SaskatoonSaskatoon city council voted unanimously at a special meeting Tuesday to ask CN Rail to stop blowing train whistles once a legal crossing with bells, flashing lights and gates opens in north Saskatoon.New pedestrian/cyclist railway crossing near Warman Road nearly completePhil Tank · CBC News · Posted: Nov 04, 2025 6:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 3 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesA special Saskatoon city council meeting was held Tuesday to consider a request to stop the whistles from CN trains at Saskatoon’s first pedestrian/cyclist railway crossing. (Peter Power/The Canadian Press)Pedestrians and cyclists in north Saskatoon will need to wait a little longer for a legal way to cross CN Rail train tracks.Saskatoon city council voted unanimously at a special meeting Tuesday to ask CN Rail to stop blowing train whistles once a legal crossing with bells, flashing lights and gates is opened.The city’s director of transportation Jay Magus told council that Saskatoon’s first pedestrian/cyclist railway crossing could be complete as early as next week. But the city has negotiated with CN Rail to delay the opening until CN Rail and Transport Canada agree to stop blowing train whistles at the crossing.Had the crossing opened without the whistle prohibition, trains are required by law to blow whistles of at least 96 decibels as they approach such crossings.The crossing was built to address illegal traversing of the railway tracks as seen in well-worn dirt paths leading to the tracks that run parallel to Warman Road.Coun. Randy Donauer, who represents the nearby neighbourhoods of River Heights and Richmond Heights, said Monday he wanted to delay the opening of the crossing, despite the long time it took to get it installed.“[Warning whistles] will wake people, like thousands of people, up in the night when those trains are going through,” Donauer said in an interview.Transport Canada rules require trains to blow whistles of at least 96 decibels within 400 metres of ground-level pedestrian crossings and continue until the engine reaches the crossing or whenever a person is spotted on or near train tracks.Magus told Donauer Tuesday that approval to stop the mandatory whistles takes about three to four weeks.Donauer said Monday he wanted to delay the opening to avoid a barrage of whistles right next to residential neighbourhoods anytime a train approached the crossing.“I’d like to get the crossing open, but at this point, I’d rather wait another couple weeks until we have the whistle cessation order before we open the crossing legally,” he said.Saskatoon Coun. Randy Donauer, shown in a file photo, says he’s concerned that CN Rail trains will begin blasting train whistles next to residential neighbourhoods when a new pedestrian/cyclist railway crossing opens. (Guy Quenneville/CBC)The crossing, which would be the first of its kind in Saskatoon for pedestrians and cyclists only, was established to solve the lack of any sort of pedestrian/cyclist crossing of the CN tracks just west of Warman Road from 33rd Street East to 51st Street — a stretch of 3.5 kilometres.The crossing is located along Warman Road between Assiniboine Drive on the east side of the railway and 43rd Street East on the west side. It will provide a legal connection for people in the residential neighbourhoods on the east side of the tracks to the North Industrial area on the west side.Donauer said a similar issue arose when Marquis Drive was extended to connect to the Chief Mistawasis Bridge in 2018. Train whistles started to be blown approaching that crossing, he recalled.The whistles were “very intrusive” to residents in Donauer’s ward, he said, even though that location is nearly a kilometre from the nearest residential neighbourhood. Council got the whistles stopped at that location.The issues along the stretch where the crossing will be located began when CN began to express concern about the number of people crossing the tracks. Donauer first asked city administration for a solution to the lack of a pedestrian/cyclist rail crossing in early 2018.Council approved $500,000 to build the crossing in 2019, but the cost rose by more than $1.1 million to $1.65 million by 2023. Council approved the money for the higher amount last year.To meet Transport Canada’s standards to agree to stop train whistles, the crossing will include a gate, bells, flashing lights and fencing.In June, council unanimously backed asking for train whistles to stop where Canadian Pacific Kansas City Southern Railway tracks cross Highway 7, just west of Saskatoon’s Parkridge neighbourhood.
Saskatoon delays opening pedestrian railway crossing until whistles halted
