An ex-mayor has dipped his wheel in the stormy waters of Saskatoon bike lanes.

Henry Dayday is not only calling for the City of Saskatoon to rethink its plan to devote part of the busy Idylwyld Drive thoroughfare to bike lanes or raised bike platforms, he also wants the voters to decide the issue during the 2020 municipal election.

"Yes, a plescibite. I say let the people vote on whether they want to spend the money on bike lanes," said Dayday Thursday.

"If everybody's in agreement, I have no trouble at all."

Read Dayday's letter to city council here

Worried about cost, impact on other vehicles

Dayday, 78, said his beef isn't with bike lanes in general or the city's plan for a four-street downtown bike network. He just doesn't think Idylwyld Drive — from 20th Street to 25th Street — is the right fit for the network's western boundary.

The city's recommended layout would see traffic on Idylwyld reduced in both directions to two continuous car lanes (from three) to make room for bike paths and protective barriers.

This is the city's preferred configuration for the reimagined Idylwyld Drive. It would reduce the number of continuous car lanes to two from three. (City of Saskatoon)

The plan would align with major renovations to Midtown Plaza, which faces that part of Idylwyld.

"We are supportive of this design," said Terry Napper, the mall manager.

Dayday is not.

"We're taking one of the busiest streets in the city, which is Idylwyld, and then we're going to take out one of the lanes to put in bicycles," he said.

"It's eliminating the opportunity for other traffic to go through there, which is often emergency traffic such as police and fire and ambulance. This is of a concern to me."

Costs unknown

Dayday is also worried about the cost of bikes lanes, although the city has yet to present a budget for the downtown bike network.

Locations for that network have yet to be pinned down. City council expected to address the network — along with the routes for the bus rapid transit system (BRT) — in October.

A final decision on routes for both the bike network and the BRT is expected early in the new year.

Dayday, who served as mayor from 1988 and 2000 and who pulled out of the 2016 election that saw Charlie Clark elected as mayor, said he hasn't talked to Clark or any businesses on Idylwyld Drive about his ideas.

The bike lanes on Idylwyld, seen here in green, would run from 20th Street to 25th Street. (City of Saskatoon)

Cathy Watts, a member of biking advocacy group Saskatoon Cycles, disagreed with the former mayor.

"Sometimes you just need people to lead instead of putting it to a people's vote," she said.

"I just don't understand people's opposition to bike lanes sometimes."