Regina unveils transportation and parking plan for new Mosaic Stadium

The City of Regina held an open house on Tuesday night to unveil its transportation and parking plan for Saskatchewan Roughriders games and event days at the new Mosaic Stadium.

They are pushing mass transit.

Hoping to avoid traffic congestion, they want fans to change their travel habits on game days, such as using the Football Express bus service, which will be free starting this weekend.

"It's going to allow moving more people, less vehicular traffic, less congestion on the street surrounding the stadium," said Kim Onrait, the executive director of city services and the executive lead for Regina's revitalization plan.

"It will bring people to the front door of the stadium and actually pick them up at the front door of the stadium."

But for less traffic congestion around the stadium, one area resident believes the cost will be a major inconvenience for the neighbourhood on event days.

The resident, who wishes not to be identified, said she is bitter over a lack of communication from the city, and Tuesday's open house did little to alleviate her concerns.

She's been told her area will be closed to traffic on event days. The permit she has now, allowing her to park in front of her own home during Rider games, will cease to exist after this season.

She said it will be chaos for her and her neighbours.

"Game day, or as they would put it 'event day', no parking, unable to come and go to my house when I need to or when I want to. I will be restricted to my house or I will be restricted to someone else's house, as long as the event is going on," she said.

Onrait confirmed, no special parking permits on stadium area streets on event days is the plan going forward, but added the parking and transportation plan will evolve over time.

"One of the things that we're able to do is have the test events to put our plans into action and see what the response is and how residents respond, how much congestion it creates, and then develop a new plan as we move forward." 

The first test event will be a CIS game on Oct. 1 when the University of Regina Rams host the University of Saskatchewan Huskies at 50 per cent of the new stadium's capacity.

Onrait said, in the meantime, work will continue outside the stadium through next spring, as well as construction in the stadium itself in the upper bowl and concession stands.

The second test event will be 75 per cent capacity, which is tentatively scheduled for May 2017.

What that event will be has yet to be announced.