What’s in a name? Saskatoon’s Traffic Bridge still contentious
No sign of extensive consultation during naming process in city records
Glen Penner plans to attend the official reopening of Saskatoon’s oldest bridge this fall, just like his grandparents did when the original was opened in 1907.
The former long-serving city councillor supports calling the new bridge the Traffic Bridge after the original structure that was closed for safety reasons eight years ago on Aug. 24, 2010.
While Penner believes strongly in the Traffic Bridge name to recognize its history, the designation continues to spark debate, including how it was chosen in 2007.
“It’s a new piece of infrastructure placed at the same location, so it should still be the Traffic Bridge,” Penner said in a recent interview.
During a February debate on giving the new bridge the same name as the old one, Coun. Darren Hill insisted the bridge was named officially in 2007 in the wake of “extensive community consultation.”
Hill argued in February against a request from an elementary school class to consider naming the rebuilt bridge to honour Indigenous history in line with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Some councillors pointed out that since the rebuilt Traffic Bridge is a new structure, the previous council resolution to apply the official name Traffic Bridge in 2007 might need reconsideration.
“Quite frankly, I think it’s debatable whether this is renaming or a naming,” Coun. Hilary Gough said in February. “It’s a new structure on an old location and it happens to look the same.”
Coun. Bev Dubois said council sounded “crazy ” for debating what to call a bridge that already had a name.
Hill argued against reconsidering the name, citing “extensive community consultation in 2007.”
Ultimately, council voted in favour of reaffirming the Traffic Bridge name with a lone dissenting vote from Coun. Cynthia Block, who represents the neighbourhoods connected by the bridge: Nutana and downtown.
Against Hill’s objections, council left open the possibility of applying a different name to the walkways on either side of the bridge. Block withdrew a motion to gather public input on the bridge’s name.
“That (public input) process has happened already,” Hill said in February. “It was a great deal of work, a great deal of input.”
But does that accurately reflect the 2007 process for naming the Traffic Bridge? Was there really extensive community consultation?
The official records and the memories of the others serving on council at the time, who were contacted by The Starphoenix over the ensuing months this year, suggest otherwise.
“I don’t have any recollection of that at all,” Penner said of public consultation on the bridge name.
There is no evidence of any widespread community consultation in any of the documents obtained from the City of Saskatoon.
The suggestion that an official name be applied to the bridge appears to have surfaced at a meeting of the municipal heritage advisory committee on Nov. 8, 2006.
That meeting took place several days after the 2006 municipal election in which Hill and Mayor Charlie Clark were elected as councillors for the first time.
No council members attended that advisory committee meeting, according to the official record.
City archivist Jeff O’brien appeared at the meeting to explain the historical significance of the Traffic Bridge. The committee voted to recommend the official name be applied so a ceremony could be held in 2007, the 100-year anniversary of the bridge.
The Traffic Bridge was originally named to distinguish it from the railway bridges that represented the only permanent river crossings in 2007.
Many have questioned the relevance of the name since five other bridges now accommodate vehicle and pedestrian traffic in the city.
Interestingly, the condemned bridge had just reopened to traffic in September 2006 and would close for good in 2010.
The Traffic Bridge naming idea then advanced to the naming advisory committee on Dec. 14, 2006. The second committee, which meets in private, also urged council to back the historic name.
Most residents likely became aware of the idea for the first time when an article appeared in The Starphoenix on Jan. 15, 2007. The matter was to be considered by council’s planning and operations committee the next day, Jan 16.
Clark, who had joined the municipal heritage advisory committee by that point, was quoted in the article saying he would like to hear what the public thinks about the proposed Traffic Bridge name.
“I realize it’s not the most intriguing name,” Clark said in January 2007.
As with the rebuilt bridge, various city documents refer to the 2007 application as an official naming, while others call it a “renaming ” of the Victoria Bridge.
A Starphoenix editorial published on Jan. 18, 2007, questioned the Traffic Bridge name, suggesting Chief Whitecap Bridge instead.
“There should be a measure of public debate before the name is literally carved in stone,” the editorial urged.
Four days later, on Jan. 22, 2007, council voted to approve the name Traffic Bridge. The official record of that council meeting does not mention any public consultation; votes were not recorded at the time.
Former councillor Gord Wyant, now Saskatchewan’s deputy premier, moved the motion and Penner seconded it. A document from O’brien attached to the official report explained the rationale behind the name.
“The only correct name for it ... is simply the ‘Traffic Bridge,’ ” O’brien wrote.
The only person who spoke on the matter, according to the record, was Peggy Sarjeant on behalf of the Saskatoon Historical Society, who supported the Traffic Bridge name.
“I have no memory of any public consultation on the naming of the Traffic Bridge,” Sarjeant said in an email earlier this year.
Penner knows he voted in favour of the name. Former longtime councillor Pat Lorje is pretty sure she voted against it. The Starphoenix contacted nine of the 10 other surviving members of the 2007 council. Moe Neault died in 2011.
Lorje, former mayor Don Atchison and former longtime councillor Myles Heidt all said they preferred the name Victoria Bridge at the time.
As for public consultation, nobody else on council in 2007 remembers it the way Hill does.
“I don’t believe we did any (consultation), but again I’m not 100 per cent sure as that was a long time ago,” Dubois said in a text message.
Wyant, Heidt and former councillor Tiffany Paulsen said they can’t recall any consultation. Wyant and Paulsen added that just because they can’t remember consultation does not mean it didn’t happen.
“But I doubt it,” Paulsen added in an email.
Lorje said she could not recall any public meetings “specifically ” dealing with the bridge, but thinks it may have been discussed in a meeting at Nutana High School.
In an interview, Clark said he recalls “some public discussion and debate,” but could not remember details.
Atchison did not respond to the question. Former councillor Bob Pringle could not be reached.
Those hearing Hill’s version of the naming process could have surmised it was similar to the recent decision to name the new north commuter bridge. That structure was named Chief Mistawasis Bridge after a months-long process that sought community input on how to honour Indigenous heritage with the name.
Public meetings were held and people were invited to offer their opinions online. There’s no reason to believe the 2007 process to name the Traffic Bridge bore any resemblance to that of the new bridge, which will also open in October.
The Starphoenix attempted to contact Hill several times, seeking a more complete explanation.
“‘ Community consultation’ was not the same form as it is today,” Hill said in a text message in April. “I know what I did and what others did.” He has declined to elaborate.
In 2007, it’s likely any controversy over the official name disappeared in the cloud of public fury over council’s approval of decorative lights for the disintegrating bridge, which ballooned over budget to cost $462,000.
The Traffic Bridge is being rebuilt for $41.2 million as part of a $252.6-million mega-project to build two new bridges. The P3 project includes millions in additional costs to maintain both bridges over 30 years.
The original Traffic Bridge survived a collision with a steamship, streetcar derailments and a century of Saskatoon winters, but could not overcome neglect.
The new Traffic Bridge makes its debut in October, with reason to doubt that residents of Saskatoon had adequate input into its controversial name.
It’s a new piece of infrastructure placed at the same location, so it should still be the Traffic Bridge.