The downtown bike lane issue has polarized Saskatoon residents for several years and continues to polarize City Council.

After considerable debate on Monday night, council endorsed the recommended plan for a Downtown Transportation Network by a 6-5 margin.

Council has also called for a new round of consultation with all stakeholders on how to design the bike lanes and sidewalks for pedestrians.

Councillor Troy Davies is among those who feel it’s premature to decide where to have the bike lanes and sidewalk improvements until the locations of major projects like the library and proposed arena are known.

Councillor Mairin Loewen says 1st Avenue was a unanimous decision for downtown Bus Rapid Transit without having those answers and feels you can’t move ahead with meaningful consultation or design work without knowing where it’s going.

Council voted 6-4 in favour of retaining the bike lane pilot project on 4th Avenue in November 2017 pending the outcome of the downtown transportation network study.

The feeling around the council table is the pilot project was ill advised and has sparked a lot of the anger around the community surrounding bike lanes.

The plan moving forward includes tearing out the 4th Avenue bike lanes by the end of June.

Administration has estimated that would cost 35-thousand dollars and the transportation network would come with a 3.7 million dollar price tag.

Council wants detailed capital and design costs as the project progresses.