‘A VERY LONG TIME COMING’
Getting around Saskatoon is about to get easier. The Chief Mistawasis Bridge opens Oct. 2, followed a day later by the rebuilt traffic bridge.
When Laura Monchuk heads to the Keith Urban concert at SaskTel Centre on Friday, she expects it to be the last time she will have to leave so early.
The Evergreen resident thinks she will be able to leave an hour later the next time, after the new Chief Mistawasis Bridge opens.
The City of Saskatoon announced the new bridge will open for traffic sometime after opening ceremonies that end at noon on Oct. 2.
For the upcoming concert, Monchuk will travel to the Circle Drive North Bridge about three kilometres south of Chief Mistawasis.
“We have to leave very early because it gets very backed up,” she said in an interview.
Monchuk, who is president of the Evergreen Community Association, said others who commute daily from the neighbourhood and other east-side communities will experience a greater quality of life.
The new bridge will open Evergreen to the north end of Saskatoon and make it a more attractive place to live, she said.
“Definitely, it will be a time of celebration for everyone here and all the possibilities that will open up.”
The new six-lane bridge will connect extensions of McOrmond Drive and Central Avenue on the east side of the bridge with Marquis Drive on the west side. Marquis leads to SaskTel Centre.
Ceremonies will be held on the Chief Mistawasis Bridge on the morning of Oct. 2; the focus will then shift to the rebuilt downtown Traffic Bridge. The city plans a noon-hour bridge walk and party there on Oct. 2. The Traffic Bridge is expected to open for traffic on Oct. 3.
The two bridges were built as part of a $497.7-million P3 project — a public-private partnership — that also obligates the contractor, Graham Commuter Partners, to operate and maintain the bridges for three decades. The complex contract compelled the consortium to complete the bridges’ construction by Oct. 1.
Coun. Zach Jeffries, who represents Evergreen and other eastside communities, has driven frequently to check out progress on the bridges during the three years of construction.
“It’s been a very long time coming,” he said on Friday.
The Traffic Bridge closed for good in August 2010 after several years of uncertainty over its structural stability, including a previous closure in 2006.
The rebuilt bridge pays homage to the original, which, as its name suggests, was the first river bridge built to accommodate pedestrians and vehicles in 1907.
The original Traffic Bridge had five iron spans, while the new bridge has four.
The Chief Mistawasis Bridge was named for the Cree chief who signed Treaty Six after an extensive public consultation process — the first Saskatoon bridge for which the public was involved in the naming.
The naming delivers on one of the recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to honour Indigenous heritage.
The Oct. 2 ceremony will embrace that spirit with Indigenous leaders taking part and some arriving on horseback and by wagon.
“It’s fantastic,” said Dan Willems, the city’s acting general manager of corporate performance.
Willems managed the bridges project starting six years ago, before he moved to this current role with the city.
“No matter how long your career is, that’s a substantial investment in your career,” he said in an interview.
“How often do you get to build not just one bridge, but two new bridges in your hometown?”