SASKATOON -- Twelve months after the opening of the Chief Mistawasis Bridge and Traffic Bridge, the city says it isn’t seeing the expected traffic volumes projected on opening day.
According to the City of Saskatoon’s Chief Mistawasis and Traffic Bridge project page, traffic volumes on opening day were expected to range from 14,600 to 21,700 vehicles per day.
However, a report heading to the city’s transportation committee outlines the Chief Mistawasis Bridge is seeing around 10,000 vehicles per day.
According to the report the Traffic Bridge, with only one lane of traffic in both directions, is seeing 2,000 more vehicles per day than Chief Mistawasis Bridge.
Among the city’s seven bridges, the Traffic and Mistawasis bridges are the least used in the city.
The new Chief Mistawasis Bridge, which opened Oct. 2, 2018, cost $211.4 million to build. The federal and provincial governments picked up a portion of the tab, with the city paying $108 million for the project.
The transportation committee will review the report and look at how the two bridges have affected traffic patterns across the city
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misstated the overall cost of the Chief Mistawasis Bridge and the amount the city contributed to the project. The stated amounts included the cost of the bridge as well as additional roadwork in the area. We regret the error.
