Key Infrastructure Projects Finish: Broadway Avenue, Queen Street

The Broadway Avenue Improvement Project and the Water Main Replacement Project Queen Street location both wrap up this week. This brings two of the City’s major 2016 projects to a successful close. 

“It’s been another very busy construction season overall and we are very happy to deliver on our commitment of building better roads for Saskatoon residents and visitors,” says Celene Anger, Director of Construction and Design. “The Broadway Avenue Improvement Project and Water Main Replacement Project Queen Street location were a large part of the City’s ongoing commitment to continuous improvement, meeting our immediate priorities for clean drinking water and safe wastewater removal to support a cleaner and healthier environment for our communities.”

Water main infrastructure in the Broadway neighbourhood and beneath Queen Street was almost 100 years old and were priority locations requiring the most urgent attention. Work in both areas included replacing water main infrastructure – replacing cast iron pipes and fittings and removing lead connections in order to remove weak links in the existing water distribution network. Sanitary sewer systems were also upgraded and lastly there was significant rehabilitation of roadways. This work required extensive excavation and temporary water service connections in addition to traffic restrictions and detours.

“Work on Broadway started at the beginning of the construction season back in May, and even with a stretch of cold and snow in early October, the project was finished within days of our target completion date,” Anger says. “Businesses and residents in the Broadway area were very patient while we worked on and under their streets. Now they have water main infrastructure that’s built for the future, and a smooth roadway to go with it.”   

The Queen Street project – replacing water mains between 6th Avenue and 8th Avenue – involved significant coordination between Saskatoon City Hospital and the City of Saskatoon. Although work on this particular part of the City’s water infrastructure system did not impact the hospital directly, the road work did. This 16-week project needed to be phased to allow for consistent access to the hospital for emergency services, patients, workers and residents.

Anger says her team is always looking for ways to improve how they do work and to minimize negative effects on the community.

“These were big projects which upset routines of a lot of people so we needed to be innovative. This year, our coordinated approach using targeted, flexible phasing, and extended work hours allowed us to improve services and complete the work in an efficient manner,” she says. “It’s our goal to minimize the impact to residents, businesses and essential services while we work. We thank everyone for their patience while this necessary construction was carried out.”

In the spring, crews will return to Broadway Avenue for final touch up work, landscaping and sidewalk panels and some paving on a small section of roadway at the top of the bridge. Extended paving from 2nd Avenue to Spadina Crescent (excluding the already complete Queen Street project area) will also take place in the spring.

Throughout the projects, access was always maintained to the Broadway Bridge and Saskatoon City Hospital.

Some key facts from the Broadway Avenue Improvement Project include:

• 1,663 metres of water main replaced.
• 8.9 lane kilometres of road resurfaced.
• 100 water service connections replaced.

Some key facts from the Queen Street Water Main Replacement Project include:

• 195 metres of water main replaced.
• 195 metres of road resurfaced.
• 5 water service connections replaced.

The cost for the Broadway Avenue Improvement Project is $6 million and $850,000 for the Queen Street Water Main Replacement Project.

To learn more please visit saskatoon.ca/broadway and saskatoon.ca/queenstreet.