25th Street extension finally opens

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SASKATOON – After months of traffic headaches and delayed openings the 25th Street extension is finally complete in Saskatoon.

On Tuesday, Mayor Don Atchison marked the official opening by calling for the signal lights to be turned on.

The street linking 1st Avenue and Idylwyld Drive will provide a key connection to the downtown area and help alleviate traffic congestion.

“People are going to be able to flow around the downtown area without having to come through the downtown area so people who are going to shop or going to see professional services and that I think it will make it much easier,” said Atchison.

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But the $24.1 million project hasn’t been without its problems, coming in late and over budget.

MORE: Opening of 25th Street extension delayed

The increased construction costs were blamed on delays caused by the complexity of the project and the presence of contaminated soils that had to be removed.

Canadian Pacific also dealt with a shortage of skilled labour which provided another challenge.

“The delays had a lot to do with the railway, CN, CP getting that done and we had some wet weather, getting everything aligned properly, that was the single biggest problem getting Transport Canada to authorize the configuration,” said Atchison.

The opening is expected to alleviate some of the pressure on those higher congestion areas like 24th, 22nd and 29th Streets and also reduce traffic volumes on 33rd Street.

“It is expected that this portion of 25th Street will accommodate up to 25,000 vehicles per day,” said Chris Hallam, the city’s director of construction and design.

Crews will complete streetscaping work in the spring.