News Releases

Beginning at 7:00 a.m. on Sunday, May 3 Saskatoon’s iconic University Bridge will close to the general public for repairs. The necessary four-month rehabilitation project will ensure the 100 year old bridge continues to serve commuters for many years to come.

“We know this project is going to have a significant impact on traffic flow in our City but we have done a lot of planning to try to minimize traffic disruption, for example, adjustments to traffic signals on detour routes, suggested alternate routes and advanced signage,” says Rob Frank, Engineering Manager for Asset Preservation. “The contractor will begin moving equipment into the area this week before starting work on Sunday. As we’ve been saying, we know this is a pain in the asphalt, however, this necessary work will ensure the safety and longevity of this important piece of infrastructure.”

The bridge will be closed to regular vehicle traffic for the entirety of the bridge rehabilitation project.  A single lane of traffic will remain open for emergency vehicles, Saskatoon Transit buses, Saskatoon Health Region authorized vehicles and school buses contracted by the Saskatoon School Boards only. A single walkway will also remain open at all times during construction. Non-authorized vehicles that attempt to use the bridge during the closure may be subject to a $90 fine.

Reroute Your Commute:

The following will be the most efficient routes from each quadrant of the City to cross the river during construction:

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

Traffic signals will be retimed to allow for a more efficient commute on 8th Street, 12th Street, Broadway Avenue, Idylwyld Freeway, 2nd Avenue, 4th Avenue, 25th Street, College Drive, Warman Road and Preston Avenue which will become busier as a result of the detours.

All Transit Routes and Access Transit Vehicles will operate as normal Monday to Friday. On weekends and holidays a shuttle bus will run every 15 minutes between the University of Saskatchewan, Place Riel Hub and the Downtown Terminal. More information is available at saskatoontransit.ca/bridge.

“There are many ways Saskatoon residents can help to minimize the impact including, taking the bus, carpooling, biking or walking,” says Frank. “It may also be an opportunity for employers to consider alternate work hours where possible, or coming up with options for ridesharing. If we work together we can ultimately reduce the traffic delays and allow for better movement of traffic in our city.”

The bridge is expected to reopen at the end of August. Visit saskatoon.ca/universitybridge for more information and for a look at the full Transportation Plan.

• On Saturday, nine sanders were on the road, applying salt and sand, as required.  Plows and contract graders joined them in the evening to keep the high-traffic streets clear until midnight when the snow appeared over.
• Another ten centimetres of snow fell early Sunday morning, and plows were out on Circle Drive, while contract graders attacked the other priority streets.
• The focus for Sunday is grading roads where melting snow is slower and trouble spots, such as busy intersections and corners, to keep roads in good winter driving condition.
• Street sweeping and pothole patching is currently on hold; watch for updated schedules.

•  2 speed plows on Circle Drive, pushing the slush of the centrelines and shoulders
• 1 belly plow – also sanding
• 4 PW graders on priority streets
• 12 contractor graders on priority streets.

• Saskatoon Light & Power and Parks crews are responding to reports of downed trees in power lines and other power line issues that are causing outages. 
• Power was restored in Queen Elizabeth, Holliston and City Park.
• Power Outage Service Alert Updates are available at saskatoon.ca-service-alert and on Twitter @YXEServiceAlert.
• Once the current issues are resolved, we do not anticipate further outages with the weather forecast.  Residents should call 306-975-2621 to report any downed lines or tree limbs in power lines.

• Reports of outages started this morning at 4:20 a.m. with the following affected: Avalon, Adelaide/Churchill, Nutana, Nutana Park, Holliston, Haultain, Mayfair, Westmount, Caswell Hill, Hudson Bay Park, Mount Royal, City Park and Queen Elizabeth.

• Heavy snow weighing down the power lines and broken trees were causing most of the outages. One line issue can affect parts of multiple neighbourhoods. 
• Crews were out working as quickly as possible to address each location, including tree trimming around lines.  Adelaide/ Churchill and Nutana Park were repaired and restored by 9 a.m.

• At approximately 4:40 p.m., 20 west-side neighbourhoods supplied by seven substations within the Saskatoon Light & Power service area experienced a power outage. 
• The outages affected traffic lights and many City operations and services, including the website and telephone servers, and the Saskatoon Landfill, which closed 15 minutes early at 5:15 p.m.
• Continuous timely updates were provided on the City’s Twitter and Facebook channels, which were shared by our followers in their networks, and used by news reporters for online and offline reporting to the general public.
• Three Saskatoon Light & Power crews worked as quickly as possible patrolling the lines in those areas to determine the cause.
• While the exact cause of the outages are not known, two weather-related incidents were discovered that may have overloaded the system, tripping the feed from the Queen Elizabeth Power Station that supplies the affected substations.  Heavy winds and frozen rain caused overhead lines along Preston Avenue to gallop (wave back & forth) and an insulator iced up at a separate location.
• These locations were isolated and repaired, and the substations were brought online beginning at 6:35, restoring power to the following neighbourhoods within 15 minutes: Central Industrial, City Park, Downtown, Holiday Park, Kelsey Woodlawn, King George, Meadowgreen, Montgomery, North Park, Pleasant Hill, Richmond Heights, Riversdale and Southwest Industrial.
• The Edmonton Avenue substation experienced a technical issue coming online, which delayed restoration until 7:30 p.m. for Airport Industrial, Caswell Hill, Hudson Bay Park, Mayfair, Mount Royal, Westmount and Westview.
• The website was online just after 9 p.m.; network system issues were resolved by 11 p.m. with access to Service Alerts for power and water outages.
• Later Saturday evening, another repair was required due to weather conditions, that required a substation to be restarted, resulting in a brief outage in Riversdale and parts Caswell Hill just before midnight.
• Without the website server, SL&P was unable to issue Power Outage Service Alerts, which are featured on the home page of the website and posted automatically on Twitter. 
• The City uses Service Alerts for timely notifications of unplanned service disruptions to Water, Power, Leisure Centres, Waste Collections, Landfill, Compost Depots, Road Restrictions, Street Sweeping schedules and Snow & Ice road maintenance. 
• The City’s mass notification system, NotifyNow, is currently only used for emergency situations to alert residents by geographical area where threats to life and safety exist.

• Buses are operating on Sunday reduced schedule, with no delays.
• Separately, issues are anticipated with the Online Trip Planner Sunday, April 26 only.  The following Route information may not display correctly for #1, 3-6, 17, 50, 60, 70 and 80. Passengers are asked to call our customer service centre at 306-975-3100 to confirm these routes (today only).

• While some facilities experienced power outages, no major interruptions were experienced.
• Facilities such as the Water Treatment Plant and Wastewater Treatment Plant have back-up systems in place to prevent interruptions.

• While we accumulated 8-12 inches of snow, once it melts it compares to 20-30 mm of rain.  Given the forecast for low temperatures Sunday and Monday, this is expected to melt slowly over the next two or three days.  Our storm sewer system is designed to take in more than this, so we don’t anticipate any flooding beyond some localized ponding at a few intersections.

NEW

11TH ST W CLOSED FROM HIGHWAY 7 TO CHAPPELL DR
(Road Patching)
Rolling closure on 11th Street
Start: April 27, 8:00 a.m. End: April 28, 6:00 p.m.

SPADINA CRES SB CURB (OUTSIDE) LANE CLOSED UNDER UNIVERSITY BRIDGE
(Equipment setup)
Traffic maintained in all directions. University Bridge remains open.
Start: April 27, 9:00 a.m. End: April 27, 6:00 p.m.

CIRCLE DR/HWY 16 EB & WB MEDIAN (INSIDE) LANES CLOSED APPROACHING OVERPASS
(New bypass construction)
Start: April 27, 9:00 a.m. End: May 8, 5:00 p.m.

DIEFENBAKER DR EB CLOSED FROM PEARSON PL TO VANIER CRES
(Storm lead repair)
2 way traffic in WB lanes
Start: April 27, 9:00 a.m. End: April 27, 6:00 p.m.

All restrictions will be lifted as indicated, weather permitting and barring any unforeseen circumstances.

Slow down, pay attention and respect work zones. Watch for pedestrians and work crews, and for everyone’s safety, please obey all detours, signs and barriers.

Know before you go! Plan your route around road work by checking our Road Restrictions and Construction Projects interactive map. Find traffic detour information and subscribe to Traffic Detour Service Alerts at saskatoon.ca/service-alerts. You can also follow us on Twitter @YXEServiceAlert and with #betterroadsYXE and like Saskatoon City News on Facebook.

NEW

SPADINA CRES E SB CLOSED FROM 25TH ST E TO 24TH ST E
(Temporary traffic light installation)
Start: April 25, 7:00 a.m. End: April 25, 10:00 a.m.

IDYLWYLD DR NB CLOSED BETWEEN 22ND ST & 23RD ST
(water valve repair)
Start: April 25, 8:00 a.m. End: April 26, 12:00 p.m.

22ND ST EB CLOSED BETWEEN IDYLWYD DR & 1ST AVE
(water valve repair)
Start: April 25, 8:00 a.m. End: April 26, 12:00 p.m.

NEW SUNDAY

25TH ST E EB CURB (OUTSIDE) LANE CLOSED FROM IDYLWYLD DR N TO CLARENCE AVE N
(Police Half Marathon)
Start: April 26, 7:00 a.m. End: April 26, 12:00 p.m.

IDYLWYLD R NB CURB (OUTSIDE) LANE CLOSED BETWEEN 51ST ST & 60TH ST
(Pole maintenance)
Start: April 26, 7.30 a.m. End: April 26, 9:00 a.m.

IDYLWYLD DR SB CURB (OUTSIDE) LANE CLOSED FROM ST GEORGE AVE TO CASCADE ST
(Street light maintenance)
Start: April 26, 8:00 a.m. End: April 26, 4:00 p.m.

IDYLWYLD DR NB CURB (OUTSIDE) LANE CLOSED BETWEEN MARQUIS DR & 71ST ST
(Pole maintenance)
Start: April 26, 9.00 a.m. End: April 26, 10:30 a.m.

IDYLWYLD DR SB CURB LANE CLOSED APPROACHING HWY 16 EB ON RAMP
(Pole maintenance)
Start: April 26, 10.30 a.m. End: April 26, 12:00 p.m.

All restrictions will be lifted as indicated, weather permitting and barring any unforeseen circumstances.

Slow down, pay attention and respect work zones. Watch for pedestrians and work crews, and for everyone’s safety, please obey all detours, signs and barriers.

Know before you go! Plan your route around road work by checking our Road Restrictions and Construction Projects interactive map. Find traffic detour information and subscribe to Traffic Detour Service Alerts at saskatoon.ca/service-alerts. You can also follow us on Twitter @YXEServiceAlert and with #betterroadsYXE and like Saskatoon City News on Facebook.

Spring is a busy time of year for projects in the yard, garden, and around the home.  Contractors and homeowners with a property adjacent to a civic park may wish to use it as an access point for deliveries, equipment, or vehicles related to their projects.

The City of Saskatoon (City) would like to remind contractors and homeowners about the importance of gaining approval before accessing a park to ensure the safety and enjoyment of these spaces for everyone.

Before access may be granted, the contractor/homeowner is responsible for contacting the Parks Division to arrange an onsite meeting and completing a request for access permit.  If permission is granted to access the park, the contractor/homeowner is then responsible for:

• Immediately removing all litter or debris after the project is complete;
• Immediately repairing any damages to civic property at their expense and/or paying any expense incurred by the City to repair damages;
• Following restrictions identified in the approval process, including limitations for vehicle access when the turf is wet;
• Accepting liability for any potential injuries and for damages to public property; and
• Contacting the Parks Division immediately after the work is complete for an inspection and to close the permit.

For more information or to begin the approval process for your project, call 306-975-3300 or visit saskatoon.ca/parks.

For more City of Saskatoon Public Service Announcements, News Releases, Traffic Detours and Service Alerts, visit saskatoon.ca or connect with the City of Saskatoon on Twitter and Facebook.