Province gives closer look into Saskatoon Freeway Project

Traffic could be changing in Saskatoon’s northwest when the province begins the Saskatoon Freeway Project.

On Monday the city of Saskatoon’s Transportation Committee was able to see the design concept for Phase 1, which would see a redirection of traffic coming from Warman down Wanuskewin Road into city limits.

Tuesday, the Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure held a technical briefing on the project. In June, the ministry held consultation sessions and a design workshop for Phase 1. The study area includes 9.5 km of four lane road, four to five interchanges, a railway crossing, flyover and a river bridge crossing.

Their findings set the project in motion, and they were able to create four separate designs for the area.

No timeline for construction, potential for 10-15 years in the future.

This project anticipated a need of #Yxe’s population to be at 400,000.

It can function up to 750,000 people in the city. The Freeway would be at 110 km/hr, until the city hits that 750,000 target pop.

— brady lang (@BradyLangSK) October 8, 2019

The draft design of the Saskatoon Freeway phase 1, submitted to the City of Saskatoon on Sept. 4, 2019. (Ministry Highways and Infrastructure)

Upon completion, Senior Project Manager at the Ministry of Highway’s and Infrastructure, Geoff Meinert, said the decision to go with the preferred alternative (shown left) will accommodate increased traffic in the area.

“Approximately 23,000 vehicles a day are actually turning on from highway 11 onto Wanuskewin (Road), so that’s almost a natural flow … that’s one of the reasons why we looked at realigning Highway 11.”

The ministry said there’s no timeline for construction, but there’s potential for the project to be 10-15 years in the future.

In their projections, the freeway project anticipates a need for the city to have a population of 400,000 at the time of completion. The freeway will be able to function for a population base of up to 750,000, with the ability to expand up to 850,000.

Meinert said they would have the land and configurations available when the city reaches those population sizes.

“What we actually build at day one, may be different than what you would build (with a population of 750,000), but you’d have that land required that you’d be able to in the future, accomodate (the population).”

The freeway’s speed would be 110 km/hour until Saskatoon’s population peaks past 750,000, Meinert said.

The ministry didn’t have a cost estimate for the project Tuesday.

For more information, head to the Saskatoon Freeway Project website here.