Saskatoon Saskatchewan - It's not just time that's slipping away while motorists are waiting in cars at railway crossings, according to the Saskatoon Regional Economic Development Authority (SREDA).
 
The city area loses $2.5 million dollars of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per year as carriages rattle past railway crossings, according to SREDA analysis.
 
"The lost GDP is due to lost labour productivity to businesses in the Saskatoon region as a result of traffic delays at nine rail crossings," said president Alex Fallon in a news release.
 
The finding is included in a City of Saskatoon report into railway improvements, which will be considered by the Standing Policy Committee on Transportation on 14 Nov 2016.
 
Move or Improve
 
CN Rail has already made modifications to its rail lines to minimize delays in the city's southwest.
 
An upcoming feasibility study will also investigate the costs and benefits of relocating the CP mainline, and possibly the rail yard, compared with upgrading priority railway crossings.
 
It will be up to city council to decide which route to take.
 
The first phase of the feasibility study will be completed in 2017 and will be presented to the Standing Policy Committee on Transportation in early 2018.
 
Funding to explore railway relocation will be part of budget discussions beginning at the end of November.
 
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