Yellowknife has a new transportation plan for the next quarter century

Yellowknife city councillors have passed a transportation plan intended to guide how people move around the city over the next 25 years.

The 389-page plan outlines strategies and actions to improve transportation in the city, from implementing a truck route bylaw to increasing the frequency of public transit.

All councillors at a City Hall meeting on Wednesday voted in favour of the plan save for Tom McLennan. He said while the plan has positive aspects, he does not believe it achieves its primary objectives.

“It reads to me more like a library of ideas rather than a clear plan of what is to come,” he said.

McLennan said the document lacks clarity, leaves hard work to staff and would require more spending on consultants before projects could move forward. He said that does not provide value for residents, pointing out the plan itself cost $300,000.

More broadly, at the close of the meeting – the last of the current council as the municipal election approaches – McLennan implored the city and future councillors to reduce or eliminate the use of southern consultants and instead focus on trying solutions.

“The millions of dollars spent to produce plans, strategies and reports over the last decade or more has resulted in startlingly little practical impact for residents,” he said.

McLennan argued that existing documents and artificial intelligence tools mean future reports, studies and strategies are unnecessary. He added that without resources for implementation, plans are just “an expensive research project.”

Like McLennan, deputy mayor Rob Warburton said he was tired of high-level documents lacking the detail needed to get work done. He said he would “begrudgingly” support the transportation plan as there was “still a lot of good meat on this bone.”

Councillors Ryan Fequet and Steve Payne said they supported the plan as it is council’s job to set high-level direction for the city.

“We spend a lot of time in the weeds and I think that’s why things take so long to get done in this city,” Payne said. “We’re a small town and we need to start acting like it, so let admin take care of the weedy things and let’s us just set direction.”

Mayor Ben Hendriksen said “nothing’s perfect” but added he was proud the transportation plan will be a living document that can be amended over time rather than becoming stale.