YORKTON, Sask. — Yorkton city council has approved the renaming of Watson Trail to Mayhew Avenue, a change administration says will improve navigation and reduce potential confusion for emergency responders in a growing area of the city.
Council adopted administration's recommendation on Oct. 19, changing the name of the undeveloped roadway in the York Landing subdivision and reserving the Watson name for future use within the neighbourhood.
The roadway, which has already been legally subdivided but has not yet been constructed, is intended to serve as a continuation of Mayhew Avenue north of York Road East.
According to a report presented to council, the name change has been a long-standing priority for the planning department and gained urgency following the city's recent acquisition of a tax title property in the area.
Mayor Aaron Kienle said the change is intended to simplify wayfinding by creating a continuous street name through the area.
"For the people at home to understand this, certainly it's Lawrence that comes when you're kind of in that Walmart area and then you cross over Broadway and all of a sudden you're on Mayhew, which is the street most people know," Kienle said.
"Mayhew then will travel all the way along and eventually ends in a dead end, as it is right now, where there's a bit of a trail. Then if you go past to the York Landing area, there is an area that becomes Watson Trail."
Kienle said extending the Mayhew name through the future development will provide continuity for residents and visitors.
"The idea behind this is just to keep Mayhew continuing right through for continuity on street addresses and those types of things, so it's not confusing for people," he said.
Administration echoed those concerns in its report, noting the existing arrangement could create confusion because the roadway corridor already changes names at Broadway Street, where Mayhew Avenue becomes Lawrence Avenue. Retaining the Watson Trail name would have resulted in a single route carrying three separate names.
"The reason for the proposed change is for navigational purposes only," the report stated, noting that a continuous street name would improve wayfinding and reduce unnecessary risks for emergency response services.
The York Landing subdivision, formerly known as York Colony, commemorates the original settlement that eventually became Yorkton. The area honours people connected to the community's early history and development.
Watson Trail was named after Major Thomas Charles Watson, a British Army veteran who oversaw the Yorkton Home Guard on behalf of the Canadian government during the North-West Resistance.
Kienle noted that the Watson name will not disappear from the city's street inventory.
"Watson Trail, as was identified, is named after a veteran, and we will be looking to reuse that name on future development," he said.
Administration noted the name Watson is not being eliminated and will instead be retained for a future civic property or street within a later phase of the York Landing development.
Mayhew Avenue was named in 1975 in honour of Kenneth M. Mayhew, one of the final editors of the Yorkton Enterprise before the newspaper was sold to the Thomson newspaper chain in the 1980s.
The report concluded there was no apparent reason to discontinue the Mayhew name and recommended extending it to the future roadway for continuity.
The administrative costs associated with the renaming are expected to be minimal, with the Saskatchewan Land Registry charging an estimated fee of between $125 and $250 for the required changes.
