New bridge, old name: Traffic Bridge name stays
City passes on renaming rebuilt span to honour reconciliation
Saskatoon city council voted to keep the name Traffic Bridge on the rebuilt river span, but kept open the possibility of a separate name for its walkways.
For Coun. Darren Hill, that represented a partial victory after he spoke strongly Tuesday in favour of keeping the bridge name, rather than considering a request to rename the bridge in honour of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.
Hill noted the 1907 structure first earned the name as the city’s first bridge for pedestrians and vehicles; council applied the name officially in 2007.
The bridge was condemned in 2010 and then rebuilt with a similar design but one fewer span. It’s expected to reopen in October along with a new north bridge.
“I’m just trying to protect the name that was established two separate times in our history,” Hill said.
Hill wanted the walkways to be included when council voted to keep the Traffic Bridge name, but that idea was defeated in a 7-3 vote.
The matter arose for debate at council’s governance and priorities committee after an elementary class at Victoria School and the Central Urban Metis Federation Inc. requested the name be changed to the TRC Bridge after the federal Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
The commission was tasked with addressing the painful legacy of residential schools.
Coun. Ann Iwanchuk clarified that the naming advisory committee on which she serves had not requested a name change, but had referred the request of others to Tuesday’s council committee for consideration.
Iwanchuk did question the name Traffic Bridge, given that all bridges now carry traffic.
“Is the name relevant in this day and age?” she asked. “Maybe it was in 1907.”
Hill got unanimous support for a motion to place interpretative storytelling information explaining the Traffic Bridge name on the structure.
Mayor Charlie Clark said he supports keeping the Traffic Bridge name, but wants the possibility of a different name for the two flanking walkways. The original bridge had one narrow walkway on the west side.
Coun. Cynthia Block, in whose ward the Traffic Bridge is located, voted alone against reaffirming the name. Block said she wanted to explore gathering input from residents before the new bridge opens in the fall.
Block praised the students who put forward the proposed new name.
Coun. Hilary Gough also pointed out that the bridge scheduled to open in the fall will be a new span.
“Frankly, I think there’s a debate on whether this is a renaming or a naming,” Gough said.
Coun. Bev Dubois wondered about voting to reaffirm the existing Traffic Bridge name: “It makes us look kind of crazy here,” she said.
Clark, Dubois and Hill were on city council in 2007 when the Traffic Bridge name was formally applied.