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The City of Saskatoon is turning to the public for ideas on how to improve winter mobility on streets and sidewalks through a new survey that includes a focused effort to ensure newcomers have their say.

Brandon Harris, the city’s director of roadways and operations, announced the launch of the Better Winter Roads Survey on Wednesday. He said it will be available in Mandarin and Arabic as well as French and English.

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In the past, some residents haven’t been able to participate in civic surveys due to language barriers, Harris said, adding the addition of two more languages will allow city staff “to find out the unique needs of different groups in the city, including new Canadians.”

The “citizen-centered” approach is key as the city tries to meet the mobility needs of a growing population, Harris said, calling the project the most culturally-diverse accessible survey in the city’s history.

While people can use it to provide feedback on how the city’s winter road maintenance program has operated so far, the main goal is to get insight into aspects they feel may have been missed, are under-represented or could be performed in a different way, he said.

People can fill out the survey at saskatoon.ca/snow or complete digital versions of it at Prairieland Park during the Homestyles Show, which runs from March 9 to 12, and Gardenscape, which runs from March 24 to 26.

mmodjeski@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/MorganM_SP