Watch above: It will be a ‘pain in the asphalt’ but come Sunday, 39,000 motorists in Saskatoon need to reroute their commute. Meaghan Craig tells us University Bridge will be down for rehabilitation for the next four months.
SASKATOON – Commuters beware. A major link between the city’s east and west side will soon be closed to all regular traffic.
Starting Sunday, May 3 at 7 a.m. the University Bridge is closed for necessary rehabilitation work. Approximately 39,000 drivers who use the bridge daily will be impacted over the next four months.
“We’re taking off all the asphalt and a thin layer of concrete and replacing it with a full concrete deck,” said Rob Frank, engineering manager for asset preservation for the City of Saskatoon.
“We’re just putting a new surface on there so the salts and chlorides don’t get at the rebar and start it to corrode, if we do it now it will save a lot of money because once the rebar starts to corrode the problem gets a lot deeper.”
City crews will also be taking off the green pedestrian railings, galvanizing them and repainting them to protect them into the future.
READ MORE: City council awards tender for University Bridge rehab
Pedestrians will still be able to cross the bridge during the rehabilitation process but the entire bridge will be closed to regular traffic until late August.
“This is a rehabilitation project, once we get into it, there could be some corroded rebar and we could get into deeper deck rehabs but we don’t anticipate that,” said Frank, who remarked that there has been extensive testing on the bridge.
“We realize this is going to be a pain in the asphalt, that’s our slogan for this project.”
A single lane will remain open to emergency vehicles, transit, authorized Saskatoon Health Region vehicles and Saskatoon school board buses.
“I know the initial report we got was to completely close the bridge which would have had a major impact for us, just due to the fact that RUH is our pediatric center, our stroke center, our pregnancy center where we take patients that are pregnant,” said Troy Davies with MD Ambulance.
With satellite bases all over the city, responses times aren’t as much of a concern said Davies as just having access to from the west side of Saskatoon to Royal University Hospital (RUH).
“Right now we don’t anticipate any major problems that we’ll see and if we do see any problems we’ll just deal with them as they come and work it out.”
According to city officials, this type of work occurs once every 25 to 30 years, will come at a cost of six million dollars and leave both motorists and businesses at the mercy of this major undertaking.
“Wait times are going to be impacted as well as cost. You’re going to be taking a longer route, you’re not always taking the most direct, immediate route so those are the challenges the taxi industry will face,” said Troy Larmer, general manager with The United Group.
Traffic signals will also be re-timed to help alleviate traffic jams.
“If everyone goes to the Broadway bridge it’s going to be very congested,” said Frank.
Here’s a look at what the city is suggesting to help you get from point A to point B, depending on where you live in the city.
Reroute your commute:
- Northwest to the University – Use Circle Drive North Bridge > Preston Avenue
- Northeast to Downtown – Use Circle Drive North Bridge > Warman Road
- Southwest to the University – Use Circle Drive South Bridge > Circle Drive > College Drive
- Southeast to Downtown – Use 8th Street or Circle Drive > Sid Buckwold Bridge
Non-authorized vehicles that attempt to use the bridge during this work will be subject to a $90 fine.
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