Saskatoon’s founding bridge is history.
After months of public debate on the future of the 103-year-old Traffic Bridge, city council on Monday voted 8-3 in favour of demolishing the south downtown icon and replacing it with a modern steel truss bridge with wider lanes — termed a "PT Cruiser" by one councillor — for an estimated $27 million to $34 million.
The council chamber was packed for the decision, with about 140 people turning out for the three-hour debate, many urging council to preserve the bridge because of its value as a potential national historic site and significance in the story of Saskatoon’s beginnings.
The decision was made after Coun. Glen Penner made a motion that the city make efforts with the replacement structure to "incorporate elements sympathetic to the heritage and architecture of the existing bridge."
"I do not believe we can rehabilitate that bridge for anywhere near the cost of building a new one," Penner said. "I just can’t believe it."
The new bridge will have wider lanes and walkways on both sides, allowing emergency vehicles to cross.
The exact width of the lanes will be determined after the next council meeting. The city’s administration was asked to report on the difference between 3.3-metre lanes or the recommended 3.7-metre lanes.
Council will also determine in two weeks whether to designate one of the attached three-metre wide walkways for cyclists and the other for pedestrians or to make them both mixed-use.
A number of councillors who voted in favour said feedback from the public ran four to one in favour of replacing the bridge. They cited the potential for higher construction costs with a rehabilitated bridge, the need for emergency vehicles to be able to cross and the desire to use it as a release valve when other bridges need repair
"(The approved) recommendations are clearly representing the silent majority out there," said Coun. Myles Heidt.
After the meeting, a number of heritage advocates and residents blasted council for replacing the founding bridge with a "mockery" and "a red scar on the riverbank," a reference to the different coloured steel proposed.
"We’re making ourselves a Disneyland city," said Lenore Swystun, Saskatoon Heritage Society chair. "This is a keeper. You don’t fudge your keepers.
"What (council) said tonight is heritage doesn’t matter in this city."
The councillors opposed were Darren Hill, Pat Lorje and Charlie Clark.
Clark, in particular, cited frustration with the decision, saying the debate has focused too much on lane widths and not enough on "making a statement about who we are and what we want."
Like a Chrysler PT Cruiser, a retro-styled car, the modern steel truss bridge won’t be authentic because it loses the "subtleties and quirks" of what it is copying, Clark said.
"You can’t . . . sort of (make) a gesture to the past," he said.
The decision was made after a number of community members made presentations urging council to keep intact the story of the founding bridge by preserving the structure through rehabilitation.
Swystun asked council to consider examples of steel truss bridge restorations from other cities, including Edmonton and Ottawa, where century-old bridges were recently restored.
"Sharpen your pencils, get back to it and take a look at some other examples to see how they might apply," she said.
"We know that these things can be done, there are countless examples."
Ryan Walker, a University of Saskatchewan urban planning professor, said council should first come to terms with the heritage value of the bridge before making a decision on its future. The bridge should be rebuilt to its original specifications, Walker said.
"If there’s a new bridge there that isn’t authentic, it’s worthless in terms of place on a heritage front," he said.
Tearing down the iconic bridge, which was deemed unsafe three months ago in the midst of public consultations about its future, is expected to begin next year after a firm is chosen to handle the construction following a bidding process.
The construction timeline is estimated at between 18 months and two years. The elements of the Traffic Bridge’s heritage that will be used in the new bridge won’t be known until the city puts out a request for proposals to engineering firms, where it will prescribe criteria for the replacement.
The city’s next step is to put together a funding plan and determine how the new bridge will be paid for.
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