Avoid Saskatoon’s Broadway Bridge this summer: expert

Watch above: As the city prepares to close a main river crossing for four months, motorists are asked to reroute their commute. Joel Senick takes a look at what the city suggests and asks whether it’s viable for those destined for downtown Saskatoon.

SASKATOON – Asking drivers to not only use the Broadway Bridge when driving in and out of downtown Saskatoon this summer is a good idea according to a local infrastructure expert. The nearby University Bridge is slated to be closed until August for maintenance.

“The bridge physically can handle it, but it’s the lanes at either end that become those small ends of the funnel that are going to be really tough,” Carl Kuhnke, a transportation and infrastructure expert, said of the Broadway Bridge.

“It’s the geometric design of what’s at either end of the Broadway Bridge,” he added.

City officials are encouraging drivers to use the bridges on Circle Drive, among other routes, to get from one area of the city to another during the summer.

READ MORE: University Bridge will be out of commission starting Sunday

“It really comes down to communicating the issue, because the issue’s not going to go away,” said Kuhnke, who is the managing director of the Saskatchewan Centre of Excellence for Transportation and Infrastructure.

Even though city officials have laid out blueprints of what they believe are the most efficient ways to commute this summer, Kuhnke said it comes down to the driver to choose what their best personalized plan is.

“You have to also put a little bit on yourself and say ‘If I use my head, what could I do that will get me to where I want to go faster without the additional stress that’s going to happen’,” said Kuhnke.

One suggestion is avoiding the wheel during rush hour. Kuhnke said businesses in other communities facing similar situations staggered their work hours so not everyone was commuting at once.

Watch below: Saskatoon Mayor Don Atchison on why the Broadway Bridge may not be a good option when University Bridge closes and a better alternative.

At Bricker’s Shoes in downtown Saskatoon, owner Dan Cote says he uses University Bridge daily to go to and from work. If any of his employees are late for their shifts due to traffic this summer, he says he’ll understand.

“It’s only for four months, so we’ll deal with it for four months,” said Cote.