the scene.

It was rush hour on College Drive, one of the city's busiest stretches.

Both the University of Saskatchewan and City of Saskatoon have previously considered a bike path at that intersection.

Daniel Fuller, an associate professor with community health at the University of Saskatchewan and a cycling researcher, said he was sad to hear of Fox's death, but not surprised to hear something had happened at that location.

"This intersection has been one that's been identified as one of the busiest in the city, so there's obviously a lot of things we can change," Fuller said in a recent interview, as vehicles clogged College Drive's westbound lanes nearby.

The Saskatoon Police Service said in an emailed statement that it had no updates to the investigation into the crash. 

The last update police offered said the truck driver isn't facing charges and none are expected, but that the investigation into the crash is ongoing.

A report included in a January 2014 city council agenda had a recommendation from city administrators to develop Wiggins Avenue into a cycling corridor to improve access to the university. This was in response to calls to connect the city's southern neighbourhoods with the U of S.

In the corresponding council meeting, now-Mayor Charlie Clark — a city councillor at the time — put forward a motion to defer the Wiggins Avenue retrofit and use the money for other areas of cycling.

Council was spurred by a petition from a local cycling group asking separated bike lanes be built downtown.

"The sort of feeling at the time was if we're going to try and do something for cycling, we should do something in the more high-profile area of the downtown," Mayor Clark said Wednesday.

The Wiggins cycling corridor gradually made its way to the bottom of the pile of potential city developments as other roads were considered for bike infrastructure.

"Wiggins is clearly a real pressure point, and so I don't have a good explanation except for what I described for how the focal point was taken off of there," Clark said.